Sunday, July 17, 2005
swearing
I still infrequently swear when I'm upset...I rarely say "Fuck!" when I drop something or "Fuck you!" if I'm mad at someone.
But, for comedic purposes, one must swear early and often. Unless you're Family Guy. But He does say "Boobs" more than the average person. I capitalized 'He' because Family Guy is my god. Boobs is a funny word. I like things you don't have to think about. That's a Seinfeld reference--another show that's funny without having the luxury of cursing. So, using what I've learned from work about the importance of sample size, I'd say I can formally conclude that my hypothesis was incorrect...one does not need to curse to be funny.
Actually, they start Family Guy by saying "this episode contains some course language." So, my hypothesis is back on. Course language is funny. And that's why I swear. By the moon, and the stars, and the sun. I'll love you with every beat of my heart.
Everyone swears these days, so I'm a bit surprised our same "swear" words pack a comedic punch and have not yet been totally coopted. Of course, the envelope is constantly being pushed...and I truly only think it's a matter of time before "shit" enters the network TV vernacular. We're certainly moving closer.
I wonder if we will need to invent more "truly dirty" words into our language so that comedy doesn't get stale. If you want to shock, other than "cunt" or a handful of racial/ethnic/gender insults, our language has become limited. We used to have all those words plus 100 more...just watch an 80s comedy for a reminder. The thought of saying "penis" on a sitcom in the 80s was absurd.
Perhaps there will be a backlash by conservative groups against Family Guy which will prevent us from moving too far in the direction we're going...but I honestly don't think so..."bitch" is commonplace now and we ain't going back.
I really hope we discover some other words soon. And a good swear word needs to have a mean sound to it too. Maybe we can steal some German words. Anyone out there speak German? Can you recommend some especially nasty sounding ones?
But, for comedic purposes, one must swear early and often. Unless you're Family Guy. But He does say "Boobs" more than the average person. I capitalized 'He' because Family Guy is my god. Boobs is a funny word. I like things you don't have to think about. That's a Seinfeld reference--another show that's funny without having the luxury of cursing. So, using what I've learned from work about the importance of sample size, I'd say I can formally conclude that my hypothesis was incorrect...one does not need to curse to be funny.
Actually, they start Family Guy by saying "this episode contains some course language." So, my hypothesis is back on. Course language is funny. And that's why I swear. By the moon, and the stars, and the sun. I'll love you with every beat of my heart.
Everyone swears these days, so I'm a bit surprised our same "swear" words pack a comedic punch and have not yet been totally coopted. Of course, the envelope is constantly being pushed...and I truly only think it's a matter of time before "shit" enters the network TV vernacular. We're certainly moving closer.
I wonder if we will need to invent more "truly dirty" words into our language so that comedy doesn't get stale. If you want to shock, other than "cunt" or a handful of racial/ethnic/gender insults, our language has become limited. We used to have all those words plus 100 more...just watch an 80s comedy for a reminder. The thought of saying "penis" on a sitcom in the 80s was absurd.
Perhaps there will be a backlash by conservative groups against Family Guy which will prevent us from moving too far in the direction we're going...but I honestly don't think so..."bitch" is commonplace now and we ain't going back.
I really hope we discover some other words soon. And a good swear word needs to have a mean sound to it too. Maybe we can steal some German words. Anyone out there speak German? Can you recommend some especially nasty sounding ones?
