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George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)

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Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)

#191

Post by hubco »

Kye wrote: post #55
hfuyf65 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disagree, but can you substantiate hypocrite claim? Also cancellation chance seems to depend on how 'big' you are. Chapelle wasn't cancelled despite attempts. I suspect Carlin would get in trouble, but since he had a strong following, it is hardly a given.

Refused to make jokes at the expense of one marginalized and vulnerable group he's part of, makes jokes at the expense of another he isn't. That's hypocrisy. The motivation to walk away was self-interested, not principled.

[flagged]

Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)

#192

Post by hinkley »

I can’t hear the term “ethnic cleansing” now without hearing Carlin’s voice in my head. “Quantitative easing” is getting there.

Which I figure is something he would be proud of.

He will be sorely missed in the coming decades. Not by people who knew his work, but by the empty space he leaves.

Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)

#193

Post by silenced_trope »

tptacek wrote: post #128

Just for fun, from the first example: * Toilet paper -> bathroom tissue --- sure, a softening of the language. * Sneakers -> running shoes --- not a softening; sneakers aren't the same as running shoes, and "sneaker" was a regionalism (it's "gym shoe" where I grew up). * False teeth -> dental appliance --- a softening, though a welcome one in this case. * Medicine -> medication --- a softening (a nominalization of a…

* Pacifying -> bomb the crap out of

Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)

#194

Post by rhuru »

klyrs wrote: post #155

> I'll bet if they had still been calling it 'shell shock,' some of those Vietnam veterans might have received the attention they needed. History lesson: no, WWI veterans didn't get the attention they needed. This is wistful conservatism wrapped in a shroud of comedy. Don't mistake it for truth or wisdom. The treatment of Vietnam veterans was not a departure from the standard practice of wars predating it. The depth…

Each generation complains about the new generation's usage of new terms. My younger siblings use the phrases like NPC so often, that irritates many older people in the family.

From my understanding the top down terms enforced by language police at universities, public schools and corporations invariably end up becoming joke over time. The bottom up terms which were created by bullies, incels, sluts, car mechanics, bartenders continue to stick around and improve the language for the better.

Initially it is hard to determine which one is which. LGBTQ for example appears to be a bottoms up term that gained popularity and will be around for a long time. LGBTQIA2S++-- is likely going to end up as a joke. "Preferred Pronounce" another nonsense promoted by the bloat at corporate HRs (diversity departments) too in my opinion would end up as material for stand up comics down the line. There are more modern bottoms up terms like Incel, NPC etc. will stick around for a long time just like YOLO, FOMO etc have become pretty mainstream.

The better care our soldiers get is a result of medical field advancement, better economy and has very little to do with the terminology.

Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)

#195

Post by hinkley »

ur-whale wrote: post #94
mbb70 wrote: post #24

One I recently heard was "conducting a rif" == "conducting a reduction in force" == "firing people". Soft language is alway to the benefit of the speaker, to assuage guilt or obfuscate intent. It's always to the detriment of the listener.

> It's always to the detriment of the listener. Not always. If the listener has a functioning brain, he can quickly infer the kind of weasel the speaker is simply for stooping down to using that type of language.

Anchoring is still a thing isn’t it?

Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)

#196

Post by bigDinosaur »

paulluuk wrote: post #189
dijit wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such language policing is double-plus-ungood. (For those that haven’t read the classic Nineteen-eighty-four book by Eric Arthur Blair (pen name: George Orwell) one of the core themes of the story is how the ruling party controlled language, calling it “newspeak”, in order to remove the ability to express certain thoughts or opinions, most notably those that could be used to incite revolution or allow you to express d…

I find that conservatives most often quote "Nineteen-eighty-four" as a comment on "politically correct" language. But when asked about "family values", "obamacare", "right to work" and other conservative double-speak, they often don't feel like those apply. My point is not that conservatives use more double-speak/newspeak then progressives, rather my point is that this is used and applied across the political spectru…

How is 'collateral damage' newspeak? It's a useful concept even if you want to avoid it at all costs, but beyond that euphemisms have existed forever and are not the same as newspeak (which wanted to make something literally unthinkable, not merely euphemistic).

Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)

#197

Post by rhuru »

mbb70 wrote: post #24

One I recently heard was "conducting a rif" == "conducting a reduction in force" == "firing people". Soft language is alway to the benefit of the speaker, to assuage guilt or obfuscate intent. It's always to the detriment of the listener.

Reduction is a negative word. Could trigger the snowflakes at your office.

I think the correct term is "reassessment of human resources" or "restructuring", it is a bit like guy who steals your car at gunpoint in SF but is kind enough to ask you your preferred pronoun.

Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)

#198

Post by abdullahkhalids »

alexpotato wrote: post #108

Wasn't a lot of this "soft language" the result of active and conscious work by people like Frank Luntz [0] e.g. - "energy exploration" to refer to oil drilling - "climate change" instead of global warming My understanding is that he used focus groups watching video of politicians. As the politician would speak, the watchers would use dials to live rate how they felt about the words being used. In essence, he would A…

The wiki page on climate change [1] explains that climate change was already a growing to be preferred term earlier than Frank Luntz memo. Which I think is correct because it is much more accurate. There is a lot more to climate change than global warming.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change#Terminology

Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)

#199

Post by mcpackieh »

klyrs wrote: post #155

> I'll bet if they had still been calling it 'shell shock,' some of those Vietnam veterans might have received the attention they needed. History lesson: no, WWI veterans didn't get the attention they needed. This is wistful conservatism wrapped in a shroud of comedy. Don't mistake it for truth or wisdom. The treatment of Vietnam veterans was not a departure from the standard practice of wars predating it. The depth…

>The depth of their trauma was a departure,

I get the impression that combat vets of WWI were no less traumatized, but society didn't talk about it and preferred to talk about heroism, duty, honor, etc. Traumatized soldiers were counter to the prevailing narrative, seen as an embarrassment that people didn't want to think about.

Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)

#200

Post by rhuru »

rhuru wrote: post #194
klyrs wrote: post #155

> I'll bet if they had still been calling it 'shell shock,' some of those Vietnam veterans might have received the attention they needed. History lesson: no, WWI veterans didn't get the attention they needed. This is wistful conservatism wrapped in a shroud of comedy. Don't mistake it for truth or wisdom. The treatment of Vietnam veterans was not a departure from the standard practice of wars predating it. The depth…

Each generation complains about the new generation's usage of new terms. My younger siblings use the phrases like NPC so often, that irritates many older people in the family. From my understanding the top down terms enforced by language police at universities, public schools and corporations invariably end up becoming joke over time. The bottom up terms which were created by bullies, incels, sluts, car mechanics, ba…

Term "snowflake" is also something that is will stick around forever now which can be used to describe people who downvote my comment. So is "Cancel Culture". Bottoms up worlds will live on.
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