I got to say the actual words "You're fired!" to my estate lawyer. Details too involved to provide here.
So fun.
George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)
371–380 of 429 posts
Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)
#372Earlier quoted context omitted.
Retarded means "slowed down". It's a very good word, and even better as an insult.
It'll also get you banned pretty fast in the majority of subreddits, despite the fact that very few people today (and even fewer who use reddit) were ever legitimately referred to as retarded back in the day.
Reddit is a bit of an odd environment. It's moderated by people with zero life.
Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)
#373I saw a conversation on Twitter a while ago back when it still was Twitter. The OP with many followers was laying out words and classes of words with negative connotations that shouldn't be used. Someone replied in good faith to OP and asked how we should express negative thoughts. OPs answer was basically that we shouldn't. I find that kind of thought very off putting and minorly disturbing. An important part of the…
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…
"Such language policing is double-plus-ungood."
And yet such behavior happens right here on this very site. Why do you tolerate it?
Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)
#374Just 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…
Thanks this is pretty interesting! Re: “car crash”, crash is the correct “real language”. The use of “accident” implies a lack of responsibility and that car crashes cannot be prevented or reduced. That isn’t true. Many studies show that crashes can be reduced via better engineering, road design, etc. Calling it an accident definitely seems like softening the language. https://dmv.vermont.gov/enforcement-and-safety/l…
That's overly conspiratorial.
In normal use, "accident" just means it's unintentional.
People talk about preventing accidents all the time.
Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)
#375Earlier quoted context omitted.
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
"Rapid climate change" is what I would say is the most specific term, because climates change naturally over time, but usually do so slowly enough that there is no risk to individuals. The kind of climate change due to human interactions is so rapid that individuals are at risk, for instance those who live in low-lying coastal areas. Species evolve when there is slow climate change, but rapid changes make whole clade…
Short on time or I'd say more.
Worth a read:
Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)
#376Earlier quoted context omitted.
Today, one often hears "He is special needs" said by people who think they are being politically correct. But that's awfully wrong. He might have special needs, but he is not needs. He is a person. To me, that's a lot more dehumanizing than saying "retarded". Then they'll say "but you know what I mean". That's the point, exactly.
The ultimate culmination being certain subreddits where the banned "retarded" has been replaced by the homonym "regarded", such that referring to someone as "highly regarded" is understood to mean the former, not the latter.
Apparently you can't say "suicide" anymore in YouTube videos because it's automatic demonetization so people are now saying "unalive"
Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)
#377Just 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…
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Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)
#378Many people here missing Carlin's point about "soft language". Think more on the examples of forcing oneself, either by choice or by social factors.
suicide -> "unalive" homeless -> "unhoused"
I absolutely hate these terms.
Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)
#379Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s that Americans are more concerned with cultural brawling. Race politics, like all identity politics, are simply a proxy for it. The pastime is finding people who don’t agree with your orthodoxy and ganging up on them. It can be race, ability, political affiliation, whatever. America is a country that demands conformance. pg touches on this in his famous What You Can’t Say essay. http://www.paulgraham.com/say.htm…
Genuinely speaking this is part of the ruling classes "divide and conquer" strategy. Ensuring that people think that some "other" body of people are against them (right, left, woke, trumpists etc) is a strong tactic to keep people putting there energy into fighting each other and not making a big deal about the people in control of things like the media or government- which we're all too tired to fight and sort of qu…
> It sounds like a conspiracy theory, except it's basically well known and nobody really cares it seems, we're too easily baited. (including myself here).
No, it sounds like a conspiracy theory because it is. It has nothing to do with some shady cabal of elites ("the ruling class"). It's just American culture.
Re: George Carlin's "Soft Language" (2019)
#380> 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…
You certainly did an excellent job of refuting a claim Carlin never made.