A Short Musing On Pejorative Language
We are fascinating, us young liberal coves, so confident in our open-mindedness we will joke about the most hurtful things. Our banter can be vile, but heavily cloaked in irony, mocking the very prejudices we appear to hold and thus not only permissible but encouraged. 'Racist' is now an insult to be bandied about carelessly, theoretically the worst slur to make on someone’s character reduced in power - and meaning - by being attributed to one who’s said simply they don't care for Coco Pops. Or whathaveyou. We can say it because we’re not, because the accused is not. Playing around with taboos gets tricksier as they grow fewer in number. Simple swearing isn’t enough for a stand-up to gain 'edge': it’s got to be 'rape', or the jaunty 'rapey'*. And even the kids I know are aware of the power of knowingly crying wolf with the Witch-finder General yell of ‘paedophile’! (N.B. This is also very much a reflection on the kids that I know.)
Stu says the BBC insisted he replace "f~cking"** with "raping", in a punchline destined for post-watershed TV broadcast. It seemed worse to him. And me. But it is not (yet) a cuss-word, just a bad one. Few scamps tell the other to "rape off" as a way of suggesting a disapproving insistence on avaunting removing your irritatating self. Happily.
No conclusions. Just thinking.
* Something I got from The Dinks (recommending peaceable action on their Resonance radio show for truckers in such a mood), since heard in the mouths of many.
** Here asterisked out of deference to others' work web filters, by the way, not for reasons of personal sensitivity.
Stu says the BBC insisted he replace "f~cking"** with "raping", in a punchline destined for post-watershed TV broadcast. It seemed worse to him. And me. But it is not (yet) a cuss-word, just a bad one. Few scamps tell the other to "rape off" as a way of suggesting a disapproving insistence on avaunting removing your irritatating self. Happily.
No conclusions. Just thinking.
* Something I got from The Dinks (recommending peaceable action on their Resonance radio show for truckers in such a mood), since heard in the mouths of many.
** Here asterisked out of deference to others' work web filters, by the way, not for reasons of personal sensitivity.