Penn & Teller's Humbug!
Here is another brilliant episode of "Penn & Teller's Bullshit!". This time round they are talking about profanity. :-)
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=ojEpASQi_7o&feature=related
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=C61mC-d8vFA&feature=related
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=20EPn4hOrR4&feature=related
I do recommend this because while not everybody may have some Born Agains or Creationists in their neighbourhood, chances that you will frequently meet people who have a strong opinion on the vocabulary you employ are high.
And Messrs. Penn & Teller handle the whole thing beautifully, raising some interesting points in terms of freedom of speech and the media. I particularly laughed at one lady's particular (but hardly surprising) stance on using a deity's name for swearing-purposes.
One slightly more philosophical point that does not get covered in this is that those who wish to limit the range of your verbal expression are essentially trying to also limit the range of your emotions and ideas.
If this sounds a little bit like the efforts of the government in "1984", that is because it basically is. An emotion/concept/idea which cannot be expressed in speech will find it very hard to spread in the population.
That is why you might have an uncomfortable and guilt-ridden session of "screwing" as opposed to having a great time fucking all day long. And how can you get good head when you cannot really find the right word to tell your partner where to put his/her mouth? (Well, yes, grabbing the hair and moving the head also works ;-)
PS: Yes, I am putting this behind one of these LJ warning-thingies. This is not hypocrisy. While I myself do not think that "strong" (not "bad") language can corrupt a child, I do realise that some of you might feel differently about this.
Besides, these really are "adult concepts" and if you have children of your own that might be using your computer, I do also think it is your right to decide how your child finds out about the world.
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=ojEpASQi_7o&feature=related
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=C61mC-d8vFA&feature=related
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=20EPn4hOrR4&feature=related
I do recommend this because while not everybody may have some Born Agains or Creationists in their neighbourhood, chances that you will frequently meet people who have a strong opinion on the vocabulary you employ are high.
And Messrs. Penn & Teller handle the whole thing beautifully, raising some interesting points in terms of freedom of speech and the media. I particularly laughed at one lady's particular (but hardly surprising) stance on using a deity's name for swearing-purposes.
One slightly more philosophical point that does not get covered in this is that those who wish to limit the range of your verbal expression are essentially trying to also limit the range of your emotions and ideas.
If this sounds a little bit like the efforts of the government in "1984", that is because it basically is. An emotion/concept/idea which cannot be expressed in speech will find it very hard to spread in the population.
That is why you might have an uncomfortable and guilt-ridden session of "screwing" as opposed to having a great time fucking all day long. And how can you get good head when you cannot really find the right word to tell your partner where to put his/her mouth? (Well, yes, grabbing the hair and moving the head also works ;-)
PS: Yes, I am putting this behind one of these LJ warning-thingies. This is not hypocrisy. While I myself do not think that "strong" (not "bad") language can corrupt a child, I do realise that some of you might feel differently about this.
Besides, these really are "adult concepts" and if you have children of your own that might be using your computer, I do also think it is your right to decide how your child finds out about the world.