Torch Magazine • Fall 2016 Forbidden Words By John P. Lewis 2016 Paxton Award Winner

Shakespeare wrote, “’Tis needful year The New York Times asked its that the most immodest word / Be subscribers, “How often, if at all, do look’d upon and learn’d […] (2 Henry you swear or curse in conversation?” IV 4.4). Shakespeare met the demand Only 11% said they never did, while for bawdy humor by obliquely referring 61% said “occasionally,” and 26% said to taboo words. Though he never used “frequently.” Two percent said “always” the f-word explicitly, his plays contain (“Dear Reader”). examples of puns and references to it (Sheidlower xiii). Summarizing studies about the frequency of taboo words, Timothy Jay, This paper makes three points about a professor at the Massachusetts John P. Lewis these immodest words. College of Liberal Arts, found that swear words are .3 to .5% of the speech After graduating from Northwestern First, words are powerful. The old people use every day—one in every University with a degree in radio, TV and expression “Sticks and stones can break 200 to 300 words. His list of swear film, John Lewis joined his family radio business. The company initially operated my bones but words can never hurt words included the phrase “Oh radio stations in three states and then me” simply is not true. my God,” abbreviated as “OMG” expanded into TV cable operations, con- and ubiquitous in social media (Jay structing and operating systems in twelve Second, words and their meanings 153). Virginia municipalities. continually change. English is a living He was a founding member of the language. Jay contends that two-thirds of Virginia Cable Television Association, served as a director of the Association for swearing is to express anger or frustra- 20 years, and was president for three tion. Why do we swear when we’re terms. Expletives angry? Obscenities and vulgarities Since retiring in 2008, he has continued seem to perform a psychological func- an avid interest in photography, publishing appear to be tion. A study from Keele University in two books of his images, and served on the U.K. demonstrated that swearing numerous community organization boards stored in the as a member or officer. may not just express pain, but actually A charter member of the Winchester right hemisphere, help relieve pain. In the study, students Torch Club, he has presented Torch papers had to hold a hand in the bucket of ice on a variety of topics including extrasensory while the rest water as long as they could. The stu- perception, the anthropic cosmological of language is dents who could swear reported less principle, year-round schooling, Mount pain and could keep their hand in the Kilimanjaro, chaos theory, the definition of God, and Richard Byrd’s North Pole flight. stored in the water on average forty seconds longer He and his wife, Marjorie, have two left hemisphere. than the students who weren’t allowed children and three grandchildren. to swear (Stephens). The paper was first presented at the Winchester Club on November 4, 2015. Why is this? Part of the reason may Third, taboo language can do many be that expletives are stored in a different things. Cursing can be different part of the brain than the rest offensive or it can be funny. It can of language. Expletives appear to be incite animosity or it can cement stored in the right hemisphere, while friendships. It all depends on context. the rest of language is stored in the left hemisphere. This location suggests that * * * profanity activates the amygdala, and Taboo words are as ubiquitous today the amygdala triggers the fight or flight as they were in Shakespeare’s time. Last response, which dulls pain (Pinker).

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Vulgar language can bestow a kind of As a radio broadcaster, I followed the Responding to shifts in cultural prestige on otherwise conventional Federal Communication Commission’s norms, today’s television dramas are speakers. According to the authors of (FCC) regulations concerning obscene more linguistically frank. Because cable Four Letter Word Games: the Psychology and indecent speech. All broadcasters television is exempt from the FCC’s of Obscenity, “the quasi-decorous know about George Carlin’s 1972 obscenity rules, the language in its pro- use of profanity in a fashionable context monologue “Seven Words You Can gramming is more explicit than that in becomes a handy instrument for Never Say on Television.” (If you want over-the-air broadcasting. “Broadcast having one’s world both ways. With a to know these words, a quick Internet television is under siege by smaller judiciously dropped four-letter bon search will satisfy your curiosity.) The cable competitors that are winning mot we can, in sophisticated circles, be FCC reprimanded Pacifica Foundation audiences while pushing adult con- at the same time rebellious and after its New York City FM station tent,” the New York Times reported in respectable, prim and prurient” broadcast the monologue. The 2001, and the networks have in (Hartogs and Fantel 15). Supreme Court upheld the ruling. response become less strict themselves Some of the seven words are slightly (Rutenberg). For example, during the 2004 less offensive today, and one of the election campaign both candidates seven has been commonplace for Past uproars over taboo language in John Kerry and Dick Cheney decades, usually in the phrase “pissed popular entertainment indicate how used forms of the f-word. While off.” the landscape of the acceptable changes. they received mild criticism for George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion their language, each man positioned sparked controversy in 1914 when the himself as a speaker who puts actress playing Eliza Doolittle used the directness over convention (Battistella Because cable phrase “Not bloody likely!” Years later 77). in 1962 the language in the play Who’s television is Afraid of Virginia Woolf was so Presidential candidate Donald exempt from disturbing that the trustees of Columbia Trump has drawn on vulgarity in University rejected the vote of its his rhetorical strategy. In addition the FCC’s Pulitzer Prize committee. In 1994 some to telling people to “f***” themselves, obscenity rules, critics objected to giving the Man he said he would “beat the Booker Prize to James Kelman’s novel s***” out of anyone attacking his the language in How Late It Was, How Late because it supporters. Columnist Michael its programming used the f-word over 4,000 times Gerson contends that “Trump identifies (Battistella 68). crudity with populism, as if using is more explicit words of four letters were a protest In the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, against prim elites. Rough language is than that in Clark Gable as Rhett Butler memorably intended to convey strength and over-the-air bids farewell to his wife, the former authenticity.” Scarlett O’Hara, with “Frankly, my broadcasting. dear, I don’t give a damn.” It is hard to * * * imagine him saying anything else, but Clearly, we resort to profanity “damn” had been prohibited by the because a sort of power attaches to it. 1930 Motion Picture Association’s The power of a particular word, The line between the permissible and Production Code up until a month however, waxes and wanes as a language the impermissible is always moving. before the film’s release, when the code evolves. Linguistic change makes it Court battles over profanity on radio was amended to allow using the word difficult even to define precisely what and television are fascinating, especially “damn” if it was in a quotation from a profanity is. Some bad words are when the court tries to distinguish literary work (Lewis 305). In the 1942 identical to perfectly fine words or can between what is indecent and what is musical 42nd Street, Ginger Rogers carry both taboo and non-taboo art. It seems capricious if expletives in sings “He did right by little Nelly / with meanings, and the taboo meaning can Saving Private Ryan and nudity in a shotgun at his bell...” and then in the long run drive out the non- Schindler’s List are okay, but neither is substitutes “tummy” for “belly.” taboo meaning (Curzan). An example acceptable on television’s NYPD Blue. “Belly” was considered rude while of this is the word “cock,” a perfectly Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg opined, “tummy” was acceptable because of acceptable term for a rooster when our “One cannot tell what‘s indecent and its association with children society was more agrarian. what isn’t” (quoted by Curzan). (McWhorter)

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Such caution may seem quaint now, of them still in use today, such as “by (So I ask: who ever stubbed his toe in given the linguistic latitude taken by hit Jove,” “by George,” “gosh,” and “golly.” the dark and cried out, “Oh, feces!”?) cable television shows like The Sopranos “Zounds!” was a shortening of “By His and Girls. Many viewers consider the wounds,” as in those of Jesus. In the The taboo topic of death has gener- classic four-letter words as no longer 19th century, “darn” came into the ated a lot of euphemistic expressions, truly profane. They qualify more as language when people avoided saying such as “pass away,” “go to a better salty or “bad words” only to be avoided “Eternal damnation!” by saying place,” “meet our maker,” “depart,” and in work or school. A 20-something “Tarnation,” which was recast as “no longer with us.” And then there are woman I know illustrated this idea “darnation,” from which we got “darn” a lot of irreverent ones like “push up when she told me that she did not (McWhorter). the daises,” “kick the bucket,” “cash consider the f-word or the s-word out,” and “get a one-way ticket.” taboo. While she would not use these words around her elders, she is By the late 18th century, sex, comfortable using them with her peers, excretion, and the body parts associated calling them aural exclamation points. The concept with them transitioned from being of the taboo merely bawdy to being as profane as The concept of the taboo is not religious swearing. Delicacy about limited to spoken and written language. is not limited body parts made some everyday words Within the deaf culture, there is a vulgar. For example, “leg” was seen as distinction between signs used to curse to spoken and an impolite, if not bad, word and was and signs used to designate objects and written language. replaced with “limb” in polite society. actions. For example, there are two In talking about cooked chicken signs for the s-word (“Profanity in Within the “white” and “dark” meat originated as American Sign Language.”) Profanity deaf culture, terms to avoid mentioning breast and also exists in emojis, the ideograms that leg (McWhorter). The word “occupy” originated in Japanese electronic there is a was taboo in the 17th and 18th messages and have now spread across distinction centuries because it referred to having the web. It is disquieting to visit the sexual relations (Curzan). BuzzFeed web page entitled “21 between signs Glorious Ways To Swear Using Emojis”; Sexual obscenities have been taboo these childish-and-innocent looking used to curse for a long time including, of course, the cartoons can depict our worse and signs used “f-word,” which dates back to at least vulgarities (Edds). the 16th century(Curzan). Though the to designate original edition of the gigantic Oxford * * * objects and English Dictionary published in 1884 According to the OED, “taboo” is of did not include the f-word, all modern Polynesian origin, meaning “set apart actions. dictionaries, including the now on-line for or consecrated to a special purpose” Oxford English Dictionary, define it. If or “restricted to use of a god, a king, a you want to know more about the priest.” Taboo words arise from taboo f-word, there are 270 pages about it in topics, ones connected not only to Such strategies for evading taboo Jesse Sheidlower’s book entitled The F disgust, but also to anxiety and fear, language are a topic in themselves. Word. While the book includes many even terror. In medieval English, when Euphemisms—acceptable terms for things you won’t want to know, you wars were fought over religious inadmissible topics—are typically will learn that some euphemisms for doctrine, the chief category of profanity more colloquial and figurative than the word are “fricken,” “freaking,” and was swearing in the name of God. To orthophemisms, or formal and precise “friggin,” as well as the social media swear to or by God was sinful: “And he terms, many of which date to the exclamation, “WTF.” that blasphemeth the name of the 1500s, when a fashion arose for using Lord, he shall surely be put to death, Latinate terms in place of native English If you are fascinated by sex, enjoy and all the congregation shall certainly ones for more private matters. To insulting people, and dislike euphe- stone him” (Leviticus 16:24). illustrate, for the dysphemism (or misms, I suggest you obtain a little obscenity) of the s-word, “poo” is the book called Depraved and Insulting The need to avoid such transgressions euphemism, “feces” the orthophemism English. In it Peter Novobatzky and produced various euphemisms, many (Allan and Burridge 20-32). Ammon Shea list alphabetically all of

4 Torch Magazine • Fall 2016 the depraved words—over a thou- when talking about race relations, policy “is almost certainly doomed to sand—they could find in the English Obama mentioned the n-word. CNN fail; to be ignored at best—or mocked language. reported on the interview with the and flouted, at worst” (Sheinin and headline “Obama uses N-word.” Thompson). * * * Obama sent “Fox and Friends” host The power of words and the power Elizabeth Hasselbeck into a fit: “I think Why does The Post think it is of historical change can both be seen in many people are wondering if it’s only doomed to fail? For one thing, besides another realm of taboo language, the there that he would say it,” she said being sometimes humorous and some- names given to or resisted by various (Eggert). Obama was not using the times offensive, profanity establish communities. Many of our ancestors’ word as an expletive, we should recall, camaraderie and solidarity. For decades forbidden words seem harmless today, but in an academic semantic discussion. there have actually been two n-words, but we have our own taboos: we regard Nonetheless, the n-word is now more one ending in an “a” and the other in as truly objectionable the slurs directed objectionable than the f-word. And “er.” The “er” version is linked with at groups that have historically suffered more complicated. hateful, racist origins. The one ending discrimination. Offensive words now in “a” is said to be more about bonding are those deemed racist, sexist, when used among African Americans. and homophobic. Two other f-words, There are those who argue, however, “faggot” and “fairy” are no longer Many of that these two versions are not so much appropriate. distinct words as they are just different our ancestors’ pronunciations of the same evil word. Little People of America, an advocacy forbidden words Semantic studies do show that what’s group for people 4 feet 10 inches tall taboo for one speaker or community and under, successfully petitioned the seem harmless might not be prohibited by another government to cease labeling small speaker or community. raisins as “midgets.” The term “midget” today, but we is offensive to little people who view it have our own Law professor and author Paul Butler as a slur. They call it “the M-word” has said, “I’m African American, and I (Kamen and Itkowitz). taboos: have a right to use that word in a way we regard white people don’t. I’m not talking The little people’s drive to banish about a legal right. I’m talking about a their distasteful word is less controver- as truly moral right. I don’t think that’s so sial than Native American groups’ hard to understand” (Sheinin and attempt to force the Washington objectionable Thompson). Redskins to drop the word “Redskins.” the slurs directed While the U.S. Patent and Trademark Dineytra Lee, a hip-hop dancer, office has won court approval of its at groups that expressed still another viewpoint when decision that the team’s name “may have historically she said, “[As] African Americans, we disparage” Native Americans, many of have kind of taken this word and the team’s fans disagree. “We have a suffered flipped some vowels, and somehow it’s new national passion for moral and discrimination. okay. But then, it’s not. This word has historical hygiene, a determination to so much power. Everyone’s just saying scrub away remembrance of unpleas- ‘It’s cool. It’s just how I say my brother. ant things […]” wrote one passionate It’s just an expression.’ But no, it’s not” fan, George Will. In 2014 the National Football League (Sheinin and Thompson). instructed game officials to penalize Today’s most profane words include players who use the n-word on the Will the n-word ever gain the the c-word, which reduces women to a playing field. The NFL’s “zero tolerance” respectability other former taboo vulgar anatomical term, and, of course, gave officials the authority to issue a words have gained? There are some the n-word. 15-yard penalty for the first offense and indicators. In Atlanta, Christian rapper ejection from the game for a second. Sho Baraka reached the top of the U.S. Last summer, President Obama sat But this well-intentioned policy was gospel music charts with the album down with comedian Marc Maron for widely criticized as being heavy-handed Talented 10th that makes brief use of an hour-long podcast interview on and out of touch. A Washington Post the n-word—an inclusion that shook diverse topics. In the 47th minute, feature on the n-word said the NFL up the Christian pop music world. You

5 Torch Magazine • Fall 2016 can hear the n-word in the halls of offensive or it can be funny. It can Works Cited most American high schools and not incite animosity or it can cement Allan, Keith and Kate Burridge. Forbidden just spoken by African Americans. friendships, and there can be a psycho- Words. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006. Hip-hop music is desensitizing our logical benefit in using forbidden youth to the word. words. Taboo language does a lot of Battistella, Edwin L. Bad Language. New York: different social work. Oxford UP, 2005. John McWhorter, a Columbia Bilton, Nick. “Siri, Tell Me a Joke. No, a Funny University linguistics professor, thinks One.” The New York Times. August 13, 2015. the n-word will eventually become omnipresent. He said, “Frankly, we’re Curzan, Ann. The Secret Life of Words: English Perhaps Words and Their Origins. Lecture 13. Sound just going to have to get used to it. It’s recording. The Great Courses, 2013. a generational shift, and it’s perma- future nent” (Sheinin and Thompson). Others “Dear Reader: Are You Prone to Profanity?” New York Times Magazine, 10 May 2015, 8. would disagree. Certainly while it may technology have made inroads in the youth cul- Edds, Robin. “21 Glorious Ways to Swear Using ture, the n-world has not joined main- executives will Emojis”. BuzzFeed. stream American culture. want to stretch Eggert, Randall. “How the n-word became the new f-word”. The Washington Post. June 28, The introduction of taboo words language 2015 into mainstream vocabulary might boundaries in Gerson, Michael. “Hiding behind profanity.” come in the future from services The Washington Post. February 9, 2016 like Siri, the voice-activated assistant an attempt to Hartogs, Renatus and Hans Fantel. Four Letter that debuted on the iPhone in 201l. Word Games: The Psychology of Obscenity. make Siri and New York: Evans, 1967. Unbeknownst to Apple executives, their engineers programmed the phone her cousins Jay, Timothy. “The Utility and Ubiquity of Taboo with hidden risqué jokes. Red-faced Words.” Psychological Science 4:2 (2009), 153-61. executives removed them as they were like Alexa discovered (Bilton). Perhaps future seem more hip Kamen, Al and Colby Itkowitz. “In the Loop.” technology executives will want to The Washington Post. September 3, 2015. stretch language boundaries in an and even a Lewis, Jon. Hollywood v. Hard Core: How the attempt to make Siri and her cousins little more Struggle Over Censorship Saved the Modern like Alexa seem more hip and even a Film Industry. New York UP, 2000. little more human. human. McWhorter, John H. “How Dare You Say That!” Wall Street Journal, July 18-19, 2015. * * * Novobatzky, Peter and Shea, Ammon. Depraved History has taught us that you cannot and Insulting English. New York: Harvest, stamp out taboo words. The authors of There is an exuberance of expression 2002. Forbidden Words believe that “Bad that proliferates around the language Pinker, Steven. The Language Instinct: How the language is not some nasty habit that taboo. The authors of Forbidden Words Mind Creates Language. New York: Lippincott, 1994. we can be broken of like smoking in end their book with this about restaurants or nail biting. Forbidden obscenities: “These expressions range “Profanity in American Sign Language.” words flourish all the more vigorously from the exquisitely lyrical to the Wikipedia. on a diet of individual censoring downright crass; yet many demonstrate Rutenberg, Jim. “Hurt by Cable, Networks Spout and public disapproval” (Allan and an expressiveness and poetic ingenuity Expletives”. New York Times. Sept. 2, 2001. Burridge 252). worthy of William Shakespeare” (Allan Sheinin, Dave and Krissah Thompson. “The N and Burridge 253). Word.” The Washington Post. November 10, In this paper I make three observa- 2014. tions: First, words are powerful; in fact Sheidlower, Jesse. The F-Word. 3rd ed. New they are so powerful we won’t even say York: Oxford UP, 2009. some of them. Second, words change Stephens et al. “Swearing As a Response to all the time. The human mind is cre- Pain.” NeuroReport 20:12 (2009), ative, and with that creativity we change 1056-1060. the language. And third, what is taboo The publication of this article is funded by Will, George F. “A National Passion to Rename.” varies with context. Cursing can be The Torch Foundation The Washington Post. September 6, 2015. 6