One of the most obvious differences between the present day and the world we Boomer kids grew up in is the amount of naughty words flying through the air. What would our grandparents think if they heard modern-day conversations at the shopping mall? Anyone who watches network television is now subjected to a number of George Carlin's famous Seven Deadly Words on a regular basis. Shocking stuff to someone who might have just time-traveled here from 1965.
Profanity, I discovered, has a very interesting history. Taboo words have been largely generational. Thus, thumbing one's nose is nowadays considered a childish insult. But go back a hundred and fifty years, and "cocking a snook," as it was then known, was as obscene as the modern-day one-fingered salute.
The scatological S-word has taken the opposite track. Once, it was as proper to use as, say, the term "feces." But somewhere along the line, it gained a reputation for vulgarity.
One thing's for sure, though. Words and expressions that were sternly forbidden by society in general, our parents in particular, are now quite commonplace, for better or, mostly, worse.
But other pendulums swing in opposite directions. Take ethnic terms, for instance.
1960's Miami, Oklahoma was ethnically diverse, to a degree. The degree consisted of two races: white, and Native American. Of course, back then, the latter race was "Indian." But nowadays, that word has taken on some tarnish. Thus, you don't hear it as much as back then.
We kids also grew up using the infamous "N" word with great innocence and lack of ill will. We used it as a playful insult, the kind of name you'd call a friend in jest. If you were really mad at someone, the N word would NOT be in the arsenal of insults you would fling at them.
Perhaps the absence of blacks in 1960's northwest Oklahoma is why we used the word so freely. I would never dare utter it during trips to Tulsa, as we knew that it was indeed a strong insult when used on those whose family histories include slavery.
But at the schoolyard, one of the favorite tricks to play on gullible friends was to say "Guess what?" "What?" "you're a N- and I'm not!"
Nowadays, that expression, when used by anyone other than a black person, carries the same social stigma, or perhaps one even stronger, as that of the classic F word.
The whole lightening up of the on-air use of salty language has to be traced back to Rhett Butler's famous adiós statement to Scarlett O'Hara. The rumor has long been that David Selznick was fined $5,000 for putting the word "damn" in the film. However, the fact is that the Motion Picture Association board passed an amendment to the Production Code on November 1, 1939, to insure that Selznick would be in compliance with the code. The amendment allowed the use of two words, hell and damn, as long as their use was occasional and necessary to the storyline. The first hurdle had been removed.
It didn't take long for those two words to be used more than occasionally. Profanity steadily increased throughout the 40's and 50's. In 1966, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was released with an M rating, suggesting the film should only be viewed by mature audiences, due to its use of of the "GD" combination. The next year, the F-bomb made one of its earliest appearances in two British films, and the S word turned up in the American release In Cold Blood.
My own wake-up call came in 1973, when I saw Cops and Robbers. I was stunned to hear language that had only been heard behind the school woodshop in a film rated PG.
Television was quick to follow. G-D was one of the earliest harder curses to make it on the air, "son of a bitch" was close behind. I remember Alan Alda used that term in a 1979 MASH episode to great effect in insulting a South Korean officer who was transporting a female civilian to her execution.
Thus today, television profanity is either out in the open or else bleeped just barely, often the beginning and end of the word or phrase left audible.
However, to bring all of this into perspective, perhaps we should look at the works of William Shakespeare.
The bawdy bard liberally sprinkled his works with words like Gadzooks, Zounds, God's bodkins, God's body, by God's mother, and most horrifying of all, "God's blessing on your beard." In Shakespeare's time, combining the use of God with a sarcastic reference to a man's beard was right up there with today's "M-F!"
In other words, Shakespeare's plays were largely of the R-rated variety, or at least PG13.
Obviously, there's a balance in there somewhere.
But by and large, many if not most Boomers fondly look back on a time when one used foul language at the risk of a mouthful of soap bubbles, and one was protected from such offensiveness on television and at the movie theater.
Comments (6)
Interesting subject! Yeah! Today, I am shocked at what I hear in the air these days. Saying a bad word back when we were kids might get you a wack on the rear with one of the paddle ball paddles! Lol! Never had soap put in my mouth, but I really never said to many bad words! I admit, I tend to say a bad word here and there, but still refrain if I can! Damn! I just stubbed my F+@?+@ toe!
Posted by Rivers End | August 15, 2010 5:43 PM
Posted on August 15, 2010 17:43
I enjoyed this topic. Times sure have changed, indeed. To me, one of the funniest is how hell can be found in some bibles and yet could not be said in 65. I guess God had a potty mouth, too, eh ;-) I do think times were too prudish and unrealistic, but surely we have too far in so many ways. But the tough part is in drawing that line somewhere. For if there is to be some limit, a distinct line does need to be drawn clearly and defended diligently and someone will always say we are being picky.
But I am also amazed at how fast the changes were coming. Was watching the new “Mad Men” show tonight. The old world was passing and a new one taking over. Big cities were way ahead of southern Maine. But I have been pondering changes and why they happened for some time now, looking for more definitive answers. How did we go from 1960 to 1980 and beyond. I feel it deserves an answer. To love the past and mourn its passing, which is what nostalgia really hints at, and not try to figure out how or why we lost so much, really wastes the feelings and experience of that much more wonderful time. I refuse to let it all go by in vain. A life not pondered is no life at all.
So first, were naughty words so naughty? I don’t think all were or should have been. But what about those really big ones? How the all time one the F-? It is a vulgar reference but unmentionable? Well, niceness and gentleness are 2 good qualities that need to be pursued with passion to keep them alive. But as well, if everyone is using them, it seems silly to continue to say they are bad as if they were seldom used. That creates hypocrisy and that can be even more harmful to society. To me, first strive for honesty and then if possible, try to improve whatever needs improving.
But I also see another aspect. If we sow violence, misery, abuse, dishonesty, deceit, disrespect, disregard and all the other things like those, will we not reap them in return? Is our language a reflection of what we have been sowing in our nation and world? I think it is. Our changes took place because we gave so little attention to things that seemed so small and meaningless. Average every day courtesies, politeness, decency, boundaries, limits. We cared more. But as the world has gotten more intolerant and zero tolerance used on us, law without reasonableness, bosses and employers without decency, it has taken a toll on us all.
But I have heard it said, a calm sea never produced a good sailor. Indeed, the measure of a man or a woman is not what they are when times are easy and things are going smooth. It is when the chips and down and everything is going wrong that we show who we truly are. I apologize to those who prefer to only hear the nice and not ponder more serious things but where else would I bring them up. If we can not bear them now, it surely will not get any easier. Shall we just let the ship go down without seeing if we can not first plug the leak of find a good life boat?
And I did get my mouth washed out with soap . . . twice! But I faked how bad it tasted so I would not get something worse the next time or even that time ;-) Sorry dad!
Good article, Ron!
Posted by Scott I | August 15, 2010 10:55 PM
Posted on August 15, 2010 22:55
Thank for a fine article. Pointing out the pendulum swings, and that it swings both ways, was a very astute observation. After reading this, I don't think I'll wince quite as badly in the future when I hear F* -- I'll just remember that language evolves, and it's just the equivalent to D* when I was a kid (a word my mother tended to use in nearly every sentence. O_o).
A favorite cartoon of mine has a pair of '60s parents, horrified at the tie-dyed and bell-bottomed clothes, long hair, and pot-smoking of their teen-age kids. Next panel, the kids saying, "That was fun, but we've gone as far as it's possible to go, so our kids will never be able to shock us like that." And third panel, the teens grown up, in shock at their own pierced and tattooed teenagers.
And switching tracks slightly, I'm always annoyed when an author writes something like "he swore to make a sailor blush; I learned several new swear-words from him." Swear words are swear words because of their meaning, not because of the words themselves. If you don't already know what it is, and that it's improper to use in polite conversation, it's not a swear word to you. Merde, you bloody yob! It may be a queer thing to say outside of the Fuk Yu Chinese Restaurant, but what would yo' Mama think, you son of a dog?
Posted by OwenKL | August 16, 2010 9:20 AM
Posted on August 16, 2010 09:20
A near-steady stream of vulgarities issuing forth all around me is what keeps me banging on the doors of the Temples of Nostalgia.
Posted by NCeddie | August 17, 2010 3:07 AM
Posted on August 17, 2010 03:07
The only four-letter "S" word I can't stand to hear is the one meteorologists mention about the wintry white stuff.
I wonder how the network announcers will mention William Shatner's new show this fall, "$#*! My Dad Says."
Posted by David P | August 17, 2010 11:01 AM
Posted on August 17, 2010 11:01
I especially liked OwenKL's comments. Sound, round, and balanced, even enlightened perhaps, as was the author, Ron. Its nice to re-examine once in a while and take a look at where we are at on the high seas of life as well as where we are going. But while I can tolerate foul language, so called and have used them more than a few times myself, I would like to see an attitude/spirit cultivated that would make it easier to dispense with too much angry intimidating speech, which does not have to have any foul words in it to be mean, angry, or intimidating.
I'd like to see less emphasis on word or word form and more on spirit and intent of words. An F word can be harmless or crude/vulgar. But we are all too big and grown to honestly say that we can't take certain words. We give words far too much power when they don't deserve that much. Lets bring them down to size and take away much of their power to offend. Balance and perspective are real nice, says I.
Posted by Scott I | August 18, 2010 12:22 AM
Posted on August 18, 2010 00:22