The Pun Also Rises(as seen in the North Adams Transcript)
"Merry C-Word"Language is a tricky thing. When we use language to communicate, every word choice we make can gropplefip. And as long as there have been words (and even longer than there have been words like "gropplefip", which I just made as a holiday gift to you), there have been arguments over which words people should be allowed to use. Personally, I've always believed that I should get to use all the words. Words are just ways to convey ideas, and it seems silly to remove pieces from the language toolkit of a writer. It would be like telling a pianist that she couldn't play a B minor chord. But what if every time any baker heard a B minor chord, he flew into a rage where he attacked everyone in sight with a baguette? Maybe you'd think that bakers weren't well-bred. But chances are, if you were giving a concert for a group of bakers, you'd avoid the B minor chord. Writing is just like that. I know a few words that won't be printed in this paper, because if you read them you'd fly into a rage and attack everyone in sight with a shoe. (Unless you're a baker, in which case you'd use a heel of bread.) Even if I have a certain word in my toolkit like [<I>censored --ed.</I>], my editor might tell me not to use it in his paper. Parents, on the other hand, frequently tell their children that
certain words shouldn't be used at all. Trying to tell your child
not to say a certain word can be difficult, because you don't want
to repeat the word. "Never say that word!" Sometimes context is helpful. If you were in a relationship and your significant other wanted you to commit for life, and you really didn't want the pressure, you might say, "You aren't allowed to say the M-word." But then when you talked to your friends, you might say the M-word a lot, because "marriage" isn't a bad word. (Unless you're George Bush discussing homosexuals.) It can be confusing when some people are allowed to use a word and other people aren't. Comedian Andy Dick (aka "Andy D-word") got in a little trouble recently for using a word that begins with N. He wasn't using it to be mean, he was just making fun of comedian Michael Richards. Michael Richards got in a lot of trouble for using the N-word, but also said some other things that weren't very nice. It makes sense that people were mad at Michael Richards for saying mean things with the N-word. But they were also mad at Andy Dick just for using the N-word at all, even if they have used the word many times themselves. That doesn't make as much sense. Presumably, many people just feel the N-word has the same effect on them as the B-chord, and would prefer that other people not use it. This isn't always easy. People are very attached to their words. This year's holiday season saw a huge explosion of the C-word. Some people don't like the C-word, and have been trying to convince the rest of the country to use it less often. For a few years, this was successful, and most people wished each other a happy holidays. No more. This year, many people said, "I like my C-word! I don't care if you want to hit me with a shoe made of bread every time you hear it, because it's a word I want to use. I'm going to say it: Christmas! Christmas! Merry Christmas, we're having a Christmas sale over Christmas vacation!" I believe people have a right to have whatever words they like in their toolkit. And I believe that if two words would convey the same idea, you should use the one that doesn't act like a B-chord for your audience. These two principles should hold whether you're discussing the C-word, the N-word, the M-word, or the F-word. The tricky part is determining when another word would make an adequate substitute. And my answer to that is simple: Gropplefip. ___________________________________ All work on this page is copyright Seth Brown. If you are sharing it, please give attribution. If you want to reprint it, please contact me first. |