Why do Smartt people say Sh## and FU**
Why Do Educated People Use Bad Words?
By THE EDITORS
California state legislators have long pushed self-improvement schemes on their constituents. Remember the “State Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem” (1986)? The latest such effort was a “Cuss Free Week” designated last month aimed at reducing profanity in public places.
The crusade was ridiculed, but is it a lost cause? It would seem so, at least among vice presidents. When Vice President Joseph Biden used an expletive in a private aside to President Obama after the health care victory, the remark was picked up by a microphone and spread quickly on the Web. In 2004 Vice President Cheney used a form of the same word on the Senate floor to tell Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont what to do to himself.
Have people’s attitudes changed toward what’s considered socially acceptable language? Have public forums on the Web worsened this reflex, since people whose identities are shielded can use words they might not have said out loud?
- John McWhorter, author, “Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue”
- Deborah Tannen, professor of linguistics
- Tony McEnery, professor of English language
- Lee Siegel, author, “Against the Machine”
- Ilya Somin, professor of law, blogger
- Timothy Jay, author, “Cursing in America”
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