Search


(Searches for all words, in any order)

LinkRoll

It's all in the Delivery - October 07, 2003

It is pretty common knowledge that the F-word is one of the most versatile words in the English language, and can be presented in a number of different contexts: a verb, a noun, pronoun, adjective, etc. It is on George Carlin's famous list of "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television". It is "the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words" (as proclaimed in the classic "A Christmas Story"). It is one of few words that is known universally by it's first letter (F-word, C-word, and the N-word) and when uttered on broadcast TV, makes a network censor blow a vein.

I remember being horrified at the moment I first uttered the word in front of a Parental Unit. My Dad and I were playing a game of HORSE, and I missed a shot to earn my "E". The word slipped out, and time seemed to stand still while I measured Dad's response. I think he was as shocked that I said it as I was. However, being the cool Dad that he was, he only said "Don't let your Mother hear you say that" and we went on to the next game. These days, I try to refrain from saying the word not so much to in deference to my Mom, but to keep Garrett (my 3 year old son) from picking it up. He's already learned "goddammit" from his mother!

So imagine my surprise when I find in my Yahoo Entertainment News from the AP that according to the FCC, when the F-word is used as an adjective, it's ok for broadcast.

The FCC....said the word "may be crude and offensive, but, in the context presented here, did not describe sexual or excretory organs or activities."

At the Golden Globes award show, Bono said "this is really, really, f------ brilliant."

David Solomon, chief of the FCC's enforcement bureau, said in the ruling that Bono used the vulgarity as an adjective or to emphasize an exclamation and that "the use of specific words, including expletives or other 'four-letter words' does not render material obscene."

I don't listen to Howard Stern, or any morning "entertainment" radio for that matter (Morning Edition on NPR is decidedly tame), but I would be interested in hearing his reaction to this. He has had more than one run-in with the FCC on "colorful" language.

Of course, while I don't think the FCC worries too much about MojoMark.com, I'm fairly certain that I won't include the F-word in this Blog for fear of reprisals from the "Family Communications Commission", namely, my Mom.

#  | 02:43 PM |  Comments Closed (0)  |  (Tags: News)