So What's Wrong With Shit?

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Lilly

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Watching The Tonight Show With Jay Leno last night I was watching the bit with "Ask the Fruitcake Lady." In said bit the woman described that a woman "likes it in deep" and "wants to feel it in there" among other very graphic language describing how women do and do not like sexual intercourse.

So with that base, why can't American television broadcast the word "shit"?

Isn't describing something so graphic as how genitalia "fits" worse than saying shit?

Well?
 
i have absolutely no idea.

personally i find God-damn to be the most offensive swear in the book, but thats said without a problem.

how about asshole? you can say ass, but not asshole.

whoever made the rules is a bit odd.
 
Yeah, G-Damn is the harshest one...I doubt that the f-word will ever make it to network tv, but we can't see boobs nor say shit, but there's so much that's so vulgar. :tsk:
 
I think shit is the most non-offensive 'swear' word around.

I mean, its just shit.

But then again I grew up on a farm and had to shovel alot of shit.

Shit.

G-damn is only offensive to me if you believe the person has the power and authority to act as God's agent and damn you. I mean, if someone actually said 'Goddamn you to hell Gabriel', I would probably look at them like they are :coocoo: :crazy:, not offensive..I mean, not only is it an incredible nerdy thing to say, its meaningless coming from a puny human who can't really tell God who to kill or not...lol


Man, I am just a plethora of useful information tonight aint I? :lmao:
 
it's also ok to show non-stop violence and drug use but you'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking if you see a naked ass or a female breast

gather around kids, let's watch some more car chase scenes
 
bonosloveslave said:
They used the N-word on ER last night - I don't like that word :no:

I vehemently object to the use of that word by ANYONE, in any form or pronuniciation.

And I'm well aware of it's supposedly friendly connotation when uttered amongst young hip hoppers.

:no:
 
gabrielvox said:

And I'm well aware of it's supposedly friendly connotation when uttered amongst young hip hoppers.

:no:

Yeah, it was one of the black doctors that said it (not in the friendly way). It's just a word that I would be thrilled never to hear again, regardless of who says it or in any connotation. :|
 
Geez...deal with context please? The N-word on ER was perfectly in character with that smart ass black doctor. He is a very smart doctor with a troubled personal life; it would be unrealistic for him to start talking all prim and proper. I don't think you are supposed to like that word, even when he says it.

Why violence is allowed and sex isn't has to do with the fact that violence falls under indecency, which is constitutionally-protected, but sex falls under obscenity, which is not. In addition, the FCC is allowed to arbitarily decide what is acceptable on television and what is not. The FCC does not have to be fair or logical. As I can see so far, Michael Powell (that's right...he's Colin Powell's son) and the rest of the FCC commissioners run the FCC in a fairly laissez-faire manner, and seemingly looks the other way when the broadcast networks defy previous taboos--but certainly knows how to make the interest groups who want to censor TV further placated.

Melon
 
It's practically impossible to offend me, so I've never understood what all the fuss was about. I never understood either why people say 'f-word' instead of just fuck. We all know what you mean anyway! It reminds me of the time when it was unthinkable in The Netherlands to say 'cancer', and instead we'd call it 'c' (translated into english of course, we'd call it 'k' from 'kanker').
 
I always get updates from conservative "watch" groups when something "indecent" is on TV. They have a detailed synopsis of the offensive scene, and sometimes I read them and want to see the show because they're so funny. :reject:
 
DrTeeth said:
It reminds me of the time when it was unthinkable in The Netherlands to say 'cancer', and instead we'd call it 'c' (translated into english of course, we'd call it 'k' from 'kanker').
hehe, that looks like canker, like a canker sore. that'd be funny if you couldn't say that! :wink:

anyway, i've never actually heard goddamn be said on television, they bleep out the god part. me personally, i think the most offensive word is cunt. i don't know why, but it just is. i think i've said it all of twice in my life, whereas i've said every other cuss word thousands. i'm a gutter mouth, i'll admit that. i try to watch my language on here though, since i know this is a forum people of all ages read. (not on the other forums i go to though, somehow i don't think they'd be offended given the two main forums are called general bullshit and fuck you and die.)

anyway, i don't see why language is something so censored on television. for example, let's say some parent was offended by the vulgar language on er last night when the doctor said ******, because what if her kids heard it? something would tell me that her kids wouldn't want to watch something like that anyway (especially since the opening scene had someone who'd just been shot, and was all bloody) and i'm sure the kid's heard the word at school anyway. by the time i was six, i'd heard bitch, bastard, fuck, shit, asshole, goddamn, all spoken by people just within my family.

also, one thing i'll never understand is why people say f-word or f**k either. either say it or don't. if you find it useful enough to use the word in a sentence, then say the word. if it's too offensive to you, then don't use it at all.
 
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Initially we were talking about swear words, not racist words.

In my opinion this thread has gone down a completely unproductive path.

I don't think there is any value in discussing the merits of using or not using a completely racist term.

:|
 
The "N-word" is a subject for a different thread - an interesting study in racial politics.

As for the original topic, it raises an interesting question - what standards, if any, should we have in television, radio, movies, etc.?
 
Here in Canada you can freely say shit! And i have heard the CBC use fuck many times. Also on showcase after 12 it pretty much porn. So what people say shouldnt be on tv still is.

Oh cunt is a harsh word. But all my friends use it and you become desensitzed to it. Like, 'you dosey' or you dos cunt.
 
ok...kids...no "c***" and NO "n*****"!

definately not what was proposed with this thread.



and bonoman, ever since i was in canada and heard anthony keidis freely say "shit" but saw not nearly the amount of sex that's on tv here i wondered about it.
 
Geez Lilly! That is the best topic title/opening paragraph combo I have ever seen!
Just to get back to your first post though for a sec, whats the classification on Leno anyway? MA? I know this is sidetracking from your main point, but people tend not to pay a lot of attention to classifications. I know I often dont give them a second thought unless somehting makes me sit up and take notice. Censorship of swearing is one thing, but like your example is pointing out, there is a vast grey area of questionable material being shown. So where censorship fails to cover it, classification should.
 
Jay Leno is not MA - MA is like "woah, there's boobs gonna be shown here!" At best I think he's 14 or something like that - just unsuitable for kids under 14 without parents present.


To be honest, I'd rather hear shit than the description of what an old woman thinks how a woman likes the "fit".
 
bonoman said:
Here in Canada you can freely say shit! And i have heard the CBC use fuck many times. Also on showcase after 12 it pretty much porn.

The whole CHUM/City franchise is pretty bad overall. Friday nights the show soft core porn, Bravo (an arts channel) does the same thing and Space (a sci-fi channel) has had some fairly borderlin material as well. I think it's fairly harmeless since any parent who let's their kid watch TV past midnight has some other issues and the stuff shown is pretty ridiculous. What really gets me though is that if a movie startes at 8:00 on City all the swear words will get cut out until 9:00 when the censoring comes off. I also love how when they censor mother fucker they cut off the mother and not the fucker bit.

I'd ratehr nothear a lot of swearing on TV since I find it rather juvenile unless it's with in the proper context and serves ome purpose such as characterization. I find casual swearing more annoying than offesive except when you have someone who doesn't know any other adjectives. However I swear alot around certain people and if used sparingly it can quite effectively express your point.
 
the word "******" is similiar to the words "spick" and "chink" and that they shouldnt be said, really at any given time.

however, in proper contexts i believe it to be acceptable. but to be used in any other way, isnt.
 
It all comes down to context doesn't it, really? One observation I have noted from a good friend is that something like 'fuck off' seems to carry a whole world of pain in America that it might not in, say, Australia. Here 'fuck off' could basically mean, you know, 'get out!' in that joking 'you're kidding me' sort of way. As opposed to, for example, actual rage.
 
Visitors to this country could be forgiven for being mortally offended by our language K. We use the same terms to tell someone off as we do in greeting, as an exclamation and those generic figures of speech.
 
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