Oh F***

 

I'm often picked on for my age.

Occasionally mocked for older values for sure.

And, to be honest, one of those values -- at least in media -- is about language.

No, not in person. Sure, I can "(work) in profanity the way other artists might work in oils or clay." That's a quote from the movie "A Christmas Story."

But, yet, I struggle to do so here on the bibbidy bobbidy blog.

I think it's a hangup from working in the media. Obviously, profanity is quite frowned upon in broadcasting that is monitored by the FCC.

Thus a few of George Carlin's "seven dirty words" are "verboten" on the air.

And, as such, I've not used there here either.

Oh, I've even gone so far as to write them in the first draft. Then I delete them when it's time to publish the post.

Now, this doesn't mean you should flip out when and if I do write something here that's a bit blue (or if I have and have forgotten). There's no law against it. It's just how I prefer to conduct things.

Even on social media, I've worked mostly without it, even trying to not share things with "foul" language. Again, this is a guideline for me but it's not a definitive rule.

And, to be quite sure, I don't judge those who do swear in their work. Obviously, my eyes would open if it happened in broadcast media. Again, we're talking the major TV networks and all terrestrial radio stations. We're not talking about cable TV or Sirius XM.

We're also not talking internet streaming audio or video and, yet, I've always tried to avoid such language on those outlets as well. I've simply chosen to follow the FCC rules in those cases.

Still, I listened to a sports podcast earlier tonight where the host did use a few words that wouldn't pass the FCC censors and I found myself wondering, "why?"

And, of course, there's no right answer. If I hold anything against this podcast host it's because his work is ridiculous. 

This is probably one of those silly old hangups and, again, mostly nothing I'm going to get upset about, but when you come out of those uptempo g*dd@mn numbers, man...

Oh, sorry, I started to quote Casey Kasem's famous "f***ing ponderous" meltdown. 

Anyway, this "is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing." (Shakespeare, "Macbeth," Act 5, Scene 5)

So **** off and have a good night.