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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2014 17:25:46 GMT -5
With Millring on this one. We've allowed society to grow more coarse and we accept things we ought to be calling out as inappropriate.
I remember in the '80s, there was a popular bumper sticker (in Texas, anyway) that said, "Don't like my driving? Dial 1-800-EAT SHIT." They were everywhere. If you were a parent, it made it hard to explain to your kid that that wasn't an appropriate word to use.
I even see this in songwriting with the use of four-letter words, as if the shock value is some sort of artistic statement. It seldom is. I'm wondering -- did Townes Van Zandt or Guy Clark ever see the need to do that? John Prine stuck the word "shit" in "Some Humans Ain't Human," but he was talking about pigeon droppings and the word fit.
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Post by billhammond on Apr 18, 2014 17:46:07 GMT -5
Prine can get pretty racy:
She don't like her eggs all runny She thinks crossin' her legs is funny She looks down her nose at money She gets it on like the Easter Bunny She's my baby I'm her honey I'm never gonna let her go
He ain't got laid in a month of Sundays I caught him once and he was sniffin' my undies He ain't too sharp but he gets things done Drinks his beer like it's oxygen He's my baby And I'm his honey Never gonna let him go
In spite of ourselves We'll end up a'sittin' on a rainbow Against all odds Honey, we're the big door prize We're gonna spite our noses Right off of our faces There won't be nothin' but big old hearts Dancin' in our eyes.
She thinks all my jokes are corny Convict movies make her horny She likes ketchup on her scrambled eggs Swears like a sailor when she shaves her legs She takes a lickin' And keeps on tickin' I'm never gonna let her go.
He's got more balls than a big brass monkey He's a whacked out weirdo and a lovebug junkie Sly as a fox and crazy as a loon Payday comes and he's howlin' at the moon He's my baby I don't mean maybe Never gonna let him go
In spite of ourselves We'll end up a sittin' on a rainbow Against all odds Honey, we're the big door prize We're gonna spite our noses Right off of our faces There won't be nothin' but big old hearts Dancin' in our eyes. There won't be nothin' but big old hearts Dancin' in our eyes.
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Post by dradtke on Apr 18, 2014 18:12:34 GMT -5
My daughter mentioned not long ago that she still remembers the talk I gave her when I overheard her swearing in junior high. (To be honest, I don't remember the talk, but it does sound like something I'd say.) I told her that words have power and meaning, and some words are best saved until you need that exact word. If you use them too much when you don't need them, they don't have the effect they should have when you do need them.
On the other hand, I spent many years working in shops where swearing is expected and unnoticed. Sometimes you need to shave an RCH off something to make it fit properly. And I slip easily into it when I leave my desk and walk around the shop floor today.
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Post by drlj on Apr 18, 2014 18:59:37 GMT -5
I agree with John, too. I spent a lot of time around vulgar words and they don't shock me but that does not mean I like them or choose to use them. There is no doubt society has gotten more vulgar and profane. What used to be said in the steel mills often is now heard in middle school hallways. I know. I spent a lot of time in both. I guess the part I did not say well is that the words don't shock me but they probably should. In the middle school hallway, they used to just make me feel a bit sad.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2014 19:43:49 GMT -5
I can't be doing with lazy, unimaginative and acronymic swearing. The teacher acted like a feculent crudweasel. I feel sorry for her and the sorry mess that her crazy acts have got her into though.
Edit - "Feculent" may be a bit harsh.
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Post by drlj on Apr 18, 2014 19:47:52 GMT -5
Feculent Crudweasel would be a great name for a rock band.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2014 20:29:43 GMT -5
Prine can get pretty racy: She don't like her eggs all runny She thinks crossin' her legs is funny She looks down her nose at money She gets it on like the Easter Bunny She's my baby I'm her honey I'm never gonna let her go
He ain't got laid in a month of Sundays I caught him once and he was sniffin' my undies He ain't too sharp but he gets things done Drinks his beer like it's oxygen He's my baby And I'm his honey Never gonna let him go
In spite of ourselves We'll end up a'sittin' on a rainbow Against all odds Honey, we're the big door prize We're gonna spite our noses Right off of our faces There won't be nothin' but big old hearts Dancin' in our eyes.
She thinks all my jokes are corny Convict movies make her horny She likes ketchup on her scrambled eggs Swears like a sailor when she shaves her legs She takes a lickin' And keeps on tickin' I'm never gonna let her go.
He's got more balls than a big brass monkey He's a whacked out weirdo and a lovebug junkie Sly as a fox and crazy as a loon Payday comes and he's howlin' at the moon He's my baby I don't mean maybe Never gonna let him go
In spite of ourselves We'll end up a sittin' on a rainbow Against all odds Honey, we're the big door prize We're gonna spite our noses Right off of our faces There won't be nothin' but big old hearts Dancin' in our eyes. There won't be nothin' but big old hearts Dancin' in our eyes.
Yeah, Prine does racy well (in a witty way) but he doesn't resort to expletives with any regularity. And I never get the sense that he resorts to raciness purely for the shock value.
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Post by Village Idiot on Apr 18, 2014 21:37:37 GMT -5
I remember when we first moved to Africa and a friend of mine had lent me a couple cassette tapes. I had one in the recorder right when my mom came home and heard Croce singing "the baddest man in the whole damned town" and I got a lecture on how awful the wording of that song was. Being surrounded by British, we were also told never to say "bloody".
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Post by millring on Apr 19, 2014 5:41:17 GMT -5
I used to think Robin Williams was a scream. Now I can only assume that even he knows he's no longer funny. All the most recent stand-up routines I've seen from him are geared toward those (in junior high) who still think the f word is an automatic laugh line. Ditto Billy Connolly. By resorting to it, they're illustrating that they know their material is weak.
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Post by drlj on Apr 19, 2014 7:51:36 GMT -5
I have not found Williams funny for a long time. He is more insane than funny and his manic, over the top persona wears thin with me very fast.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2014 13:43:47 GMT -5
I used to think Robin Williams was a scream. Now I can only assume that even he knows he's no longer funny. All the most recent stand-up routines I've seen from him are geared toward those (in junior high) who still think the f word is an automatic laugh line. Ditto Billy Connolly. By resorting to it, they're illustrating that they know their material is weak. Loved Connolly's Route 66 series, though.
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Post by Doug on Apr 19, 2014 14:14:17 GMT -5
I thought Williams was terrible as Mork and he has only gotten worse.
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Post by millring on Apr 19, 2014 14:26:17 GMT -5
I used to think Robin Williams was a scream. Now I can only assume that even he knows he's no longer funny. All the most recent stand-up routines I've seen from him are geared toward those (in junior high) who still think the f word is an automatic laugh line. Ditto Billy Connolly. By resorting to it, they're illustrating that they know their material is weak. Loved Connolly's Route 66 series, though. +1
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