expletives

[Thom Remington <remingtf -at- FREENET -dot- SCRI -dot- FSU -dot- EDU>]

While thoughts on this subject you're fixin,
Remember what happened to Nixon.
        His expletives deleted
        Were widely repeated
And ended his life's politicksin'.

At risk of appearing most prudish
In reacting to words that are crudish,
        It may seem absurd
        For it's only a word,
But at times they appear rather rudish.

The question, my friends, is of choices,
Of the words we produce with our voices.
        If to find words of power
        Takes you more than an hour,
Then use all of the words that annoyses.

As far as I'm concerned, though I've been known to say things like
(*&^%$# often enough, the art of expressing oneself doesn't have to
include words that others find offensive. Things change. In the 1950s and
1960s, one couldn't say "pregnant" on television or radio! Now you can
almost see someone GETTING pregnant on television. Is that an
improvement? Probably. I'm not in favor of censorship; I am in favor of
self-control.

Final thought: Back in the very early 1970s, I spent a couple of years
working as an attendant in a state psychiatric hospital. Some of the
folks there were absolute masters at the art of cursing. I knew a fellow
who could gross out just about anyone within a few minutes. I also knew a
fellow who was quite creative. He cussed me out one evening for more than
five minutes, without repeating himself. Now THAT'S creativity!

FWIW, IMHO, and all that!

Thom Remington
Wilmington, Delaware
REMINGTF -at- FREENET -dot- FSU -dot- EDU