5 ms·

Like most comedians who swear... Well, and then there's guys like Carlin and Hicks and Pryor and Rock who swear a lot and yet are the funniest people on planet

by nickb 18y ago

Like most comedians who swear... Well, and then there's guys like Carlin and Hicks and Pryor and Rock who swear a lot and yet are the funniest people on planet.

jamesbritt 18y ago
Absolutely. But I'm skeptical that most comedians are like Carlin and Hicks and Pryor and Rock. For every Carlin who could craft the use of "fuck", there are three who think "motherfucker" is a hot-wire to the funny bone.
- time_management 18y ago
  Although I don't see much use for the word in comedy, "m-----f-----" is way more transgressive and ugly than "fuck", because of the connection with rape and incest. To call an enemy a "m~" is to accuse him of incest, hitting on one of humanity's oldest taboos. To describe oneself as a "badass m~" is, often, to threaten seduction or rape against others' mothers-- in other words, to dress oneself as a dangerous and indiscriminate sociopath. It's probably one of the most intrinsically ugly words in the language. Racial slurs are ugly because of what they represent-- hideous and unacceptable attitudes held against innocent people, based in prejudice and ignorance-- but not on account of composition, because they're usually atomic words. These words become extremely offensive once one knows their meanings, but beforehand hold no special currency. By contrast, "M~" is a compound of two well-known and fairly innocuous words-- one completely acceptable, one edgy but mostly inoffensive-- that instantly makes the skin of even most liberal people crawl, even before its semantic subtleties are explored.
johnyzee 18y ago
I see your Carlin and raise you Jerry Seinfeld. In ten years of making probably the funniest TV ever I think he said 'hell' a couple of times and that's about it.
- thomasswift 18y ago
  except for the one where he has the swearing problem towards the kid. and the one where elaine and george utter swears under their breath towards jerry. I get your point, but those are great episodes too.

by nickb 18y ago

Like most comedians who swear... Well, and then there's guys like Carlin and Hicks and Pryor and Rock who swear a lot and yet are the funniest people on planet.

jamesbritt 18y ago

Absolutely. But I'm skeptical that most comedians are like Carlin and Hicks and Pryor and Rock. For every Carlin who could craft the use of "fuck", there are three who think "motherfucker" is a hot-wire to the funny bone.

time_management 18y ago
Although I don't see much use for the word in comedy, "m-----f-----" is way more transgressive and ugly than "fuck", because of the connection with rape and incest. To call an enemy a "m~" is to accuse him of incest, hitting on one of humanity's oldest taboos. To describe oneself as a "badass m~" is, often, to threaten seduction or rape against others' mothers-- in other words, to dress oneself as a dangerous and indiscriminate sociopath. It's probably one of the most intrinsically ugly words in the language. Racial slurs are ugly because of what they represent-- hideous and unacceptable attitudes held against innocent people, based in prejudice and ignorance-- but not on account of composition, because they're usually atomic words. These words become extremely offensive once one knows their meanings, but beforehand hold no special currency. By contrast, "M~" is a compound of two well-known and fairly innocuous words-- one completely acceptable, one edgy but mostly inoffensive-- that instantly makes the skin of even most liberal people crawl, even before its semantic subtleties are explored.

johnyzee 18y ago

I see your Carlin and raise you Jerry Seinfeld. In ten years of making probably the funniest TV ever I think he said 'hell' a couple of times and that's about it.

thomasswift 18y ago
except for the one where he has the swearing problem towards the kid. and the one where elaine and george utter swears under their breath towards jerry. I get your point, but those are great episodes too.