George Carlin on "Soft Language" (aka Political Correctness)

George Carlin - Soft Language


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I was going to write this really long, learned article on political correctness, but in the course of hunting down sources I found one that pretty much summarizes everything I would say anyway. But I did find something that is more direct and to the point, immediately accessible, and enjoyable. It is George Carlin's bit on "soft language"; also known as "euphemisms."

[Two caveats. The first is that Carlin's claim that soft language was developed by well-fed white people may be true to an extent as far as the United States goes, but only incidentally. While the strategy of political correctness can be traced back to the Institute of Social Research, also known as the Frankfurt School, founded in 1923, it can also be found in Mao Tse Tong's Little Red Book, which was published in 1964. Second, it is quite laughable to suggest that the Sandinistas in Nicaragua stood for any kind of freedom. They were notorious bloody killers and tortured several resistance fighters to death. But overall, Carlin illustrates political correctness, or as he terms it "soft language," rather deftly.]