What the H-Word?

Ladies and gentlemen, we may be very near the end of civilization.

I say that because I see no way that a society can survive in any bearable form if it is afraid of words. If we are afraid of words to the point where we can no longer even say them, where we use a childish code instead, we may not prosper for much longer.

And even if we do, who the hell would want to live in the world that remains?

See, here's the thing: Political correctness has infiltrated the world of our vocabulary, and like a virus, it has made our language ill. These days, it's not only the things we do that we are supposed watch out for. Nor is it only the things we say. But it is now also the exact words we use when we say what we say that we are expected to be cautious of.

All gender references have become inappropriate. God forbid anyone ask for the stewardess instead of the flight attendant, or the waiter instead of the server. It seems more important to avoid using gender-specific terms than it is to avoid discriminating based on gender.

Likewise, all racial references must now also be avoided.

Plus, the words that some asshole idiot fuckwad shit-asses use as racial epithets must never be spoken. EVER!! How in the name of all that is holy did it become more important to avoid uttering a racist term than to neutralize racist actions and attitudes? How did the words become more important than the concepts.

Now, I have to let you all in on a little secret: I'm not afraid of words. I use them all the time. Sometimes, I string together a sequence of words called a sentence to convey an idea. Sometimes I use word sequences to tell a story. More often than not, I use words to communicate with my fellow humans in a meaningful way.

But sometimes I don't know what words mean, and I say them anyway. And sometimes I say or write words just because I like the way they sound.

And when I do that, those words are nothing more than noises coming out of my mouth. Yes, they are an agreed upon sound that we use to designate meaning, but when I'm uttering them just to hear myself, they have no meaning, and by turns, no malicious or potentially hurtful connotation.

The same goes for when we are describing a word, or otherwise discussing it.

For example, some people refer to policemen as "pigs". Now I just said the word "pig" in reference to a law enforcement officer, but I was describing a derogatory term other people use. I didn't speak derogatorily about policemen myself. There was no malicious intent on my part by uttering the word "pig", and I harbor no latent bigotry or hatred toward cops simply because I used the word in that context.

Recently, Eddie Griffin, a black comedian (or "African American comedian" for you dipshit political correct assholes), was pulled off stage after he repeatedly used the word "nigger" while performing his act for Black Enterprise magazine.

Read that last sentence again just to get the full impact of the irony. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Much of the black community in the US has adopted the word "nigger" (or "nigga") as their own in recent decades. Griffin himself is black. And the majority of the audience was black. I don't know the exact context of Griffin's use of the word, but I've heard other black comics use it to great effect; great comic effect. There is never any Michael Richards-like bigotry or hatred for any of their brothers and sisters. Yet Griffin got the hook for saying a word.

If you read the article linked to above, you'll notice that CNN.com doesn't say (print) the word. They refer to Griffin's actions as "using the N-word". The "N-word"!!!

Did we all become a bunch of pre-schoolers incapable of deciphering words that are spelled instead of spoken? Did we all become a group of idiots incapable of simple deduction? Is using a code suppose to devalue a word or make it less potent?

Judge for yourself:

When I'm treated like a child it makes me P-word. The spineless C-words that perpetrate that kind of bull S-word can go F-word themselves as far as I'm concerned.

To me, that had the same impact it would had I actually used the words "pissed", "cunt", "shit", and "fuck". The code is not fooling anyone or changing anything.

Hey, I know that words can be hurtful. I'm fully aware of the darkness and suffering and pain tied to words like "nigger". The fact that humans are capable of the atrocities that can assign that type of darkness to anything frightens and worries me. It gnaws at my gut more than I can express. But the truth of the matter is, it's not the words themselves that are hurtful, but the context, the intent, or the vile emotions behind them that has the potential to do damage to others.

Language can frame precisely and describe perfectly all that is good and all that is bad in the human heart, but language is not equal to all that is good and all that is bad in the human heart. It never has been, and it never will be.

And I for one hope we realize this soon. Otherwise we risk becoming a race of I-words . . . I mean idiots.