Has there been a comedian more closely aligned with the sympathies of the business communicator than George Carlin?
He’s the man who riffed on “soft language” and the words you can’t say on TV. The guy who ditched a jacket and tie for jeans and the freedom to say whatever he wanted; the kind of freedom we writers and editors, trapped in nine-to-five slogs, yearn for.
By now you know he’s dead. And maybe you remember him as that bitter old-timer who did an annual HBO special; his most recent standup routines bordered on homicidal.
But the way he dissected language and its pretension was brilliant. Early on there was his “seven words you can’t say on TV” bit; words I won’t include, because, well, they will probably offend. But, as Carlin pointed out, the strange thing about language is …
“We have more words to describe dirty words than we actually have dirty words. They call them bad words, dirty, filthy, foul, vile, vulgar, course, in poor taste, unseemly, street talk, gutter talk, locker room language, barracks talk, bawdy, naughty, saucy, raunchy, rude, crude, lewd, lascivious, indecent, profane, obscene, blue, off-color, risqué, suggestive, cursin’, cussin’, swearin’ …”
Carlin was unrelenting about language. He commented on the hypocrisy of language. For instance, Carlin riffed that TV is full of sex humor. Television shows are constantly referring to it, he said. Entire plots and games shows are based on sex, and yet the word F*** can’t be said on television.
By the ‘90s Carlin riffed on impotent language, the “soft language, the language that takes the life out of life,” he would say. “Sometime during my life toilet paper became bathroom tissue ...” He observed. “Poor people used to live in slums, now the economically disadvantaged occupy substandard housing in the inner cities.
“They’re broke! They don’t have a negative cash flow position. They’re f***** broke! Because some of them were fired. You know, fired? Management wanted to curtail redundancies in the HR area so many people are no longer viable members of the work force.
“Smug, greedy, well-fed white people have invented a language to conceal its sins.”
His last truly great standup special from beginning to end aired in autumn 2001. The highlight was his closing bit, a revision of the Ten Commandments. Like a great editor, Carlin managed to trim ten commandments to two. They became:
“Thou shall always be honest and faithful to the provider of thy nooky; and I shall try real hard not to kill anyone, unless of course they pray to a different invisible man than you pray to.”
I watched that special with my dad, a devout Catholic and unapologetic Carlin fan; he laughed himself to tears.
But it was Carlin’s bits on language that remain some of his most amusing and insightful. Even the words masking the stigma of death were no match for his irreverent wit, as evident in this bit from the ‘90s:
“The one I do resist is when they look at an old guy and they say, ‘Look at him, he’s 90-years-young. Imagine the fear of aging that reveals to not even be able to use the word ‘old’ to describe someone, to have to use the antonym.
“And fear of aging is natural. It’s universal. We all have that. No one wants to get old, no one wants to die, but we do—so we bullshit ourselves. I started bullshitting myself when I got to my 40s. As soon as I was in my 40s I would look in the mirror and say, ‘Well, I guess I’m getting … older.’ Older sounds a little better than old, doesn’t it? Sounds like it might even last a little bit longer.
“Bullshit! I’m getting old. And it’s OK, because thanks to our fear of death in this country I won’t have to die … I’ll pass away.”
Meanwhile, across the Internet you’ll find obits and tributes to Carlin that say, you guessed it, “Carlin passed away …”
Take this so-called tribute: “I woke up on this gloomy Monday morning here in New York to the sad news that legendary comedian George Carlin had passed away last night at the age of 71.”
Oh, the fun Carlin would have with that.
Subscribe to this blog's feed
couple of strong strides. Him being an outfielder, I think he can get around pretty good. I'm not sure how sturdy he is ... 
RSS
Comments (18)
The michael kors bag is produced during toward the earth tones established on this time michael kors store of calendar year.It doesn't subject wherever you go and while you use, His michael kors outlet hold the chic American look that occur planet michael kors tote bags.However michael kors wallet aids make loads of vogue objects.
Posted by michael kors bag | July 11, 2012 9:38 PM
Posted on July 11, 2012 21:38
sac longchamps Bon endroit pour obtenir avez-longchamp le pliage hobo, sac à mains longchamps, longchamp classic large, 2011 Sac Longchamp New Best Vente.
Posted by sac longchamps pas cher | July 11, 2012 9:12 PM
Posted on July 11, 2012 21:12
I like your post! It is so unique and creative! Keep update!
Posted by replica oakleys sunglasses | July 10, 2012 9:33 PM
Posted on July 10, 2012 21:33
Good share, you topic is very great and useful for us…thank you. I just like the approach you took with this subject. It isn’t every day that you discover something so concise and enlightening.
Posted by michael kors watches | February 27, 2012 12:36 AM
Posted on February 27, 2012 00:36
I agree with your Blog and I will be back to check it more in the future so please keep up your work. I love your content & the way that you write. It looks like you have been doing this for a while now, how long have you been blogging for?
Posted by Christian Louboutin Outlet | February 27, 2012 12:35 AM
Posted on February 27, 2012 00:35
funny articl.i love it very much.thanks saw this page bookmarked and very much liked what I read. I will surely bookmark it as well and also go through your other posts tonight.Thanks for you sharing
Posted by michael kors outlet | February 27, 2012 12:33 AM
Posted on February 27, 2012 00:33
It was very informative and I also digg the way you write!I love your article, and I am deeply attracted by your idea and sense among your words.Please keep us up to date like this.
Posted by cheap ray ban sunglasses | December 27, 2011 8:55 PM
Posted on December 27, 2011 20:55
Of,course! As well know, your article is very attractive, many of my friends have such thoughts, like so many people comment on your articles, look forward to your new works
Posted by burberry handbags | December 27, 2011 8:52 PM
Posted on December 27, 2011 20:52
Your article is very interesting and humorous. From your article, I can see the true meaning of the word happy. This article, I believe many people are helpful. Very fortunate to share this article to your. Look forward to your updates.
Posted by beats studio | December 27, 2011 8:33 PM
Posted on December 27, 2011 20:33
Thanks for the entertaining article. As Carlin might have observed, "course" language must be instructional.
Posted by Buy Mulberry Purse online | October 21, 2011 3:02 AM
Posted on October 21, 2011 03:02
Or "course" language is the kind of language that's really on its way somewhere. Nice catch John.
Posted by Michael Sebastian | June 26, 2008 1:51 PM
Posted on June 26, 2008 13:51
Thanks for the entertaining article. As Carlin might have observed, "course" language must be instructional.
Posted by John H | June 26, 2008 1:22 PM
Posted on June 26, 2008 13:22
In the early 70's I ran the front desk of an animal hospital in West Hollywood. A guy came in one day and asked if he could sit around the lobby and talk to people about their pets. It was George Carlin. I had no idea who he was or why he was there. He returned several days in a row and would discuss the love of poodles with curler-clad housewives and blue-haired retirees. To this day I regret not taking more time to get to know the man whose work I would grow to love years later. I'll miss you George.
Posted by Debbie Davis | June 26, 2008 10:38 AM
Posted on June 26, 2008 10:38
Almost every day as I begin my work day, easing into it like a swimmer walking into the ocean, I recall with a smile an early Carlin line "Screw the company, the first 20 minutes belong to me."
Posted by Chris Brady | June 26, 2008 9:55 AM
Posted on June 26, 2008 09:55
I didn't agree with his politics or substance abuse but he could riff on simple words and make me cry from laughing so hard. Some of my favorites were for the airline industry (near miss vs. near HIT, deplane), descriptions (jumbo shrimp) and the concept that we should close the prisons and put all the prisoners in the "flat, square states" (Kansas, Nebraska, etc.) and the differences between baseball and football. He also had a way of poking at personal prejudices ("Did you ever notice there are no Chinese guys named Rusty?") making you realize that you were probably a little more prejudiced than you thought you were.
I saw him in concert over 10 years ago when he was objecting to Desert Storm. The audience went with him to a point but then you could feel the hostility build in the room as he continued. I watched him gauge the audience and then turn on a dime to take them from potentially ugly mob to a building filled with laughter as he discussed the contents of his refrigerator and the family pets.
He had his demons but he could still make you laugh and isn't that a great epitaph?
Posted by Kathy Parrish | June 25, 2008 8:56 AM
Posted on June 25, 2008 08:56
I came across a 70's-era Carlin cassette of my parents when I was twelve. I had a hard time grasping the full nut but this was my first introduction to Carlin outside of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.
Over the years whenever I caught a Carlin act, I always marveled at the way he would just riff on words... Just imagine his creative process.
Did he sit down with a dictionary and just start giggling to himself?
Favorite Carlin line: "Why do we drive in a parkway and park in a driveway?"
Posted by Brian Deines | June 24, 2008 3:57 PM
Posted on June 24, 2008 15:57
How many biographies and tributes will go on and on about this man's genius without wondering why his heart failed at 71. An admitted health nut for the last 20 years, Carlin was known for both his drug use and his own discussion of his drug use. Through his fourties I'd guess, the dude was way into cocain (and all other manner of pharmacology) and famouly noted that on his first hosting of Saturday Night Live he was stoned on coke the entire previous week.
How then might we also learn a lesson beyond that of language from a man so smart, so unsatisfied, and so honest.
That a recovering addict can only recover just so much of the damage done to a body so abused for so long? I'd hate to think we won't learn any more from the life and death of George Carlin than he was a funny man. He was both far more and far less over the course of his life, and to simply say he was a comic genius really does short change both the man and the public.
Posted by pessimist | June 24, 2008 2:43 PM
Posted on June 24, 2008 14:43
The only concert I ever walked out on - Carlin in Ann Arbor, early '70s. He was drinking and "smoking" on stage - as were several of us, including me - in the seats. Reading "new material" from folded-up pieces of paper he pulled out of his pockets. "Two 4-letter things that come out of your body that begin with 's' and end with 't'. Just stupid. Talking to shock rather than entertain or observe. And it was hard to shock a '70s college crowd.
He said that organized religion has convinced us that there's an old man in the sky watching us. I'm a Catholic, and I don't think that, or know anybody who does. I think he profited from those sorts of red herrings.
I also think that, with Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor - also, maybe, Robert Klein - he invented modern stand-up, which is how many of us express ourselves, whether we know it or not.
Like I told my daughter Sunday, when we were talking about social activism, that Gandhi had three kids: Indira, little Mohandas, and Skip, or "The Skipper". My own father couldn't have accessed that idiom.
And I did appreciate that Carlin's 7 "dirty" words were "dirty": obscene, not profane.
I like that his observational humor ("jumbo shrimp") gave rise to "Seinfeld".
Shelley observed that "Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world."
Today, I would say, comedians are. So George Carlin was influential, but unacknowledged for that hit-and-miss influence, probably. In any case, a stand-up guy.
Posted by Pat Williams | June 24, 2008 11:30 AM
Posted on June 24, 2008 11:30