Apparently, the censorship is not because Google is trying to clean up the world and turn it into the nicest parts of Alabama. No, the company is worried about what might be transcribed.Alabama's reputation, it seems, has preceded itself.
But the issue of blue language is an interesting one...clearly George Carlin's dirty words and their kin are becoming much more acceptable on-the-air, if not on the Google Nexus One phone.
No, you will not hear me cuss on CBS 8 This Morning, but especially in dramas and comedies on-air (or on cable), it seems writers can get away with almost anything. Several times in recent months I've had to look to check whether I was watching a Cable or a Broadcast channel when I heard a particular word or expression used.
A longtime friend and former coworker sent me a very tongue-in-cheek email about an abbreviation I had used in a blog posting not too long ago, expressing outrage that children might see it. Not sure if he was serious, I decided to change it, and emailed him to let him know. Of all the things online that are dangerous for kids, this blog has to be at the bottom of a very long list, I offered. He replied that he was just pulling my leg.
Ha ha.
I left the changed abbreviation intact, just in case.
[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of this blog.]
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Well #~25~<!?24?(
ReplyDeleteNow that the blue streak is out of my system...*LOL*
I recollect the words of Virginia Misegades, my high school Engerish (hah!) teacher, whom shared with us the power of a broad vocabulary.
Shed had shared how she found lying in the open, and in the process of cleaning house, read a note written to her daughter by a friend of the same. It, she said, was overflowing with many curse words, to which she attributed to a genuine lack of vocabulary on her daughter's friend's part.
What she said to us made so much sense to and impressed me so much. Of course, having quite literally NEVER having heard my parents utter any such unsavory language, I was only exposed to such outside the home.
In general, I would concur with your assessment of the general coarsening of human interactions, and the entertainment media's glorification of the much-less-than-genteel, not only in word, but in deed as well.