George Carlin on Soft Language

CappyNJ · 5.5M views · 2007-08-03 · 6:56

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Overview

A George Carlin stand-up bit from Doin' It Again about soft language and euphemism, showing how softened words hide uncomfortable facts. It touches on topics like shell shock and aging.

On Hacker News

Cited whenever euphemisms appear in corporate, product or news language, as the classic comedic critique.

Recommended by 2 HN people across 2 months · HN mentions 2013–2024

Topics

Stand-up & sketch comedy Language & linguistics

What people said

7Figures2Commas · 2014-12 · Recommendation
Humble suggestion: the author should watch George Carlin's skit on "soft language"[1] and reflect. A mature individual can contribute to a company he or she didn't start and still feel a sense of responsibility and ownership without being coddled by language that pretends employees aren't employees, teams have no leaders, and everybody is equally responsible for the success or failure of the business. Frankly, I would probably avoid a company run by a founder who appears to have hang-ups about being an employer and seems reluctant to accept the responsibilities and rewards of leadership. This is about as appealing as going for a ride in a car without a driver. [1] [VIDEO]
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chill1 · 2013-10 · Recommendation
For starters, we could all stop calling them car "accidents"... The language we use has a direct affect on the emotions we feel while talking about subjects such as this. Softening our language takes the humanity out of life. I refer you to George Carlin [1], who explained it better than I could. [1] [VIDEO]
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fasterik · 2024-01 · Reference
I am frequently reminded of George Carlin's bit about "soft language" and how it obscures facts of life that we're uncomfortable about: [VIDEO] His criticism of soft language about aging and death starts around the 5 minute mark
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Sources

Video by CappyNJ, played through YouTube.

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