George Carlin on soft language

Rob Logan · 12.7M views · 2008-07-12 · 9:27

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

A clip from George Carlin's 1990 special 'Doin' It Again' in which he describes how American English has been sterilized with euphemisms, using examples such as shell shock becoming PTSD.

On Hacker News

HN reaches for this clip whenever a thread involves euphemism or corporate and sanitized phrasing.

Recommended by 2 HN people across 2 months · HN mentions 2015–2026

Topics

Stand-up & sketch comedy Language & linguistics

What people said

barelysapient · 2023-09 · Recommendation
In our entitled and highly litigious society I call this Corporate Normal Form. First Corporate Normal Form is messaging derogatories, or things perceived as such, to have a unoffensive coating and makes speaking about them not immediately trigger your fight or flight response. On a related note, George Carlin has a funny skit about how messaging has gotten softer over the years that you might enjoy. [VIDEO]
Read the original HN comment ↗

keldaris · 2019-07 · Recommendation
If there existed some form of global consensus across the English-speaking world on what the inoffensive version is, I'd be happy to abide by it. In the meantime, suggesting that people on a venue as global as HN have some sort of a responsibility to follow and observe the random cultural variations in whichever narrow bubble you were referring to strikes me as presumptious and absurd. I also wish more people valued clear language over these battles of ever more contrived euphemisms. George Carlin has a brilliant sketch on this very issue [1], which is both thoughtful and inoffensive (specifically references "handicapped" around the 5:30 mark). [1] [VIDEO]
Read the original HN comment ↗

Quarrelsome · 2026-03 · Reference
because you lose the meaning over time. Emotional aspects of language can be useful. George Carlin's famous piece on it: [VIDEO]
Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by Rob Logan, played through YouTube.

HN Library · Source license

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks

SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources