Seven dirty words - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Seven dirty words
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to:navigation,search
The seven dirty words are sevenEnglish words comedianGeorge Carlin listed in hismonologue "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television", released in 1972 on his albumClass Clown. At the time, the words were generally considered highly inappropriate and unsuitable for use on the public airwaves in theUnited States, particularly on over-the-air television andAM/FM radio stations. These words are generallycensored instead. Carlin‘s original seven are (in his order of presentation):
ShitPissFuckCuntCocksuckerMotherfuckerTits
On his next album, 1973‘sOccupation: Foole, he did a similar routine simply entitled "Filthy Words", dealing with the same list and many of the same themes. This version was broadcast byPacifica radio stationWBAI, which eventually led to a Supreme Court case,FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (1978), that helped define acceptable free speech limits on broadcast television and radio in the United States.
Contents
1 History2 FCC regulations regarding obscenities on broadcast media3 The seven dirty words and cable television4 Pop-culture references5 See also6 References7 External links
[edit] History
In 1973, comedian George Carlin recorded a monologue known as "Filthy Words" containing seven differentobscenities. The Pacifica radio stationWBAI-FM broadcast it uncensored onOctober 30 of the same year. A man driving in the car with his son heard the broadcast and complained to theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) because of his son having heard the broadcast.
Following the lodging of the complaint, the FCC proceeded to ask Pacifica for a response, then issued a declaratory order upholding the complaint. No specific sanctions were included in the order, but WBAI was put on notice that "in the event subsequent complaints are received, the Commission will then decide whether it should utilize any of the available sanctions it has been granted by Congress."
Pacifica appealed against this decision, which was overturned by theCourt of Appeals. The FCC in turn appealed to theSupreme Court, which ruled in favor of the FCC, see:FCC v. Pacifica Foundation 438 U.S. 726 (1978) andFirst Amendment Library entry on the case.
This decision formally established indecency regulation in American broadcasting. In follow-up rulings, the Supreme Court clarified that the words might be acceptable under certain circumstances, particularly at times when children would not be expected to be in the audience.
Carlin later expanded his original list to include the following words:
fartturdtwat
In 1972, Carlin was arrested for indecency when he performed the "Seven Deadly Words" atMilwaukee‘sSummerfest.
Several of the words on Carlin‘s original list have since been used on broadcast television to varying degrees. The word "tits" was uttered on the first episode ofThe Trials of Rosie O‘Neill in 1990, sparking some controversy. The word "piss" (usually used in the context of the phrase "piss off", both as a verb — or "I‘m really pissed off"; "This is going to piss somebody off" — and as an expletive) has been commonplace since the late 1990s although generally limited to dramatic programming; in fact, the word was used as early as the 1980 miniseriesShogun.[citation needed] The word "shit" has been heard on rare occasions, such as an episode ofChicago Hope, the season eight episode ofER in which Dr. Mark Green dies, or in anepisode ofSouth Park on cable TV (see below), in which the word "shit" appears 162 times. Producers have also on occasion flirted with the word "fuck", although often in an obscured fashion. For example, theNCIS episode "Bete Noire" has a character clearly utter the phrase "fucking bastard," but the first word is obscured by a sound effect. This is also the case in the 2001Xena: Warrior Princess episode "You Are There", in which thebleep censor obscures the characterEve‘s repetitive (and easily heard under the censor) use of variations of "fuck", written in as illustration of the episode‘s parody of a TV interview. One of Carlin‘s later additions to the list, "fart", is also used frequently. "Turd" is regularly used in South Park, both on Network and Cable TV. On the A&E Network and The History Channel, the expletive "shit" is allowed only if the program is rated "TV-14 L". "Tits" is allowed on NBC. "Bullshit" is allowed on TNT if the program is rated "TV-14 L." "Shit" is allowed onFX after 10:00 P.M. In an ESPN documentary on the1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, one of the former players repeats the line two times, "They will take it to the fuckin‘ grave" (CoachHerb Brooks‘s warning to the team if the U.S. lost the gold medal game to Finland).
Shows on digital cable networkBBC America will frequently use the word "shit" and derivations thereof.
MTV UK allowed frequent uses of the words, "fuck," and, "cunt," in a Russell Brand interview with Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, but censored every use of the word "AIDS" in the same broadcast.
[edit] FCC regulations regarding obscenities on broadcast media
During the court case over Carlin‘s monologue, the Supreme Court established in thePacifica decision thesafe harbor provision that grants broadcasters the right to broadcastindecent (but notobscene) material between the hours of 10 PM and 6 AM, when children are thought not to be awake. Thus, the FCC has mainly been concerned with indecent content shown or heard between 6 AM and 10 PM. The FCC has never maintained a specific list of words prohibited from the airways during this time period, but has maintained general guidelines regarding obscenities[1]. The seven dirty words had been assumed to be likely to elicit indecency related action by the FCC if uttered on a TV or radio broadcast, and thus the broadcast networks generally censor themselves with regard to the many of the seven dirty words. While most of the original seven dirty words are still viewed as inappropriate for broadcast television and radio (based on previous actions by the FCC), the words "tits" and "piss" are generally no longer deemed unacceptable for broadcast over public airwaves during restricted hours in the United States.
The FCC has often looked at the context of the use of a word when judging whether it is objectionable. This has at times led to controversy, such as when a bureau of the FCC deemed the utterance of the word "fucking" (as anintensive) in January 2003 at the liveGolden Globe Awards broadcast by the front man for the bandU2,Bono, not indecent under its criteria since they said that under the context of its use, it was not intended to describe or depict sexual and excretory activities and organs.[2] The full FCC, however, later reversed the decision in early 2004, though a fine against Bono has not yet been levied.
The differentiation betweenindecent andobscene material is a particularly difficult one, and a contentiousFirst Amendment issue that has not fully been settled. Similarly, the level of offense (if any) generated by aprofane word or phrase depends on region, context, and audience.
In recent years, letter-writing campaigns engineered by American public interest groups have drawn attention to the issue of indecency in television. In some cases, thousands of complaints have been received by the FCC, particularly in situations in which children have been exposed to questionable material during restricted hours, at which time it is estimated children are watching.
The FCC does not directly target the networks. Only the stations carrying a network‘s programming are licensed. Since most of the networks own some of the stations that carry their programming, these stations can be fined, as a way of indirectly fining the network.
[edit] The seven dirty words and cable television
TheFCC obscenity guidelines have never been applied to non-broadcast media such ascable television orsatellite radio.[citation needed] It is widely held that the FCC‘s authorizing legislation (particularly theCommunications Act of 1934 and theTelecommunications Act of 1996) does not enable the FCC to regulate content onsubscription-based services, which includecable television,satellite television, andpay-per-view television. Whether the FCC or theDepartment of Justice could be empowered byCongress to restrict indecent content on cable television without such legislation violating theConstitution has never been settled by a court of law. Since cable television must be subscribed to in order to receive it legally, it has long been thought that ability of subscribers who object to the content being delivered to cancel their subscription creates an incentive for the cable operators to self-regulate. (Unlike broadcast television, cable television is not legally considered to be "pervasive", nor does it depend on a scarce, government-allocatedelectromagnetic spectrum; as such, neither of the arguments buttressing the case forbroadcast regulation particularly apply to cable television.)
However, as of 2005, some living in the United States have begun to call for FCC regulation of subscription-based television and radio. One argument for such regulation is that in morerural areas of the United States, it may be impossible to receive more than a bare minimum ofbroadcast television stations "over the air", and as such not having a cable or satellite subscription is tantamount to having no television at all for residents of these areas. This and other arguments have been made (among others) byRandy Short of theAmerican Family Association. (See also‘The Connection‘, National Public Radio, 2005-04-12)
Self-regulation by manybasic cable networks is undertaken byStandards & Practices (S&P) departments whichself-censor theirprogramming due to the pressure put on them byadvertisers – also meaning that any basic cable network willing to ignore such pressure could use any of the "seven dirty words." Some networks have already allowed the use of some of the words in shows such asComedy Central‘sSouth Park episode "It Hits the Fan", during which shit is uttered 162 times in one half hour (a counter was provided at the bottom of the screen). The series also uses the words "tits", "turd", and "piss" on many occasions. Comedy Central also has established a "Secret Stash" timeslot after 1:00 AMET on weekends, when it will air material such as theR-rated filmsSouth Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) andKevin Smith‘sClerks. (1994), or performances by comedians, including Richard Pryor and Carlin himself, without censoring the language. Images ofnudity are, however,blurred.
[edit] Pop-culture references
Blink-182 made reference to the list in their song "Family Reunion", which is composed primarily using the words from Carlin‘s ten-word version of the list. The bandDeftones have a song entitled "7 Words." In theSpongeBob SquarePants episode "Sailor Mouth", SpongeBob and Patrick say #11 on a list of 13 bad words you should never use, which was censored using a dolphin braying.Squidward asks, "Don‘t you mean there are only seven?"Mr. Krabs replies, "Not if you‘re a sailor, heh-heh." In an episode ofThe Simpsons,Krusty the Clown is threatened with legal action over the phone by somebody representing George Carlin. He responds "Oh, come on, my ‘Seven words you can‘t say on TV‘ bit was entirely different from your ‘Seven words you can‘t say on TV‘ bit. So I‘m a thief, am I? Well, excuse me!" (the last line being delivered in a style imitating Steve Martin‘s use of the catchphrase, thus serving as another example of Krusty‘s plagiarism. As another joke, Steve Martin immediately calls with the same complaint as Carlin). In the episode "It‘s All Over Now" ofThat ‘70s Show, Eric is seen listening to a George Carlin record and remarks on the list. Later in that episode, Eric refers to Donna‘s boss using numbers that refer to the list saying, "You 6ing, 7ing monkey 5er. You think your 1 don‘t stink well 3 off you 3ing 3er." Translation-You motherfucking, titsing monkey cocksucker. You think your shit don‘t stink well fuck off you fucking fucker.[1] On the Killer B‘s E.P.,Anthrax make use of — and renounce the banning of — seven allegedly offensive words in the song "Starting up a Posse".[3] In theSouth Park episode "It Hits the Fan", Stan, Eric, Kyle, and Kenny come across a set of eight rune stones, each devoted to fighting a curse word. (The list is not identical; included along with shit and fuck areasshole andmee krob, a Thai dish whichEric Cartman detests, saying, "God must hate it as much as I do.") InHoward Stern‘s filmPrivate Parts, a studio attorney cautions against the use of the seven dirty words. However, in Stern‘s list, "tits" and "piss" are replaced with "cock" and "pussy". In an episode ofEverybody Hates Chris, Mrs. Louise gives Chris‘ mother a dirty look, after she finds out that Chris was in her house alone with her granddaughter without permission. During the look, Chris Rock voices over ‘that look means all seven words you can‘t say on television.‘ In the episode about profanity, Penn & Teller‘sBullshit! brings up the Seven Dirty words and the following battle with the FCC.
[edit] See also

Wikisource has original text related to this article:F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation
Communications Decency ActGeorge Carlin
[edit] References
^ "It‘s All Over Now".Mark Hudis.That ‘70s Show.Fox Broadcasting Company.2005-02-16. No. 15, season 7. 7 and 12 minutes in.
[edit] External links
"Seven Dirty Words You Can‘t Say on TV" — script
Seven Dirty Words
shit •piss •fuck •cunt •cocksucker •motherfucker •tits
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_dirty_words"
Categories:Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 |All articles with unsourced statements |American media |Comedy sketches |Lists of English words |Obscenity controversies |Profanity