Seven Dirty Words
If you're a fan of comedian George Carlin, you may recall the "seven dirty words you can't say on television." These words were... well, I can't print them here. In that bit, Carlin -- showing his fascination for the English language, words and their connotations -- engaged in an interesting exercise: "What if [in a movie dialog] you exchange the word 'kill' for..." well again, I can't say it. Whether or not you can guess the exchanged word, his point is well taken -- while "certain" sexually explicit words are not considered decent for television audiences (particularly children), it's quite all right to talk openly about murder and violence. And despite increases of sexually explicit content on prime-time television, this list of taboo words has grown over the years.
As you likely know, this past June a US District Court ruled portions of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA) to be unconstitutional. Upon the announcement, Web sites around the country sporting the "Blue Ribbon Free Speech" banner proclaimed victory in the battle for free speech.
