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George Carlin on Soft Language

CappyNJ · comedy · Watch on YouTube

Stand-up & sketch comedyLanguage & linguistics

What it is

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.

Why Hacker News recommends it

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

  • 2 people recommended it
  • 2 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2013, last 2024

What HN commenters said

  1. “I refer you to George Carlin [1], who explained it better than I could.”

    Carlin explains how softened language removes humanity from serious subjects.

    chill1, 2013-10 · Recommendation · in “California woman ticketed for wearing Google Glass while driving”

  2. “the author should watch George Carlin's skit on "soft language"[1] and reflect.”

    Carlin skit on soft language, suggested to an author uneasy with the word employee.

    7Figures2Commas, 2014-12 · Recommendation · in ““Employee” and other words that make me cringe”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: george carlin, stand-up, euphemism, language, comedy

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