Here's to George

The late George Carlin was born on this day in 1937. One of the most impressive (to me, at least) qualities Carlin exhibited was his great love of the English language. He put it to use better than most university educated, prize winning authors. Carlin particularly loved the way we Americans speak; the use of euphemisms amused/enraged him, and he found it interesting how we sometimes let words slip into disuse.

The following tidbits (I wonder how he felt about that word) are in his honor.

-Here we go again, softening the language with euphemisms. Acts of terrorism are no longer acts of terrorism, according to the Homeland Security chief. They are "man-caused disasters." Sounds much nicer, but it also sounds like it lets murderers off the hook by making what they've done sound like some kind of accident. If I'm cooking up a pot of instant mashed potatoes and I walk away, thereby allowing them to boil over and setting the kitchen on fire, that's a man-caused disaster. Men (and it's almost always men) in such a hurry to meet Allah that they fly a jet filled with people into a skyscraper, that's an act of terrorism, not an accident.

-I was watching The Sopranos one day and Carmella referred to Tony as being a "rapscallion" in his youth. A rapscallion? Really? I'm stunned that the writers and producers of The Sopranos would think that a character born and raised in New Jersey would refer to a fellow Jerseyite as a "rapscallion." Would someone from New Jersey even know what a rapscallion is? Maybe those eggheads down at Princeton, but no one at Princeton is actually from Jersey. I do like the word "rapscallion" though. Fun to say, probably fun to be one. I wish someone would call me a rapscallion.

-Fortnight. No one uses the word fortnight anymore. (A fortnight is two weeks, by the way.) When I was a kid, I came across that word in the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Liked it ever since. Granted it's a veddy British sounding sort of word, but still, we should use it more often. It would make us sound smarter. I'll use it for a fortnight and see where it gets me.