Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
That was Carlin's point in his (updated) routine, and mine, a few posts ago. You see it; your brain processes it; you hear the word in your head. How on EARTH can that possibly be somehow different than seeing it in print?
|
Hm... there
might be an explanation -- this might be classical magic thinking? By speaking out a demon's name, you summon him? (or her?) By speaking out a "bad" word, you bring about the bad thing? But you can avoid the danger by using a substitute word. I don't know how common this is in English, but in German god-fearing people shy (or at least shied) away from speaking out the Devil's name, from saying "der Teufel" -- he might hear it, and show up -- but you can safely say "der Leibhaftige" ("the Incarnate") or "der Gottseibeiuns" ("the God-be-with-us"). Like any demon, he only responds to his proper name.
Reading a spelled out "bad" word, the reader would then be confronted with the fact that someone has carelessly, defiantly, or (quite possibly) with evil intentions
said it, and thus risked to
invoke the evil, instead of taking the sensible precaution of using an euphemism, to let sleeping demons sleep? And by having to read this word, the reader would even be made the writer's reluctant accomplice?
These demons might be demons of the mind, of course...