Goodbye, George Carlin

George Carlin, legendary comedian and free speech advocate has died at age 71.

Here is a verbatim transcript of "Filthy Words," the George Carlin monologue at issue in the historic 1978 Supreme Court case of FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, prepared by the Federal Communications Commission.

Update: Below, "For George," by Least Wanted (via Brett Walker via Susannah Breslin)

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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the53rdcalypso

Another tribute to Carlin: http://www.236.com/blog/w/jamie_kilstein/crossing_the_line_7285.php
He will be missed.
Bob Doles Communist Doppelganger

@57

Questions of censorship aside, an examination of Mr. Cima’s posting history seems to indicate that that his primary reason for posting is to alleviate the possibility that someone, somewhere is thinking and talking about something other than Allesandro Cima.

Setting the question of censorship un-aside, I would only say that the line has to be drawn somewhere; “anything goes” combined with the anonymity of the internet inevitably and immediately results in the utter destruction of the site as a medium for communication. There are no easy answers on where that line should be drawn.
Antinous

I’ve also made a point of not allowing words to wound me since I was an itty bitty baby.

Not everyone has reached your peak of perfect impassivity. What are you on about, anyway?
Bitgod

Huh, I didn’t realize when they made Deadwood, that they were just trying to use all 7 words.
Webbie

I heard about this 7 words thing but never looked it up to see what words they were.

Never realised until now that tits was one of those word.

Tits ? Seriously ?

I noticed on American telly show that “piss” and “pissed” is used often so obviously they relaxed the rules on that.
Antinous

And now that we’ve all gotten to say our naughty words for the day, further examples will be unpublished, not for obscenity, but for tedious repetitiveness. The list is already in the post.
License Farm

As saddened as I and everyone else might be, I think based on his stated views George wouldn’t have wanted anyone to get overly sanguine over his passing. He didn’t believe in an afterlife, nor much in a “God,” either, so waxing poetic about who he may or may not be in the company of now is somewhat antithetical to the idea of honoring him.

A funny story: 15 years ago my dad and I were driving my late grandmother, then about 83, up from MD to NYC for my cousin’s wedding. My grandmother hadn’t been the sharpest pencil in the drawer for some time, so we didn’t think much of playing Carlin’s Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics album in her presence. After a while, my dad and I hear my grandmother counting. Soon enough, we realize she’s counting how many times Carlin says “fuck.” After the tape ends, my dad says, “How many, Molly?” She replies, “47 fucks. That’s a lot of fucking fucks.”

Another routine of Carlin’s my dad has me recite on cue is in the form of a campaign commercial: “Hello, my name is Howard Beemer. I’m running for state attorney general. This is my promise to you: If I am elected, and anyone breaks the law, I personally will go to his or her house, and beat the shit out of them.“
Alessandro Cima

Rossindetroit #76,

And which ideas have you expressed here? I’m impressed by ‘monotonic’ though. Is that like a gin and tonic? And don’t we all have an act to take somewhere? What have I said in this particular thread that annoys you? I’m having fun and I happen to enjoy my ideas and I enjoy it when people argue them. There are some very strange ideas out there about what a forum or a ‘thread’ is. The next time you are at a big dinner having an intense and beautiful conversation, stop and think for a moment about the word ‘thread.’ And think about all that you will have said that evening. Then come back here and tell me what you’ve come up with.

Oh, and yes, you got it: all I care about is the words and people’s reactions to them.
ZippySpincycle

well, I suppose that it’s a good thing that we at least got 40 or so posts in about George Carlin on this thread…
codereduk

My favourite Carlin speech, from Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics. No other so-called “comedian” did stuff like this:

“I don’t like words that hide the truth. I don’t like words that conceal reality. I don’t like euphemisms, or euphemistic language. And American English is loaded with euphemisms. Cause Americans have a lot of trouble dealing with reality. Americans have trouble facing the truth, so they invent the kind of a soft language to protect themselves from it, and it gets worse with every generation. For some reason, it just keeps getting worse. I’ll give you an example of that. There’s a condition in combat. Most people know about it. It’s when a fighting person’s nervous system has been stressed to it’s absolute peak and maximum. Can’t take anymore input. The nervous system has either (click) snapped or is about to snap.

In the first world war, that condition was called shell shock. Simple, honest, direct language. Two syllables, shell shock. Almost sounds like the guns themselves. That was seventy years ago. Then a whole generation went by and the second world war came along and very same combat condition was called battle fatigue. Four syllables now. Takes a little longer to say. Doesn’t seem to hurt as much. Fatigue is a nicer word than shock. Shell shock! Battle fatigue. Then we had the war in Korea, 1950. Madison avenue was riding high by that time, and the very same combat condition was called operational exhaustion. Hey, were up to eight syllables now! And the humanity has been squeezed completely out of the phrase. It’s totally sterile now. Operational exhaustion. Sounds like something that might happen to your car.

Then of course, came the war in Viet Nam, which has only been over for about sixteen or seventeen years, and thanks to the lies and deceits surrounding that war, I guess it’s no surprise that the very same condition was called post-traumatic stress disorder. Still eight syllables, but we’ve added a hyphen! And the pain is completely buried under jargon. Post-traumatic stress disorder. I’ll bet you if we’d of still been calling it shell shock, some of those Viet Nam veterans might have gotten the attention they needed at the time.”
Takuan

thanks Codereduk: I’ll repeat your quote:

“I don’t like words that hide the truth. I don’t like words that conceal reality. I don’t like euphemisms, or euphemistic language. And American English is loaded with euphemisms. Cause Americans have a lot of trouble dealing with reality. Americans have trouble facing the truth, so they invent the kind of a soft language to protect themselves from it, and it gets worse with every generation.”

George Carlin: Human, man, patriot, humanist, American, good shit.
Moon

The world is a lot less funny today.
Rossifumi

Later buddy.
Cameron Barrett

Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker and Tits.

RIP, Mr. Carlin. You will be missed.
alisong76

#27, I just LOL’ed. Great start to the day.
Peter Shannon

I’ll be wearing a frown for awhile. He went far too young.
mlennox

shit!
Asswipe Johnson

Epic bummer. Someone hold me please while I sob this one out.
raisedbywolves

RIP, motherfucker.
baltimoregal

I grew up on George Carlin.
The world seems different today.
Glossolalia Black

Say hello to Bill Hicks for us. :( Sharp as a tack until the bitter end, from what I understand.
arttoys

And tits doesn’t even belong on the list. Sounds like a snack, or a nickname.
The Unusual Suspect

Tonight’s forecast: Dark. Continued dark throughout the evening.

Miss you already, George.

..
Ryan Waddell

Holy fuckballs. That sucks.
buddy66

He’s sharing a joint with Lenny Bruce and Lord Buckley.
mcdonough

There is no joy in White Harlem tonight.
OntarioJer

Does anyone else notice that he really resembles Mel Gibson here?
Pipenta

My favorite Carlin routine was the one on leftovers:

“Could be meat, could be cake!”
Alessandro Cima

This is weird. Carlin dies and BoingBoing posts his nasty words and comment writers post his nasty words without being disemvoweled. Several weeks ago, I posted a poem about the ‘C’ word but spelled it with a ‘K’ and not only got disemvoweled but got called names by one of the moderators. I got into a big back and forth with T. N. Hayden about the ridiculous censorship going on in BoingBoing forums and was quite soundly smacked down and told that I was some sort of cheapskate and ‘piker.’ I was told that the word (even if spelled with a k) was offensive to most of BoingBoing’s readership and was one of the two most charged words in the language. I was actually posting in response to a post about language and the reaction it got during a Scientology protest in England.

What gives? Can we only use the ‘C’ word if it comes out of George Carlin’s mouth? Can we not offer BoingBoing poetry about the ‘C’ word? Or must the ‘C’ word always be from a comedy act that’s thirty years old in order for it to pass the censors?

Just asking. You can’t make pretend to love Carlin and then behave like old spinsters in your forums. Hyp hyp hyp-o-crite.
Anonymous

his smooth delivery and off the cuff delivery belied a tremendous intellectual and creative strength. i have no doubt that he worked tirelessly to accomplish this seemingly effortless, stream of consciousness style. like any great artist, the work behind the work is not apparent, or even important. as a comic craftsman i don’t think he had any peer.

i think he would think it hilarious that many comments here end with “god bless you george.” i say good on you, george. you blessed yourself, and your audiences, with your unvarnished (but highly polished) routines.
Gitbo

George got a little crusty in his all too short later years. Below is a clip where George tells you all you need to know about politics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI5EY5kqiBU&feature=related
Takuan

swearing is Carlin and Carlin is swearing. Bless George. Your poetry was only distantly related to the thread. Quit whining and work within the onerous strait jacket BB imposes on you. Lord knows I have to.
mcdonough

He had a great bit on FM&AM about an undercover narc’s first day on the job and how he didn’t know that “shit” was a euphemism for weed:

Narc: Well how much is the “shit”?
Dealer: I can let you have 2 ounces for $90, man.
Narc: Must be good “shit.”
Dealer: You gonna want some papers with that?
Narc: Yes, better let me have a roll or two.
drewstarr

Well, shit.
His albums remain classics and always will. But man am I going to miss his regular HBO specials. They hold up as amazing snapshots of the random stupidities our government, pop culture, and own bodies of the times in which they were filmed. The future will be less interesting without his commentary on our times.

To those talking about what George is doing in “heaven,” I thought they don’t let you in to somewhere you don’t believe in? I once saw an interview where he said his views on god were a hedged bet — on the off chance he was wrong there were a heaven, he had no desire to hang with the folks going there.
JamesMason

“2 ounces for $90, man”

Yeah, he was old…
Boba Fett Diop

“OK Sheriff, we’re going to fuck you now, but we’re going to fuck you slow.”

The man was a genius.
Alessandro Cima

Antinous,

I just want to be careful about using the ‘hate speech’ phrase. Hate speech has nothing to do with use of the so-called ‘C’ word. Cussing and hate are two completely different things. The word in question represents a body part, not an attack on someone. It’s all linguistic fun here. “Words, words, words.”

Bob Doles Communist Doppelganger,

That’s a great username or alias. But posting as one’s self without the cloak of an alias is not necessarily aimed at talking about one’s self. I think that an ‘examination of my posting history’ will show that I write what I write and I get a reaction so I respond. But I’m flattered that you examined me. I can think of no real legitimate use for a forum like this other than to see my words in print on the big bad web and get into interesting arguments. It’s all in good fun and it does not imply anything beyond the argument at hand. I mean come on, don’t you think it’s fun to cuss and then argue about freedom of speech? I could do it all day.
Alessandro Cima

I’m not whining. I’m bitching.
Antinous

The word in question represents a body part, not an attack on someone.

In actual usage, I wouldn’t bet on that being true.
Anonymous

We discussed the case this morning in my communication law and ethics class and watched the clip. Kind of bizarre timing.
Anonymous

It’s funny, I have the 2008 Carlin Daily Calender. The joke for 22nd June, his death day:

I Like These Jokes!

Cowhand: An occupational disability common among dairy farmers.

Woodpecker: A seventeenth-century prosthetic device.

Letherette: A short sadomasochist.

God bless ya, George, if only you’ll let Him. ;)
Alessandro Cima

Well that depends on how imaginative you are when you’re not attacking someone. I know several people who just absolutely love nothing better than to hear that word spoken very softly and with a delicate purr. You know how it is, right?
RevEng

George Carlin truly was a great comedian. No slapstick, no ridiculousness, just everyday situations and how much he hated them. he was a master at pointing out the stupidity of the world around us. We could have used a hundred more people like George.

As a great fan of his work and everything he stood for, he will be missed.
Antinous

Since my partners (if I had any) don’t come equipped with that body part, they might think it odd.
Takuan

*(bow)*
Avram

Alessandro Cima #55: I was smacked down simply for using the ‘C’ word and told that it was offensive in any context.

No, that is not what you were told, though it does bear a superficial similarity to it.

You were smacked down because you tried to hijack a discussion about civil liberties and religion, and did so in a fashion likely to cause a flamewar and to make women feel unwelcome.

If Xeni, or one of the other Boingers, decides to do something which might make women feel unwelcome, well, it’s their blog. It’s not your blog, or any of the other commenters’.
Talia

I’m more bothered at your choice of venue, a tribute thread to a comedy great forced to devolve into someone railing against the vicious injustices of the Nazilike demonic moderators [sarcasm alert. Don't hurt me]

You could have picked a different thread to discuss how oppressed you are. :P

I mean look. This thread is barely even related to Carlin anymore. :/ Though whether he would have approved of your valiant efforts to stand up for foul language or not is debatable. :P
Alessandro Cima

Antinous, you deserve partners. I like you. How can someone who’s willing to go toe to toe the way you are not have partners? Go get one and use any words you like so they don’t think you’re odd.
Ed Brock

We lose the greatest comic genius we ever had, but Bill O’Reilly still lingers.

The universe is so unfair.
Antinous

Alessandro,

I’ve been expecting you to turn up. The answer is simple. In this case it’s the subject of the post. In other cases it wasn’t.
Satan Ate My Ears

Gone to meet the big “Buddy Christ” in the sky. Peace.
Talia

“If Xeni, or one of the other Boingers, decides to do something which might make women feel unwelcome, well, it’s their blog. It’s not your blog, or any of the other commenters’.”

Bad news. I just bought 51% of the stock in BoingBoing now. As the new CEO, I would like to announce it will be turned into a knitting blog. A knitting and pokemon blog. With special “polka band of the week” features.
Jed Alexander

I think the first Carlin stand-up I saw was on a VHS tape of one of his live concerts when I was about 9. The 7 dirty words thing is even more hilarious and subversive when you’re 9.

Carlin was one of the few stand-up comedians who actually got better and more relevant as he got older.
Alessandro Cima

Talia,

My fingers are tired no so I’m going to have to stop before someone blows up my computer. But geez, I dunno, I saw a bunch of bad words in beautiful bold cursive and I thought wow what a great discussion to have in honor of Mr. Carlin. Call me crazy but I think that Mr. Carlin started it. I’m just playing along. There’s no better thread than this one to discuss language. As far as I know Mr. Carlin didn’t give a hoot about what anyone thought. He cared about language.
Wyld

Fuck me …

I know it sounds strange, but I’m actually feeling a little in shock right now.

The world is now a little colder.
airshowfan

Yes, I will miss him as well.

The first time I was properly introduced to his work (i.e. got to know him as more than “that Rufus guy from Bill & Ted”) was my sophomore year in college, about 6 years ago, when a friend insisted that I listened to the “flying in the airlines” bit… “Get ON the plane? Screw that, I’m getting IN the plane! Let Evil Knievel get ON the plane! There seems to be less wind IN here!” … “Sometimes they say you’re in a non-stop flight. Well, I don’t care for that, I insist that my flight stop! Preferably at an airport; It’s those sudden unscheduled cornfield and housing development stops that seem to interrupt the flow of my day” … “Of course it’s been PRE-recorded. When else are you going to record it, AFTER?!” … “Ooh, a RAIN EVENT, I hope I can get tickets to that!”… Classic. And since I rented his DVDs, and learned about the 7 Words thing, I have admired him even more.

I heard a great interview with him on NPR where he talks about liking odd language since he was a kid, keeping lists of the swear words older kids used, stuff like that. I forget which, probably one of these:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1122217

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4136881

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4968570
themindfantastic

Damn I just woke up and now this ruins my day. I remember seeing him in concert back in Toronto, and though at times he got more ‘cranky’ as he got older, he still made it funny, by being able to think outside of the normal realms of how the world works. Damn this really ruins my day, I have to play Killer Carlin to get myself out of this funk me thinks.
Anonymous

He had a brilliant bit about the end of life, that he wished we had a 2 minute warning before we’re going to die. If we did, he would run down into the middle of a busy intersection, yell loudly and proclaim: “These are the things I believe in” and list all the things he thought were stupid and asinine in the world. It would last 1:55. And at the end of the rant, he would end with, “…and if none of these are true, may God strike me dead”.

What a brilliant, profound and truly original thinker. As much as you may hate this, God bless you George Carlin.
elevenwatt

We’re sorry, this video is no longer available. Strangely elegiac.
My favorite was his cheer:
Rat-shit, bat-shit, dirty old twat,. Sixty-nine assholes tied in a knot. Yaaaay… Lizard-shit… Fuck!
Bob

Be at peace, George. You don’t have to deal with this mess anymore. You will be missed by many who were touched and perhaps a bit enlightened by your work.
Nollie

in the 90s i got to see him in NYC for the taping of one of the HBO specials. I was 16 and and the tickets were a birthday present. I have never laughed so hard in my life; still to this day i can say that. The amazing thing about seeing him live is that it truly is even funnier than what you see on TV. There is something about being there surrounded by people, watching this tremendous comedian, and yet you feel like he is only talking to you. A true master. I was hoping to see him this summer, oh well – sigh. RIP
Xeni Jardin

@ #25elevenwatt, that may have been a momentary glitch; I see that the video is still available (at least for me here in Los Angeles, CA, USA).
Takuan

BoingBoing, BoingBoing Ã¼ber alles,
Ãœber alles in der Welt,
Wenn es stets zu Schutz und Trutze
BrÃ¼derlich zusammenhÃ¤lt.
Von der Google bis an die Yahoo,
Von der RIAA bis an den TSA,
|: BoingBoing, BoingBoing Ã¼ber alles,
Ãœber alles in der Welt! :|
minTphresh

“shit fuck piss cocksucker motherfucker cunt tits”

RIP GEORGE CARLIN. there, now i said it on the right thread! and A.C., quitcher bitchen!
Takuan

Moderatische Scweinhundts!
http://image.guim.co.uk/Guardian/arts/gallery/2007/jul/22/comedy.films/producers_kobal-1751.jpg
CapnMarrrrk

Remember as you read the quick quotes that pop up today about George Carlin’s Death, and the bummed out eulogies (of which I am indeed bummed out), that he was far more than “The Hippie Dippy Weatherman” and the 7 Dirty Words guy. George was a Master of Observation, and the foundation of his humor was NOT about the silly little foibles of American Culture that make us chuckle, but focused on the the major train wrecks and squandered birthright of the human animal.

He hated humanity in the general and loved individuals in the specific, and I’m glad he lived long enough to make us squirm with discomfort when faced with the mirror then achieve catharsis with laughter. At the end he was a cranky old-fart, with a laser-eye and the courage to tell us all to fuck off. And for that, I’ll miss him.
BassTooth

Fuck. Rest in Peace motherfucker.
Takuan

I never met George. But I am absolutely certain that he would never, ever deliberately use his language to hurt or give pain to the innocent. He may have been a foul mouthed son of a bitch, but he was unquestionably a gentleman.
peacock

The world of entertainment is much much better now that we can use the 7 dirty words. Let’s teach them to third graders!!!
arkizzle

Oh.. shit one.
drewstarr

how could I forget ol’ George founded frisbeetarianism (the belief that when you die your “soul gets flung onto a roof, and just stays there.”)

Wikipedia says he also prayed to Joe Pesci because he looked like a guy who could get things done.
Alessandro Cima

Antinous,

It’s always nice to be expected. I rather like being here when I’m not being called a ‘piker.’ I’ve always thought I work to hard to be a piker. But I’m just not quite buying your argument. I wasn’t smacked down harshly for being off the subject of the post. I was smacked down simply for using the ‘C’ word and told that it was offensive in any context. There is a general detectable tendency here toward what I call ‘easy freedom.’ It’s freedom of speech as long as it’s easy and doesn’t offend anyone. But you are either for freedom of expression or you are not.

There are many threads here that start on subject and end up with comments about where someone had dinner last night. I do not accept that a comment using the ‘C’ word to make a point about an article on official reaction to ‘offensive’ language can possibly be off subject. You could argue that this post is off subject since it is not directly related to Mr. Carlin’s death. But it is related to a very profound belief he had about language and freedom. A belief that I think we could all still learn something from.
- Antinous
  
  Alessandro,
  
  It’s a combination of factors: off-topic and offensive. I would prefer that hate speech not have the power to wound, but then no speech would have the power to bring joy either. Moderation is the business of offending the minimum number of people while allowing the maximum flow of ideas. There is no correct answer. We stick to the rules and make exceptions when it seems appropriate. This post is a meta-discussion of the power of language, so it gets the rare exception.
Antinous

As the new CEO, I would like to announce it will be turned into a knitting blog. A knitting and pokemon blog. With special “polka band of the week” features.

I’m in.
ROSSINDETROIT

Alessandro, all you care about is the words (or word) and people’s reactions to them/it. There are places where this kind monotonic exchange is encouraged and appreciated. But apparently not here. I’m sure you noticed, but here’s the benefit of the doubt for you. In this environment ideas take precedence over the particular sequences of letters and vocal sounds that turn you on.
Please use your imagination to find an appropriate forum to thrill others with your treasured sequences of letters and vocal sounds. Taking your act there would be an improvement to both venues.
william

Many thanks for posting this clip. What a master of his art!
Takuan

ever heard of “bondage polka”? It involves black patent leather lederhosen. I won’t tell you about the accordian.
Cochituate

I stopped enjoying as much of Carlin as I used to, the last decade of his life because it seemed that he’d started hating a good portion of the human race. There was a nasty turn in his humor that mad eme think he’d regretted being a member. My wife pointed it out in an HBO special in the ’90′s, and it was quite obvious over the next 2-3. We never watched the last few.
Parq

Watching this clip, I remembered something I’d forgotten; an essential element of his standup humor was his masterful use of facial expressions. Man, a lip-reader would bust a gut watching him, even if she didn’t “read” English. And, as any parent of a TV-watching kid born after 1990 knows, “fart” has made it off the list once and for all.

“Other people’s stuff is shit, but your shit is stuff.” Old friend, since you didn’t believe that your soul persisted in the hereafter, we’re just gonna have to make sure it persists here.
mklein

Poo, pee, fornicate, vagina, fellaciest, mother raper, breasts.
Can you say all of those on TV?
takeshi

OK, you two. Let the man rest in peace already. And no, Antinous, I’m not buying it, either. Words are weapons and also tools, but only because we allow them to be.

Inference and implication are distinct. If someone is using a naughty word, but is clearly not intending to wound anyone, there is no harm. And even if they are intending to wound others, sticks and stones. I’m not the kind of person who spouts profanity all day, but I’ve also made a point of not allowing words to wound me since I was an itty bitty baby. I don’t need anyone telling me which words I am mature enough to process, thanks.

“This post is a meta-discussion of the power of language, so it gets the rare exception.”

This linguistic meritmongering is exactly the kind of thing that made Carlin vomit. Your excuse is unexceptional, so exception denied.
Moon

fellaciest?? I don’t think so.

How about BJ-er?
Takuan

“fellatrix” really, I don’t know what the schools are teaching these days….
Munkcy

If I had to list the comedians I most wanted to see live, George Carlin would have been at the top of that list and no one else would have even been close.

I’m never going to get to fulfill that desire to see him perform live now.
elevenwatt

@31 I think it was – thanks Jeni :)