I don't like words that hide the truth. I don't 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 protest 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. I'll betcha. I'll betcha.
But. But, it didn't happen, and one of the reasons. One of the reasons is because we were using that soft language. That language that takes the life out of life. And it is a function of time. It
does keep getting worse. I'll give you another example. Sometime during my life. Sometime
during my life, toilet paper became bathroom tissue. I wasn't notified of this. No one asked me if
I agreed with it. It just happened. Toilet paper became bathroom tissue. Sneakers became
running shoes. false teeth became dental appliances. Medicine became medication. Information
became directory assistance. The dump became the landfill. Car crashes became automobile
accidents. Partly cloudy bacame partly sunny. Motels became motor lodges. House trailers
became mobile homes. Used cars became previously owned transportation. Room service
became guest-room dining. And constipation became occasional irregularity. When I was a little
kid, if I got sick they wanted me to go to the hospital and see a doctor. Now they want me to go
to a health maintenance organization...or a wellness center to consult a healthcare delivery
professional. Poor people used to live in slums. Now the economically disadvantaged occupy
substandard housing in the inner cities. And they're broke! They're broke! They don't have a
negative cash-flow position. They're fucking broke! Cause a lot of them were fired. You know,
fired. management wanted to curtail redundancies in the human resources area, so many
people are no longer viable members of the workforce.
Smug, greedy, well-fed white people have invented a language to conceal their sins. It's as simple
as that. The CIA doesn't kill anybody anymore, they neutralize people...or they depopulate the
area. The government doesn't lie, it engages in disinformation. The pentagon actually measures
nuclear radiation in something they call sunshine units. Israeli murderers are called commandos.
Arab commandos are called terrorists. Contra killers are called freedom fighters. Well, if crime
fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never
mention that part of it to us, do they? Never mention that part of it.
And...and some of this stuff is just silly, we all know that, like on the airlines, they say want to
pre- board. Well, what the hell is pre-board, what does that mean? To get on before you get on?
They say they're going to pre-board those passengers in need of special assistance. Cripples!
Simple honest direct language. There is no shame attached to the word cripple that I can find in
any dictionary. No shame attached to it, in fact it's a word used in bible translations. Jesus healed
the cripples. Doesn't take seven words to describe that condition. But we don't have any cripples
in this country anymore. We have The physically challenged. Is that a grotesque enough evasion
for you? How about differently abled. I've heard them called that. Differently abled! You can't
even call these people handicapped anymore. They'll say, "Were not handicapped. Were
handicapable!" These poor people have been bullshitted by the system into believing that if you
change the name of the condition, somehow you'll change the condition. Well, hey cousin,
ppsssspptttttt. Doesn't happen. Doesn't happen.
We have no more deaf people in this country, hearing impaired. No ones blind anymore, partially
sighted or visually impaired. We have no more stupid people. Everyone has a learning
disorder...or he's minimally exceptional. How would you like to be told that about your child?
"He's minimally exceptional." "Oohh, thank god for that." Psychologists actually have started
calling ugly people, those with severe appearance deficits. It's getting so bad, that any day now I expect to hear a rape victim referred to as an unwilling sperm recipient.
And we have no more old people in this country. No more old people. We shipped them all
away, and we brought in these senior citizens. Isn't that a typically American twentieth century
phrase? Bloodless, lifeless, no pulse in one of them. A senior citizen. But I've accepted that one,
I've come to terms with it. I know it's to stay. We'll never get rid of it. That's what they're going
to be called, so I'll relax on that, but the one I do resist. The one I keep resisting is when they
look at an old guy and they'll say, "Look at him Dan! He's ninety years young." Imagine the fear
of aging that reveals. To not even be able to use the word "old" to describe somebody. To have
to use an antonym. And fear of aging is natural. It's universal. Isn't it? We all have that. No one
wants to get old. No one wants to die, but we do! So we bullshit ourselves. I started bullshitting
myself when I got to my forties. As soon as I got into my forties I'd look in the mirror and I'd say,
"well, I...I guess I'm getting...older." Older sounds a little better than old doesn't it? Sounds like it
might even last a little longer. Bullshit, I'm getting old! And it's okay, because thanks to our fear
of death in this country, I won't have to die...I'll pass away. Or I'll expire like a magazine
subscription. If it happens in the hospital, they'll call it a terminal episode. The insurance
company will refer to it as negative patient-care outcome. And if it's the result of malpractice,
they'll say it was a therapeutic misadventure. I'm telling you, some of this language makes me
want to vomit. Well, maybe not vomit. Makes me want to engage in an involuntary personal
protein spill.