George Carlin, Speaking Blue to Power

Listen Now add to playlist | download

Fresh Air from WHYY, July 4, 2008 · Linguist Geoff Nunberg reflects on the life and language of the late comedian George Carlin, who died last month. (Read Nunberg's full essay.)

In the 1970s, Carlin observed: "There are 400,000 words in the English language, and there are seven of them you can't say on television. What a ratio that is: 399,993 to seven. They must really be bad."

Then, famously, he proceeded to say them.

E-mail this Page

Recipient's e-mail address:	» Up to twelve addresses, separated by commas.
Your e-mail address:
Your name:
Personal message (optional, 600 characters max):
Your NPR member station:
Are you a member of your local NPR station?	Yes No
Would you like to receive information from your local NPR member station? (see NPR's privacy policy)	Yes No
Please send me updates from NPR.	Yes No

(Information collected by NPR will be used solely for internal NPR or NPR member station purposes and only if you selected 'yes' above. See NPR's privacy policy for more information.)

Comments

Discussions for this story are now closed. Please see the Community FAQ for more information.

More Remembrances

Learn more: Podcasts | RSS

Feeds

PodcastRSS

Remembrances
Subscribe to Remembrances podcast via:
Or use this URL:
close [x]
Fresh Air from WHYY
Subscribe to Fresh Air from WHYY podcast via:
Or use this URL:
close [x]

George Carlin, Speaking Blue to Power

Related NPR Stories

E-mail this Page

Comments

More Remembrances

Feeds

More People & Places

Search 'Fresh Air from WHYY'

Browse Topics

Services

Programs