Sunday, November 20, 2011

"Aw, f**k it."

Yesterday, during a broadcast of ESPN's College GameDay, Lee Corso said the f-word in the course of making his picks. If there was a delay guarding against this sort of thing, it didn't catch up. Later, Corso apologized, saying he used an expletive he shouldn't have used.

This struck me funny because, if you watch the clip at Zap2it.com, linked above, you'll see he uses the f-word as commonly accepted slang for "Forget it." He doesn't say it in anger or malice; he says it in good-natured jest. If he used another expletive, perhaps that would be one he shouldn't have used.

A collective morality can't be applied because profanity is generally allowed on other programs the same audience may be watching. Microphones often pick it up during games. We can't and shouldn't take language out of context but address the intent behind it. Ultimately, one can only decide morality for oneself.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

There's a reason Carlin did Seven Words You Can't Say on Television.

Of course, he stopped doing that when he could say them on HBO.