Fuck shit cock balls.

Today, the Supreme Court took up a dispute between the television networks and the Federal Communications Commission over whether the government can fine the networks for the "fleeting" use of profanity on live television.

Historically, the FCC held that expletives used in passing did not constitute indecency. Only repeated swearing would trigger indecency charges. Then, in 2003, Bono dropped the F-Bomb during the Golden Globe Awards, saying "This is really, really, fucking brilliant." The FCC freaked out and said broadcasters are liable for even a single profane word heard in programs aired between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Not surprisingly, the adjective profane has its roots in religion. It comes from the Latin for "not admitted into the temple" or "out in front of the temple" and evolved to mean "unholy, not consecrated."

As a non-religious person, I find it so odd--so fucking odd--that "we" have deemed certain words to be bad or obscene no matter what the context. I mean, Bono was using the F-Bomb to describe how incredibly awesome something was. But somehow, the F-U-C-K-I-N-G letter combination makes it profane, even though it had nothing to do with the dirty sinful act of The Sex. But if he had said, "This is really, really, freaking brilliant," it would have been OK, even though the intent behind the adverbs was the same.

Most words have little meaning without context; it's the context that lets us know whether the person using the words intends to inflict harm.

Let's look at the word "girl." Some people take offense when the word "girl" is used, even in casual conversation, to refer to an adult woman. From a feminist perspective, the word "girl" is belittling, as no one would ever casually refer to adult male colleagues, for example, as "boys." But the word "girl" itself is not taboo; people use it all the time, without controversy, to refer to young female children. Even the word "boy" in the right context is derogatory and racist, as it was used by whites to assert racial superiority in the segregated south.

Linguist Mario Pei once said: “Objections to taboos and euphemisms are of no avail whatsoever. Both constitute a definite part of usage, and both will continue, presumably, as long as language (any language) exists.” So true. Language evolves, and people will find or even create new words to connote the negative meaning they want. Ban the word fuck on TV, characters will start to say frak. Tell kids they shouldn't call the mentally disabled "retards" and they will start calling them speds instead.

The whole thing is just so silly to me. Kids will eventually learn that the word fuck exists as both a noun, verb, adjective, and adverb--and that it is awesome. Isn't it more important to teach our kids that how we use words can hurt people, rather than banning certain words from the public domain because of some weird sense of puritanism?