She doesn’t want to ‘follow the language’ if it’s into the gutter

Re “All the words now fit to print’’ by Stephanie Ebbert and “Our &@*!^$# public discourse’’ by Jeff Jacoby (Ideas, April 22): Because of an old habit of mine of reading newspapers from the last page to the front, I first came upon the shortened inside headline “Swear words’’ for Ebbert’s piece. That made me turn to the article’s origin on the section’s front page, where I saw the illustration “S---hole? Bad---? P----?’’ That grabbed my attention. I knew how to fill in the blanks because I don’t live under a rock, and I hear these words all the time.

Now, I’m not a prude, and, in full disclosure, I have been known to let a few gems roll off my tongue. But, hypocrisy notwithstanding, I disagree with lexicographer Kory Stamper’s view in the Ebbert piece that “we have to follow the language where it’s going’’ if, in my opinion, it leads to the trashy gutter language that Jacoby refers to in his piece.

In our current culture, we can hardly read a book, have a conversation, see a TV program, or watch a film without being barraged with excessive, indecent profanity.

Jacoby writes, “A flood of profanity pollutes our public square.’’ I am going to resolve for myself, as he concludes, that “it’s time we gave some thought to cleaning it up.’’

Joanne Pettengill

Billerica

Swearing’s a healthy release, until it isn’t

Jeff Jacoby can’t seem to make up his mind whether the “ubiquitous and unremitting’’ use of profanities is a good thing or a bad thing (“Our &@*!^$# public discourse’’). More important, he overlooks the most serious consequence of “excessive swearing.’’

Jacoby condemns David Ortiz’s use of the F-word following the Boston Marathon bombings as “crude’’ and “demeaning . . . gutter language,’’ and yet later admits in a different context that “sometimes salty language is exactly what’s called for.’’ The fact that Big Papi’s moment has reached legendary status in Boston lore and was hailed at the time by the mayor, the baseball commissioner, and the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission might be a clue to Jacoby that Ortiz’s language actually provided a necessary emotional release for an angry and saddened people.

Many people will agree with Jacoby that the ubiquity of profane language contributes to the coarsening of our society, but that isn’t its most harmful influence. When used judiciously, as Ortiz did, profanity is a powerful tool for the release of anger and frustration and can sometimes benefit interpersonal relationships. When used constantly, it loses that effect, and the speaker is more likely to up the ante and resort to a stronger means of gaining attention and releasing anger and frustration, namely physical violence.

Tom Gotsill

West Harwich

Refreshing ’60s freedoms paved path to cruder culture — and to Oval Office

I could not agree more with Jeff Jacoby. I admit that I am guilty of using profanity at times. I plead mea culpa. What we say and how we say it tells much about so much — for example, the level to which we will stoop to articulate a point and how much off-color language we think we need to use to prove that point.

The late 1960s, an era I loved and often want to relive, ushered in many freedoms that heretofore had been taboo. It loosened sexual mores, freed up the dress code, opened up topics for discussion one never would have mentioned, and allowed women to say things only a man used to be able to say.

It was a refreshing time. After all, who wants to remain imprisoned by so many ridiculous social customs (think of June Cleaver, wearing high heels to a barbecue)? As is often the case, human beings took a social good and created a monster, ushering in a coarsening of culture.

The election of Donald Trump has ushered in a continuation of this coarsening, hardening a national culture that already had been on its way to extremes of crudity. When the president spews bad language, it says that it is OK not only to use vulgarity but to degrade one’s opponent by any words necessary. This profanity permission slip comes with a tolerance of violence associated with it. Trump’s many campaign appearances proved that.

I will try to curb my own use of bad language. I cannot say the president will follow suit.

Natalie Rosen

Framingham