Letter: Obscenities have permeated culture

Friday, Dec. 9, 2005 | 9:13 a.m.

The F-word -- "for goodness sake" -- and the S-word -- "shut up" -- are bantered about like everyday words such as "lovely" or "beautiful." The F- and S-words have a time and place and a very narrow limited space to be exposed in.

Some years ago I did a stand-up comedy act at The Comedy Store in Hollywood. When I finished I sat with my wife and viewed the next four acts. The F- and S-words permeated the air. That told me not to quit my day job. I will love comedy to my dying day, but not in that company.

I remember my stepsister used the S-word in every other sentence. There came a day of reckoning when her friends gave her repeated warnings, to stop or else. She did not stop. So the "or else" action was put into play. They held her down and washed her mouth out with soap. Amazingly, I never heard her utter the S-word again.

I was surprised in 2004 when Mrs. Cheney called John Kerry a bad man. This referred to Kerry because he brought out the fact in his debate with President Bush that Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter's sexual preference was other than men. Now, when the vice president directed the F-word toward a senator on the floor of the Senate, that word resounded through the chamber, out the door and around the world via the media. Mrs. Cheney did not say of her husband that he is a bad man.

It merely comes down to this: If you must use the S-word -- "shut up" -- or the F-word -- "for goodness sake" -- then for goodness sake, shut up.

Frank Nagy

Las Vegas