Foul language. Could the pendulum be posed to swing back? 

 

For some time, I have been concerned about the spread of bad language. It seems that an increasingly small number of people show any concern about spewing words that once were uttered only by very coarse people in very coarse surroundings. Before letting loose with a series of four letter words that would have curled the hair of polite society only a generation or so ago, hardly anyone checks to see if a doddering grandmother or toddling 2-year old stands nearby.

 

Recent news reports, however, give me hope. 

 

Late last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Goldman Sachs has issued a directive banning all expletives in work-related e-mail. Reportedly, Citigroup and JP Morgan established similar corporate policies earlier this year. The mandates follow congressional hearings during which several Goldman Sachs e-mails, including one that referred to a collateralized debt deal as a “sh@#ty deal,” garnered much attention.

 

Now, it looks like the Parents Television Council (PTC) is willing to battle the use of profanity during family viewing hours. According to news reports, the media watchdog has contacted 300 companies and urged them to withhold advertising support for a new television series titled “$#*! My Dad Says.” The television program, which stems from a Twitter account of the same name, details the salty day-to-day musings of one father. PTC President Tim Winter wrote, “As an advertiser, you have the power to act upon your corporate values and send a clear message to CBS and its affiliates that this type of profanity in any format has no place in primetime broadcast television.”