Q Class Discussion - The Social Psychology of George Carlin - Euphemisms 1818 unread replies.3030 replies. • "There is more logic in humor than in anything else. Because, you see, humor is truth." - Victor Borge • "If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you more open to my ideas. And, if I can persuade you to laugh at a particular point that I make, by laughing at it you acknowledge it as true." – John Cleese • "Humor is the good natured side of a truth." Mark Twain - quoted in Mark Twain and I, Opie Read • "The funniest things are the forbidden." Mark Twain - Notebook, 1879 • "Sigmund Freud suggested that jokes were true, serving two purposes: aggression (such as sarcasm) or to expose unconscious desires (the sexual joke)." - William Berry • "Comedy is a socially acceptable form of hostility and aggression. That is what comics do, stand the world upside down." - George Carlin • "By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth." - George Carlin George Carlin (1937-2008) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, author, and social critic. He was known for his black comedy and reflections on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and various taboo subjects. As a social critic, he had a serious dislike of euphemisms, words that hide the truth. As a comedian, his purpose was to reveal the truth, not to hide it, and he developed a stand-up routine focused on Political Correctness and Euphemisms. Below is a portion of that act focused on society's tendency to develop euphemistic language. Just a word of warning. If you laugh at a particular point, you acknowledge it as true. George Carlin on Euphemisms.mp4 Download George Carlin on Euphemisms.mp4Play media comment. Stephen Pinker in his 2003 book “The Blank Slate” coined the name euphemism treadmill for the process whereby words introduced to replace an offensive word, over time become offensive themselves. In 250-300 words, answer the following questions. Is George Carlin right? Why do we need euphemisms, especially if the euphemisms we use to hide offensive words eventually become offensive enough that we invent a new euphemism? Explain your thoughts on this. Respond to at least two other student' posts in 75-100 words. I'll comment as necessary. Note: Click the options button in the upper right corner to see the rubric for this exercise.