The Language of George Carlin

[Stargzer]

Making the rounds of the Public TV stations in the US is the 11th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which was awarded to George Carlin posthumously.

It's amazing to see his command of the English Language, including words of more than four letters. From "The Hippy-Dippy Weatherman" on the Carson show to "The Seven Words You Can't Say On Television" to his description of the difference between football and baseball on the premier of Saturday Night Live to his routines that used clichés from advertising and other modern-day language ("I'm an alpha male on beta blockers"), the man was a master of the language.

Catch it if you still can! I'm watching for a second time right now on Maryland Public TV. Then tomorrow I'll go back to finding a place for all my stuff at work.

[skinem]

"I insist if you're down to the last of your M&Ms, that you have an M."

While I didn't appreciate some of his views or profanity, he was hilarious and had great fun with words. He had some great bits in which his word-play is what made him so funny. Some were so long and involved I was impressed with his ability to have it memorized for performance. It obviously took some imagination, time and effort in creating and writing it.

I saw an interview with him once in which he said he was a believer in the power or words. He paid attention to their meanings, shades, etc.