Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for June 30, 2024

What we need are some First Amendment Crusaders.

Reminds me of the stoning scene in Life of Brian.

Idiocracy

I was going to point to a YouTube URL for that Life of Brian scene, but it was instantly followed by an anti-constipation commercial and I just can’t do that to anyone even though it might not happen every time. ::gack::

It’ll be interesting to see how some regulars deny this is happening and when it does its all Reps’ fault.

Would semaphore be too Euro-centric?

In my neck of the woods “homeless” has been replaced by “houseless.” That seems pointless to me.

Around here, last I heard, those folks were “unhoused” from the folks who aren’t… and “sidewalk chateau” from at least one of the ones who is.

Good thing they were just penciled in.

The use of graphite language has always had a negative connotation.

Cultural appropriation, Pastis. Pal: From Romani phal ‘brother, mate’, based on Sanskrit bhrātṛ ‘brother’.

Yes, all the time once common sayings are all of a sudden not politically correct, hard to stay on top !

I’m still trying to figure out why it’s offensive to name a football team after Indians.

White slavery. That got me fired.

May I point out that “Stephan” reads very un-American?

I’m not supposed to use the N-, the I-, the Z- and the E-word anymore.And plenty of others, of course.

Oh look, Stephan’s using a rubber…

I’d leave a thumbs-up emoji, but those are now banned.

I’m sure this will be a delightful comment section today.

I’d like to know who came up with the banned words list for GoComics. You can’t use the plural of spice or the breed of the big Maine cats. There have been times that I couldn’t even figure out which word I was trying to post was banned so I ended up just not posting any comment at all. So much depends on context. I know the abbreviation for raccoon has been used as a racial slur, but it is not a racial slur when referring to a recognized breed of cats. And the plural of spice is not the same spelling as the plural of the racial slur that they think they are banning by banning spîces.

Stephan unalived his own creations.

You should see what they did to you a hundred years ago for using certain words. Heck, during World War I, you could get arrested just for not showing enough patriotic enthusiasm.

And of course, if you were, say, black, you could get arrested or worse just for looking at someone the wrong way. Not saying people aren’t over sensitive these days (I even saw people freak out over “Happy Holidays”, but it’s not as different from the past as we like to think.

You will notice that every one of those phrases is in this comic, and being printed in newspapers, with no consequences.

I once got Zucc’d on Facebook for saying that I used to ride a Crazy Carpet down a local hill. A Crazy Carpet was a type of child’s toboggan – it was literally just a large piece of smooth flexible plastic with two holes cut out at the front for handles. There was absolutely no way to steer or control it: Once you started moving you were at the mercy of gravity and fate. They were also very cheap, costing somewhere around two dollars in the 1980’s.

The logarithm didn’t care. I said the C word. 30 days in the hole.

When the inflamed amygdalas take over…

One of the best yet…

George Orwell’s 1984 – a good read if you want to know where our country is headed.

If only we could eliminate ‘like’ (1) and ‘right?’ (2)

I think nearly 100% of meetings would be improved by this.

1 – unless used in its intended sense, such as “I really like that idea” or “….much like the time we did this……” But when you, like, insert like, into your conversation, like, nonstop, it’s like, really annoying and you should really, like, have duct tape, like, placed over your mouth.

2 – once or twice is okay, but I’ve listened to presentations recently in which the speaker ended every 3rd or 4th comment with “right?” (with that upward inflection at the end, often stretching it into two syllables) and it gets to be where you cringe in anticipation of the next use. If you can’t give a talk without doing this, don’t talk.

Stephan should have to erase himself.

Progressivism has proved to be very regressive. Someone decides that some ordinary words are “just not nice” and out they go!

YES!!! YES YES YES!!!!! Thank you Stephan! The word police have gone WAAY off the deep end!

Bullplop! How are all those words racists?!

I wonder if they sell those erasers at Walgreens.

Way to show Rat a thing or two, Stephen.

Let the old people complaints commence.

“Perfect”… and any “ly” adverb, badly, goodly….

When you’re a cartoon, you REALLY have to be careful about cancel culture!

I have no words…

Stephan Pastis sounds like Jerry Seinfeld. “This is the result of the extreme left and PC crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people,’ Seinfeld said in a interview. Stephan has been repeating this censorship complaint for years in different variations, some funny, today’s not. He had a slow day and couldn’t think of a funny cartoon to draw.

Why this is still a thing… I have no idea. Words cannot hurt you, unless you let them hurt you.

Stephan finally uses his cartoonist power to punish Rat for his insolence. Too bad Pig and Goat have to suffer, too.

I happen to be tone deaf. What’s wrong with that expression?

Maybe they should’ve used sticks and stones instead of words.

I believe the point here is to be reasonable with each other.

How about this one: You can’t call a person a "pedi file " (spelled that way because of, ironically. the censors) you are supposed to call them Minor Attracted Person!!!!!!!

I thought “homeless” people were just “unhoused”.

And then we have the secret list maintained by the Comics Censor.

I find the intolerance of tolerance to the intolerant intolerable

Words are Words.Use them appropriately and try to not be an A-Hole.

We’ve all disappeared….

The news-speak that currently bothers me most is “we’ll discuss it on the other side”.

‘Person Experiencing Homelessness’ makes it sound like a temporary thing.

Oh please. Enough with the “Right To Be Rude” stuff.

Come to think of it, what do they do with the giant pink eraser leftovers when they chop them down to pencil size?

Last night my wife and I were watching a DVD of old TV commercials. It was an interesting combination of pop culture history and nostalgia. But I found myself cringing at the Cheerios Kid (anyone remember him?) in an Old West scenario fighting an Indian chief who was, not surprisingly, an over-the-top stereotype.

Language evolves faster than reactionary minds do.

I don’t give a rat’s (sorry, Rat) patoot who bans which word or this person. That’s idiotic.

Keep in mind that employers, sponsors, and the general public don’t have to put up with everything that comes out your mouth. You really want free speech? Get your own podcast, or self-publish your own books. Nobody has to pay you to be a jerk.

Pal… gone. Derogatory term for MFWB (male friend with benefits). Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

We’re living at the sensitivity level of a 13-year-old girl, who makes a game of catching people making “mistakes”. (“Oh, you said duty!”)

Reality does not offend!

Tomorrow! An all new Pearls starring PC Pig, Righteous Rat, Giddy Goat and a host of ethnically and socially sensitive characters beating each other up about word usage.

I think the term now is unhoused, not to be confused with “unhouseled”.

I used to love to ride my bike all over the back roads of our county. Even fancied calling myself a cyclist. No, I was not like Jef. One day, my sister, who lives in Woke-ington state, asked me if I considered the term, “cyclist” offensive. Some people in her group were saying the term should be, “people who cycle.” I told her I had never before heard such nonsense. She agreed it was over the top.

I’m clearly in the minority here, but I don’t think evolving as people to be more selective about what we say is inherently bad. If some people would prefer we not so freely toss around words that have historically been used to marginalize them, what’s the issue? When we know better, we do better.

GOOD ONE TODAY.

I recently saw the article on the web that had these exact words on it. Learning the origins of the words was interesting, and I see the point that’s trying to be made. But for the vast majority of these words, their original meaning has faded over time (as happens to all words) and their current usage has shifted to mean something different entirely and not hurtful. That made the article feel pedantic.

If it’s a good, everyday word, you’re okay.