George Carlin Shell Shock
Why Hacker News recommends it
It is cited in debates about euphemism and language policing, usually by commenters who think softer terms change nothing.
What it is
A short George Carlin routine on how the term shell shock was softened into combat fatigue and then PTSD. He argues that euphemism hides the reality of suffering.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2020 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Cites smcnally · 2020-09 · on “The Lessons of Shell Shock”
“I’ll betcha, if we’da still been calling it ‘Shell Shock,’ some of those Vietnam veterans might have gotten the attention they needed at the time.” — George Carlin [this video]
Cites yamrzou · 2022-12 · on “Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative”
"You can't be afraid of words that speak the truth. Even if it's an unpleasant truth ... I don't like words that hide the truth, I don't like words that conceal reality, I don't like euphemisms, and American English is loaded with euphemisms, because Americans have a lot of trouble with reality. Americans have trouble facing the truth, so they invent the kind of a soft language to protect themselves from it. And it gets worse with every generation." - George Carlin on Soft Language ( [this video] )
Cites racked · 2023-09 · on “Tesla sued for severe harassment of Black workers at California plant”
It really is not about that. The problem is that some people feel the need to bend over backwards, making symbolic gestures that do not change the underlying issue. As if renaming 'whitelist' to 'allowlist' is going to turn any neo-nazis into angels. George Carlin had a word or two to say about this phenomenon: [this video]
Cites graphe · 2024-02 · on “What is trauma? The author of "The Body Keeps the Score" explains [video]”
PTSD is also lumped in with shell shock, a jarring of the braincase after explosions (usually during a war) with physical damage. It's unthinkable to me they lump it in with mental problems. George Carlin skit. [this video]