In my youth there were words you couldn't say in front of a girl; now you can't say 'girl.'
Interpretation
This quote reflects on how language and social norms change over time, particularly regarding gender terms.
Tom Lehrer humorously points out the shift in societal attitudes toward gender language from his youth to the present day. In the past, certain words were considered inappropriate to use in front of women, while today, even the word 'girl' can be seen as problematic. This observation highlights the evolving nature of language and the complexities of gender identity.
In practice
A discussion about changing gender norms in a speech.
All books can be indecent books, though recent books are bolder._x000D_ _x000D_ For filth, I'm glad to say, is in the mind of the beholder._x000D_ _x000D_ When correctly viewed, everything is lewd._x000D_ _x000D_ I could tell you things about Peter Pan_x000D_ _x000D_ and the Wizard of OZ, there's a dirty old man!
You can make fun with Saddam Hussein jokes ... but you can't make fun of, say, the concentration camps. I think my target was not so much evil, but benign stupidity people doing stupid things without realising or, instead, thinking they were doing good.
Political satire became obsolete when they awarded Henry Kissinger the Nobel Peace Prize.
But in the new (math) approach, the important thing is to understand what you're doing, rather than to get the right answer.
You can't be satirical and not be offensive to somebody.
Storytelling and copulation are the two chief forms of amusement in the South. They're inexpensive and easy to procure.
Anyone who has had the experience of going through American security checks knows the purpose of these checks is not to make you safer; it's just to annoy you.
I have ten commandments. The first nine are, thou shalt not bore. The tenth is, thou shalt have right of final cut.
The critic's symbol should be the tumble-bug: he deposits his egg in somebody else's dung, otherwise he could not hatch it.
My first words, as I was being born [...] I looked up at my mother and said, 'that's the last time I'm going up one of those.
If work is so terrific, how come they have to pay you to do it?
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