“It’s the suppression of the word that gives it the power, the violence, the viciousness.”

Lenny Bruce was a Jewish-American comedian in the 1950s and 1960s who spoke of racism and bigotry. He released political and controversial comedy albums, was arrested for obscenity in his stand-up shows, and was consequently banned from multiple U.S. cities. Nevertheless, his quote from the 1998 documentary “Swear to tell the truth” paints a clear picture of how people give meaning to words, and how people can change the meaning of words.

“Anti-Semitism was more popular then, than it is now,” said Eric Sloss, an OSU junior. “Even so, he was advocating for the increased usage of crude words—not to encourage hate, but to remove hate from these words altogether.”

“Using words that were once derogatory in a new manner will leave the word vacant of its former hatred, and this is a step in the right direction,” he added.

History shows us that the meanings of certain words do change over time.

“Girl” used to mean a “young person,” either a boy or a girl. The word “sophisticated” used to mean “corrupted.”

The word “gay” used to mean “joyful.” By the early 16th- and late 17th century, the word “gay” described someone who ignored sexual customs. And now, a large number of young adults use the term to mean “stupid,” or “disappointing.”

A Facebook user updated her status with: “Being gay at the aquatic center.” She did not imply that she would be acting “homosexual” at the pool, and the following responses proved to show that her friends also understand the context of the word.

Even the name “retarded,” which used to be the politically correct name for the intellectually disabled, is now used by some youngsters to mean “stupid” (i.e. that video game is “retarded”). This name is used without intention of offending, or referring to an intellectually disabled person.

Crude words should not be used in every day speech or media if they are offensive. However, Lenny Bruce’s vision of eliminating the “power, the violence, the viciousness” of these words is something to possibly strive for.

People spread hate by giving power to these words. We can take away their power; words that are currently vicious can become banal. As a society, we can eradicate their viciousness.

Nonetheless, certain areas of the U.S., and different sections of the world, are not always exposed to the same change in context, or meaning. Michele Wilson, an anthropology instructor at LBCC, said, “Certain words and/or names are still off limits to most people. And not all people within a group that has revisited the same, may buy into the desensitization.”

It is clear that not everyone believes that the desensitization of certain words is a good thing, or that it can work.

“… [A] word is merely the vessel in which the initial thought is housed, is carried, is delivered; that the word is just the audible incarnation of the hatred or bigotry,” said Mark A Warmington, a Black-Caribbean Team Manager for a global hotel company in response to this article.

“If the N-word was desensitized, another would sprout up to convey and hurl the same hurt … the hydra would sprout a new head,” he added.

Whether hateful names and words can become banal, or these words are eradicated from our language all together, the world will always be improved by sharing kindness and respect.

Jennifer M. Hartsock works as the opinion editor for the LBCC newspaper, The Commuter, and writes the weekly opinion column Straight from the Hartsock and the advice column Dear Conscience. Her extra time goes to working as a tutor and freelance editor on campus and in the community. She maintains a writer’s blog.