John McWhorter on the history of taboo words:
In our society, the main taboo is no longer sex, but race. Such things evolve: the big taboo for medievals was religion, and thus evasions like “Egads” for “Ye Gods.” Then came sex; that time is all but gone. Now even the edgiest satire tiptoes around using the N-word — and if a comedian like Michael Richards slips up on it, he is burned in effigy for weeks.
We consider racial slurs an offense against human beings for concrete reasons — but would be harder pressed to express why Joe Biden’s use of an expletive makes him a bad human being.
The Dish 