# The Trump administration's version of 7 dirty words **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 16, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600 "2017-12-16T01:50:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/21 "2017-12-16T18:21:42Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > I expect sales of the Thesaurus to jump. Hopefully, these agencies will simply substitute other words that say the same thing. Do we even need that ounce of cleverness? As per the article, the suggested phrase used to replace “science-based” for a CDC recommendation is one where the CDC – based its recommendation on science. That’s not even really _trying,_ is it? ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/22 "2017-12-16T19:28:56Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > The seven words you couldn’t say on TV were shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits. > > So I’d suggest that CDC staff do a one-for-one substitution of the words in that list for the CDC forbidden words: vulnerable, entitlement, diversity, transgender, fetus, evidence-based, and science-based. > > So evidence-based conclusions about fetuses borne by transgender persons would become motherfuckers about cocksuckers borne by cunts. (Much more concise!) Like. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/23 "2017-12-16T19:49:33Z")
Doesn’t the CDC hold samples of all of the worlds most dangerous pathogens? I’m just saying - I wouldn’t want to be the one who pissed them off. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/24 "2017-12-16T20:04:15Z")
If they can’t say “evidence-based” and “science-based” are they allowed to say “pulled out of my ass”? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/25 "2017-12-16T20:09:19Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > If they can’t say “evidence-based” and “science-based” are they allowed to say “pulled out of my ass”? The new standard that replaces evidence and science is “I saw this on Fox News”. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/26 "2017-12-16T20:14:36Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Orwellian describes this bullshit well. > > None of that there science and evidence for _you_, CDC! If the “community” is pro-woo, you’ll have to fall in line. > > Disgusting. Doubleplusungood. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/27 "2017-12-16T20:17:59Z")
The american idiots made their decision, now the rest of us have to suffer. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/28 "2017-12-16T20:19:07Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > Remember George Carlin’s [Seven words you can never say on T.V.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_dirty_words)? Now there’s seven words you can never say at the CDC. > > Source: [CDC gets list of forbidden words: Fetus, transgender, diversity - The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/cdc-gets-list-of-forbidden-words-fetus-transgender-diversity/2017/12/15/f503837a-e1cf-11e7-89e8-edec16379010_story.html?utm_term=.3512b9f851ae) > > I had to check twice to see if this was still the Washington Post, not the Onion. If this were a parody of a Republican administration, I’d say it’s funny but a little over the top. But apparently this is real life? > > I may have to change my handle to **tim315** , I can’t even Is there some sort of precedent for this? Can a government department legally ‘ban’ words at all? Seems rather like this would be a violation of the right to free speech. What am I missing here? ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/29 "2017-12-16T20:53:37Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Is there some sort of precedent for this? Can a government department legally ‘ban’ words at all? Seems rather like this would be a violation of the right to free speech. What am I missing here? As I understand, the government doesn’t has the same power as a private employer to discipline an employee for their speech _as a private citizen_, because that would violate the First Amendment rights of the employees. However, the Supreme Court ruled in [Garcetti v. Ceballos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garcetti_v._Ceballos) (2006) that this protection didn’t extend to statements that were made “pursuant to [their] position as a public employee” (I’m quoting the Wikipedia summary there – I haven’t read the text of the decision. Also, I’m not a lawyer.) This was a 5-4 decision by the Court’s conservative majority (Kennedy joined by Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito). Since this rule is about what CDC employees can say in CDC documents – not in their personal life – I suppose that it is legal under that precedent. Which doesn’t change the fact that it is both terrible policy and frankly a laughable embarrassment. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/30 "2017-12-16T21:08:08Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Yeah, that was my first thought too when I heard about this. Seven? _Seven_ forbidden words? That has a certain resonance for those of us of a certain age. > > The seven words you couldn’t say on TV were shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits. > > So I’d suggest that CDC staff do a one-for-one substitution of the words in that list for the CDC forbidden words: vulnerable, entitlement, diversity, transgender, fetus, evidence-based, and science-based. Not a bad idea, but they’ll probably want to save at least a few of Carlin’s dirty words for referring to the administration diversities responsible for this vulnerable policy. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/31 "2017-12-16T21:16:11Z")
It’s almost as if the whole effort was designed to produce maximum liberal outrage as a distraction from other issues, but with zero cost and no real net effect. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/32 "2017-12-16T21:51:13Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > It’s almost as if the whole effort was designed to produce maximum liberal outrage as a distraction from other issues, but with zero cost and no real net effect. Perhaps. Or perhaps it just reveals the Right as delicate snowflakes, who need a Safe Space where they won’t have to see the words “transgender” or “diversity” (etc.) Poor fragile little things! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/33 "2017-12-16T22:42:08Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Doesn’t the CDC hold samples of all of the worlds most dangerous pathogens? > > I’m just saying - I wouldn’t want to be the one who pissed them off. Sorry, you’re not allowed to say ‘pathogens’. they’re demons. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/34 "2017-12-17T00:46:38Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > As I understand, the government doesn’t has the same power as a private employer to discipline an employee for their speech _as a private citizen_, because that would violate the First Amendment rights of the employees. However, the Supreme Court ruled in [Garcetti v. Ceballos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garcetti_v._Ceballos) (2006) that this protection didn’t extend to statements that were made “pursuant to [their] position as a public employee” (I’m quoting the Wikipedia summary there – I haven’t read the text of the decision. Also, I’m not a lawyer.) This was a 5-4 decision by the Court’s conservative majority (Kennedy joined by Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito). > > Since this rule is about what CDC employees can say in CDC documents – not in their personal life – I suppose that it is legal under that precedent. Which doesn’t change the fact that it is both terrible policy and frankly a laughable embarrassment. Thanks. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/35 "2017-12-17T03:50:18Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > As I understand, the government doesn’t has the same power as a private employer to discipline an employee for their speech _as a private citizen_, because that would violate the First Amendment rights of the employees. However, the Supreme Court ruled in [Garcetti v. Ceballos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garcetti_v._Ceballos) (2006) that this protection didn’t extend to statements that were made “pursuant to [their] position as a public employee” (I’m quoting the Wikipedia summary there – I haven’t read the text of the decision. Also, I’m not a lawyer.) This was a 5-4 decision by the Court’s conservative majority (Kennedy joined by Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito). > > Since this rule is about what CDC employees can say in CDC documents – not in their personal life – I suppose that it is legal under that precedent. Which doesn’t change the fact that it is both terrible policy and frankly a laughable embarrassment. Ok, but doesn’t it seem as if this fresh bit of asshattery is motivated by the very dumbest forms of religion? Demonstrate that and this moronic yet utterly Trumpian rule would amount to an establishment of religion. Wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/36 "2017-12-17T11:13:24Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > It’s almost as if the whole effort was designed to produce maximum liberal outrage as a distraction from other issues, but with zero cost and no real net effect. I thought that already with accepting Jerusalem as the capital of Israel—something guaranteed to generate lots of media coverage/outrage at nearly zero cost (to Trump, that is; and that’s all the cost that matters to Trump, I mean, really, what’s a few more suicide bombings :mad:). But what is it a distraction for? ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/37 "2017-12-17T14:43:41Z")
As (poorly) written, I’m not getting the outage. Avoiding certain words and wording in your budget requests to avoid triggering idiots in OMB and Congress is hardly a new game played at executive agencies. I was involved in very similar discussions when Obama was president. Unless I missed something, the reported behavior is consistent with people trying to get their jobs done while staying off the chopping block. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/38 "2017-12-17T18:42:15Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > As (poorly) written, I’m not getting the outage. Avoiding certain words and wording in your budget requests to avoid triggering idiots in OMB and Congress is hardly a new game played at executive agencies. I was involved in very similar discussions when Obama was president. Unless I missed something, the reported behavior is consistent with people trying to get their jobs done while staying off the chopping block. I don’t buy it. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/39 "2017-12-17T19:38:50Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > I don’t buy it. Then by all means explain to us what you do buy and what evidence you are using to draw your conclusion. A career bureaucrat told her staff to avoid certain wording in documents that will eventually go to OMB, and then to Congress to justify your existence. These are two organizations with the power to fuck with you doing your job if they take the wrong sort of notice. As written, this isn’t even news. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600/40 "2017-12-17T20:16:54Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > As (poorly) written, I’m not getting the outage. Avoiding certain words and wording in your budget requests to avoid triggering idiots in OMB and Congress is hardly a new game played at executive agencies. I was involved in very similar discussions when Obama was president. Unless I missed something, the reported behavior is consistent with people trying to get their jobs done while staying off the chopping block. If I understand Steve correctly he’s saying that Trump isn’t ‘avoiding’ certain words, he’s banning them. There’s a difference. He’s also calling BS because you didn’t provide any examples. Simply saying ‘obama did it first’ and leaving it at that isn’t helpful. And if steve isn’t saying that, I am. Also, can we not do the thing where you make a claim and ask for the other person to prove you’re wrong, cuz that’s not how it works. You made the claim, you back it up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administrations-version-of-7-dirty-words/804600.md?page=3)