Julia Louis-Dreyfus & Craig Ferguson Talk Tattoos, Douchebags

I have a quibble with this clip: It’s incomplete. The full Julia Louis-Dreyfus interview was terrific, but most relevant to this site at the end. That’s when Louis-Dreyfus lamented that the word “douchebag” is not used on television nearly enough, and Ferguson agreed. A little bit of discussion about the word ensued, and though no resolution was achieved, it appears that Ferguson’s Late Late Show will emerge unscathed by any FCC finger-wagging (viewers of Jon Stewart will know that the word makes an appearance regularly on that broadcast). This story is of interest to me based on my own groundbreaking work on the subject — three years ago I identified the Toronto Star as the first mainstream newspaper to break the “douchebag” barrier and use the word colloquially and not just in quotes. Lynn Harris picked up the scholarly examination a year or so later on Radar Online; it seems that the word, while still taboo, is nonetheless part of the discourse. Anyway, CBS, you should put the full clip online. That’s all.

Related:
Toronto Star Describes Tucker Carlson, Becomes First Mainstream Newspaper To Break The “Douchebag” Barrier [ETP]
On “Douchebags” [Radar Online]

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