In 1978 a radio station owned by Pacifica Foundation
             Broadcasting out of New York City was doing a program on contemporary
             attitudes toward the use of language. This broadcast occurred on a
             mid-afternoon weekday. Immediately before the broadcast the station
             announced a disclaimer telling listeners that the program would
             include "sensitive language which might be regarded as offensive to
             some."(Gunther, 1991) As a part of the program the station decided to
             air a 12 minute monologue called "Filthy Words" by comedian George
             Carlin. The introduction of Carlin's "routine" consisted of, according
             to Carlin, "words you couldn't say on the public air waves."(Carlin,
             1977) The introduction to Carlin's monologue listed those words and
             repeated them in a variety of colloquialisms:
             I was thinking about the curse words and the swear words, the cuss
             words and the words that you can't say, that you're not supposed to
             say all the time. I was thinking one night about the words you
             couldn't say on the public, ah, airwaves, um, the ones you definitely
             wouldn't say, ever. Bastard you can say, and hell and damn so I have
             to figure out which ones you couldn't and ever and it came down to
             seven but the list is open to amendment, and infact, has been changed,
             uh, by now. The original seven words were shit, piss, fuck, cunt,
             cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits. Those are the ones that will curve
             your spine, grow hair on your hands and maybe, even bring us, God help
             us, peace without honor, and a bourbon. (Carlin, 1977)
             A man driving with his young son heard this broadcast and reported it
             to the Federal Communications Commission [FCC]. This broadcast of
             Carlin's "Filthy Words" monologue caused one of the greatest and most
             controversial cases in the history of broadcasting. The case of the
             FCC v. Pacifica Foundation. The outcome of this case has had a lasting
             effect on what w...