Wyn Drabble: We've changed our attitudes when it comes to words

Wyn Drabble say the latest Language That May Offend in Broadcasting survey shows our attitudes towards language that is acceptable or unacceptable in the media have changed. Photo / NZME

Now, I don't believe I'm a prude but I was certainly, shall we say, taken aback by the content of a recent TV commercial.

I can't pinpoint the exact time of the ad, but it must have been just before the 6pm news so, for a number of children, it was probably about mealtime, which is not the most tasteful time for nappy ads.

Mother: Time to wash hands for dinner, kids.

Kid 1: Oh, Mum, we've just started to play the next game of Death Vampire Squirm Time.

Mother: There's lovely roasted chicken and gravy.

TV: It even absorbs runny No.2s

Maybe the words weren't spoken, but I'm sure you'll agree that, even in written form, they are a tad inappropriate. Maybe "will deal with the worst a baby can offer" might have been an improvement.

No, I won't be writing to the Broadcasting Standards Authority because I wasn't shocked or offended, just surprised. But there will be someone who was offended enough to write to them.

Or maybe there won't be, if the results of the latest BSA survey are anything to go by.

Called Language That May Offend in Broadcasting, the survey is conducted every three or four years and the results of the latest one were released at the end of last month.

Timely to remind you here that the BSA is the very body that puts warning advisories for younger viewers on Grand Designs, Love It or List It and the like. Well, for goodness' sake! Can children really be led astray by kitchen designs, en suites or storage solutions? Is "parental guidance" really necessary?

Anyway, what this latest survey shows is how much we have changed in our attitudes towards language that is acceptable or unacceptable in the media.

Remember the fuss when the Toyota "bugger" ad first appeared in 1999? These days the word is used quite liberally and nobody seems to bat an eyelid.

Wyn Drabble.

The BSA members do, of course, take context into account when making their rulings. What would be deemed "acceptable" on The Sopranos would not necessarily sit well in Morning Report. Or Huckleberry Hound.

The survey shows that the most offensive words of a few years ago have slipped well down the order now.

A monosyllabic word beginning with f and a two-syllable word beginning with a have slipped well down the pecking order (I'm possibly allowed to write them in full but I'm playing safe and trying not to offend anyone).

These former high offenders have been replaced by words that are considered racist, sexist or homophobic and again I'll play it safe by not offering any examples.

Words or phrases that fall into any of those categories took the top seven places in the latest survey.

In one way, that's an encouraging development given there are clearly morals involved. If more people are concerned about racism, sexism and homophobia then we are surely living in an improving world.

I can say, hand on heart, that I don't use any such words but I'm not so squeaky-clean when it comes to the old favourites that have slipped down the list.

I can drop a number of those even before leaving home for work in the mornings.

"Bother" just doesn't cut the mustard when you drop your toast on the floor (topping side down, of course), stub your bare toe or drop your phone into the toilet. I think in those situations it might even be considered normal to drop a clanger.

I was hoping to squeeze in a nappy ad before closing this column, but it appears I have just about reached my word limit and have room for only one more word.

Bugger!

• Wyn Drabble is a teacher of English, a writer, musician and public speaker.