“A slip of the lip can sink a ship.” That was a well-known axiom during the 1940s, when the world was at war.
Everyone was cautioned to be careful not to reveal any knowledge about the military. This included information as to where a loved one may be stationed, or where he was headed. There was the strong possibility that the enemy could be listening to even the most innocent phone conversations. From those, the Axis powers may have been able to gather enough intelligence to know where troops and ships may be. That data could be enough to cause devastating results, such as the sinking of a ship.
The adage was so common that it became the inspiration for a Duke Ellington song, “A Slip Of The Lip,” written in 1944 by Duke Ellington and Ray Nance. Two years later, the song was recorded by Bing Crosby. (You can hear the Ellington version, along with a couple of other groups, on YouTube.)
One line of the song was, “The walls have ears.” You would have thought that message, popularized 65 years ago, would have sunk in by now. You would be wrong.
Today the consequences may not be as dire as the sinking of a ship. However, we now live in a world where we are relentlessly surrounded by recording devices. There are cameras in every business we enter, and every parking lot, and connected to street lights — the list goes on. Some homes have “nanny cams,” or cameras at the front door. Our own computers and phones are working against us with “cookies” and tracking devices.
But, even though we know that “Big Brother is watching,” we still make some dumb gaffes. The new term to be used as an explanation/apology is, “I misspoke.”
Poor Ellen DeGeneres. Her Oscar joke at Liza Minnelli’s expense got her into a lot of hot water. “Hello to the best Liza Minnelli impersonator I’ve ever seen,” DeGeneres teased the singer, who has been a favorite subject for female impersonators and drag artists over the years. “Good job, sir.” (Huffington Post, March 3.)
Because of this gag, Ellen has been called “transphobic and disrespectful,” by director Bruce LaBruce. He’s not alone; other prominent lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender figures agree with him. Now a petition is circulating in an effort to get DeGeneres to formally apologize for the joke.
I thought the comment was rude to Minnelli, but for the most part harmless. Ellen is anything but “disrespectful” to gays and all variations represented by the rainbow flag. She is outspoken about her sexuality and marriage to glamorous Portia de Rossi.
Perhaps Ellen was nervous when she insulted Liza. I suppose she can be forgiven for being a bit stressed. After all, according to the Nielsen ratings, over 40 million people were watching (Fox News, March 3). Still, she had to have some idea that people were paying attention to her every word.
But what about the Pope? Last week the world was aghast at his use of the “F-word” in a public speech and blessing from the window at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. He caught the mistake quickly, and corrected himself. Nonetheless, he was not fast enough to keep it from being transmitted throughout the “interwebs” and blogosphere.
According to National Public Radio, ” … it is a common mistake for those who move from speaking Spanish to Italian. The pope, 77, is a native of Argentina.” (For those of you who understand the nuances of Spanish to Italian translations, there is a video of the speech on You Tube.)
We hear a lot of words that should make us blush. They do not. These are so common that there is no shock value. I think it would be fun to learn some new words, expand our vocabularies with phrases that have an impact with meaning, not just an ugly, unoriginal jolt. I am striving to use language that my grandmother would understand and not be scandalized.
No matter if profanity, or politically offensive speech, or comments that are just plain hurtful, slip from our lips, we should take a lesson from The Duke, “It’s bodacious to be loquacious, but the walls have ears and the night has eyes.” We could add — and everyone has a cell phone with a camera.
Adele Elliott, a New Orleans native, moved to Columbus after Hurricane Katrina.
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