In great dialogue, no words are off limits to playwrights

The late George Carlin, recently honored with the Mark Twain Award for American Humor, was fascinated by our use of language. Many of his comic routines explored how words convey and disguise meaning, and our use of politically correct phrases and euphemisms. Perhaps best known was his rant about “the seven words you can’t say on television.” (They probably can’t be printed in this newspaper either, so I better not try.)