Illegal Words

We played the word game Upwordstonight. It made me think about the concept of illegal words. In the game there are certain words that you are not allowed to use. These words are referred to as Illegal words. These “illegal” words set limits on the possible plays in the game. In the real world, outlawing words, either by taboo or legal mechanism, places bounds on the possibility of discourse one with another. Common courtesy is maintained by voluntarily refraining from using offensive speech. Codifying this courtesy tends to chill open discourse. This occurs because of the escalation of the consequences of the speech. When common courtesy is breached, one can be shunned or ignored. When speech laws are broken, imprisonment or other punitive actions are attached to the speech. Sensible people will err on the side of caution, making legitimate policy discussions unapproachable and leaving social problems unsolvable.