Cocksucker.

Over the past few years, HBO has begun a fine tradition of original programming. Deadwood is one of these shows. While I did not follow the series, I occasionally caught an episode while visiting with my parents.

One of the things I was struck by in the show was the attention to the accuracy of the dialect. The characters spoke in a way that sounded like letters of the period, but at the same time was not so esoteric as to go over the viewer's head. Often, I noticed when a more obscure word was being used, it was put in a context where the meaning was discernible. I felt that Deadwood was not only entertaining, but also educational.

It's recently come to my attention that the dialogue of Deadwood inspired quite a bit of controversy. Apparently, it's liberal use of foul language, including the derogatory words for sexual acts and female body parts, met with an appalled audience of FCC regulators and elderly fans of mid-century western serials.

This USA Today article says that: "Particularly in this era of increased media scrutiny, the tally seems to flaunt how much pay-cable can get away with. On Sunday's show, there were at least 63 mentions of the f-word in the hour."

It goes on to interview stars of Bonanza and Gunsmoke, to get their take on the issue: David Canary, who played 'Candy' on the show Bonanza, had this to say:

"I have a prejudice against the Deadwood thing because, to make it that real, and bring in the swearing, I think that's really messing with the genre,"

For me, the question is not whether it is morally right or wrong to drop the f-bomb 63 times on a cable station; I want to know if Cocksucker and every other delightful and satisfying curse word uttered on this show is accurate to the time period it represents.

Wikipedia informed me that HBO requested the shows creator, David Milch, to submit a defense on the show's use of profanity. Here's an excerpt from that essay:

"If, as seems demonstrable, words like prick, cunt, shit, fuck and cocksucker would have been in common usage in the time and place in which 'Deadwood' is set, then, like any words, in form and frequency their expression will be governed by the personality of a given character, imagined by the author with whatever imperfection, as the character is shaped and tested in the crucible of experience. The goal is not to offend but to realize the character's full humanness."

So Milch seems to say that all of those words are appropriate both for the time period and the social class of his characters. I did not have a full copy of this essay to see if he breaks down the history of each word, so I chose to do a little research myself.

It may be possible to establish a ballpark date for some of the words in question. During an awkward conversation I had with my mother, she divulged to me a tid bit she had recently read on the history of the word Cunt. Back in the day, foxes would be used to flush rabbits out of their dens for hunting. A slang for rabbit, as we know, is "bunny," originally "coney" which is a short trip to "cunny." "Putting the fox down the cunny hole" soon emerged as a euphemism for sex. It was a short trip from cunny to cunt, and well, there we have it. Thanks, Mom.

In The Writers Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800s guide to slang, all of Milch's favorite words appear. Each word is listed without a definition, indicating that their usage has not changed over the years. All of the entries also indicated the slang was used throughout the 19th century. My favorite entry was for "cocksucker," which also included a listing for "cockteaser" and my new favorite word: "cockchafer."

Blaspheming against god was also much more offensive that it is today; blame, blazes, damn, hell, and especially tarnation were all powerful curse words. I also learned that horny, knocked-up, and every euphemism you can think of for female genitalia has been around for at least 200 years.

So although this isn't overwhelming evidence, I am prone to believe that the language used in Deadwood is entirely appropriate.

The way I see it, the real lesson this show can teach us is that people never change. They have always, and will always be the same: Human. And in this instance, I think calling someone a cocksucker illustrates that point perfectly.