Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language

Disease, death and killing 221
Culture – which is a nice irony, in view of the fact that the book documents
the reticence and fear inspired by cancer; he gives many instances of people’s
unwillingness to use the word. 41
These days, we see much more frequent use of the word cancer in the
media, names of hospitals, etc. And there was wide and quite explicit coverage
of former US President Ronald Reagan’s malignancies. Significantly,
however, Reagan himself denied that he had cancer: ‘I didn’t have cancer.
I had something inside of me that had cancer in it and it was removed.’ 42 But
although there may be greater public acceptance nowadays, there are still
many reports of the reluctance among doctors to use the word cancer with
their patients because of its demoralizing effect on them. The label preferred
by many doctors in place of cancer is mitotic disease. This is a non-specific
term that refers generally to multiple cell division, and includes both malignant
and benign cancers. Instead of cancer, patients themselves prefer to use
words like tumour or growth, which do not evoke the same unpleasant
imagery of decay and corruption. Whereas a cancer diagnosis is equated with
malignancy and death, tumours and growths have a more benign image.
Growths can be removed, but a cancer continues to lurk in the system. Even
technical-sounding expressions such as melanoma, lymphoma, neoplasm and
carcinoma appear to be less frightening than cancer. In some schools in
Australia during the 1980s, someone even created the character ‘Mr Melanoma’
– a large but fairly harmless looking creature who warned school
children about the dangers of skin cancer. Mr Melanoma was later replaced
by the more fun-sounding SLIP SLAP SLOP campaign (‘SLIP on a T-shirt,
SLAP on a hat and SLOP on sunscreen’), later renamed Sunsmart. Other
euphemisms include The Big C and CA; we recall hearing of a seriously ill
cancer patient described as someone with a touch of the c’s. These sorts of
euphemism typify mention of cancer, and they are often accompanied by a
characteristic set of paralinguistic phenomena such as lowered eyes and
hushed tones. There is still a superstitious reluctance to pronounce the word
cancer, as if some hidden supernatural force were at work.
Censoring the language of death
Ay, but to die, and go we know not where,
To lie in cold obstruction and to rot,
This sensible warm motion to become
A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit
To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside
In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice;
To be imprisoned in the viewless winds,
And blown with restless violence round about
The pendent world; or to be worse than worst