Language (also, rules)

[numbuheightbitstar]

Last time I talked to Stardrifter, she made it very clear that she didn't like cussing. Frankly, I don't like it either. Drifter said it best: "it's still a forum for talking about a kid's show. No cussing. Please."

Yet it seems like every other day I get on here and someone let's a naughty word into their posts. Particularly I see

SPOILER: Click to show

ass, shit, and damn

alot.

Please tone down the language, people.

Also, a note about this needs to be placed in the Simple Version of the rules. I just checked the rules recently and the Simple Version makes absolutely NO mention of "obscene language." You have to dig into the Full Edition to find it, but that is such a convoluted document that even if you do find the right part, its not at all clear what is "obscene" and what isn't.

[Numbuh 0xFF]

The FCC kindly wrote a rather famous list of words which is what I meant when I wrote the obscenity clause. A rather amusing problem with recursion appears otherwise since to enumerate the obscene words that are forbidden I have to write them down thus breaking the rules. Like you did, just now.

Point two: 'damn' and 'ass' are not on that list. I see absolutely no reason why they should. Damn is totally sanitized and I can't see which sensibilities it offends. Now 'ass' is a tricky beast because it is. An actual beast, I mean. Equus asinus, I believe. And even when it refers to the human posterior it is, I think, not obscene.

Point three: Why the fuss?

[thesuki]

He's part Innocence Abused?

[Celra]

Seriously Saying the F-word I can see making it a big deal but certain words seem ok

Like in Roleplays and even in some posts I say

1. Hell
2.Ass
3.Asshole
4.Damn
5.Shit

Now alot of these so called "Bad words" arent even that bad

1.Hell is not a bad word at all but in fact a place

2.Ass is part of the body

3. Asshole is simply just a hole in a body part

4. Damn well....Ya got me there

5. Shit is simply the waste in your body that comes out same with piss which I sometimes say

Really when it comes down to all this its really the matter of how you say it so depending on how we say

As for not saying this sort of stuff because its a kids show forum thats true but you can still say some words I mean kids learn curse words in school and they learn them quicker then we did not saying that because of this we should be allowed to swear every other word but kids do know some of these words.

[NumbuhInfinity]

Mm, I really don't care if you guys cuss, we all [should be] teenagers or adults anyway. Just ease up on S and F (the highest level swears IMO), and don't sound like you're like sailors or you're coming out of gangsta movies (a swear word every other sentence and such), m'kay? :b

[hoagiegal1970]

These words don't bother me as long as someone isn't using them to cuss someone else out.

Besides, people don't use them THAT much. I only see them used every once in a while.

I heard all these words by the time I was 10. My son's heard a lot of them. Doesn't mean they're part of his (or my) everyday vocabulary--even though I can curse out the best of them when I get in my moods (IRL, not on any forums).

Words like that don't cause permanent brain damage. So, I don't see the point of the fuss, either.

[jill2sweet]

Those words are considered bad whether they mean something bad or not. They offend people, and you shouldn't offend people especially when it could so easily be avoided. Is it so hard to say 'Darn', 'Butt', or 'Crud/Crap' rather than D, A, and S?

And, frankly, this isn't your call. It's Stardrifter's. If she tells you to stop talking like a sailor, then you should instead of sitting there and trying to tell her that they don't mean anything bad.

Try to avoid using your potty mouth and if you just can't hold back, atleast put it in a spoiler tag so those that are offended by it don't have to read your language. Because, yes, there are kids on this site (It's a forum for a kid's show,) and even if they've heard those words before they still might be very offended by them.

[hoagiegal1970]

Actually, I see people censoring themselves all the time. Like this: f***, sh*t, etc.

I'm being honest when I say I don't see the full words used that much. People don't use the Seven Big, Bad & Naughty Words^TM at all.

That's why I don't think seeing one cuss word once in a while is going to offend anyone.

I can see if this happened in every other post, but it doesn't. Which is why I don't see any reason for the fuss.

[thesuki]

jill2sweet said:

Those words are considered bad whether they mean something bad or not. They offend people, and you shouldn't offend people especially when it could so easily be avoided.

Response A:

People are going to get offended no matter what people do. It's easier not to get offended by such a tiny issue.


Response B:

I'm offended that you're offended!

[gailoraanf]

Swearing = No-No

If theres a thirteen year old boy, and his mom is over protective, and he wants to come on this site, here is what might happen. First, his mother might read the long edition of the rules and find out that there is no swearing. She might then let him create an account. After which, he might find the word "f---". His mother will see. We lose a member.

But that is just going out on a limb.

Here, howsabout this. Since our beloved Stardrifter would rather not have profanity, how about we just don't? Simple. It's not that hard, guys, common. Be more mature and simply... change three letters of a word. It isn't impossible, you know.

[Numbuh 0xFF]

Point-by-point:

1) My personal stance on swearing

It's cool. I support freedom of speech in its most unfettered form. You say what you say and if your choice of words offends...well it offends. I don't even like hate speech laws even though I detest hate speech. I feel that if our freedoms are decreased by even one iota we are all lessened. I'm pretty firm on this, actually.

Further, your American prudish stance on swearing is entirely incomprehensible to me. They are just WORDS for Sagan's sake. Lighten up. Treating utterances as taboo is the mark of a tribal mode of thought. We are supposed to be civilized.

2) The forum's stance on swearing

As it happens I wrote the obscenity clause because I knew Stardrifter's stance on the issue. What I meant by it (and what I can amend the text to include) is the following:

-> The worst case of using obscenity is using it to insult someone. That is to say it is the intent not the form that carries most weight in this consideration.
-> This is where I lumped pornographic imagery as well.
-> The 'bad' words I mentioned were, specifically, the big Seven as defined by the FCC. I don't personally agree with the list but the forum rules are not a place for me to air my personal convictions. If it were there'd be no obscenity clause.
-> The use of bad words as interjections is not a major offense.

3) What constitutes a 'bad' word

I still maintain that ass and damn are not obscene. They simply aren't. It's like claiming that the word CHAIR is obscene.

4) The age of participants in this forum

Our terms of service are, by necessity, that you need to be 13 at the very least to use this forum. The PG-13 rating allows for a much broader vocabulary of racy language than what we formally allow here. Consider this.

[thesuki]

So, basically, ass and damn are permissible? Was the "H-word" on the List of Seven?

Seriously, I don't get why this is suddenly such a big deal. Not like people have suddenly begun swearing more than usual.

[hoagiegal1970]

I went back to my infamous "Creation Museum" post and found the list.

p*ss
sh*t
c*cks***er
m*therf***er
f***
c*nt
t*ts
evid***e
pr**f

(NOTE: The last two words are a joke. There's actually only 7 Big Bad Words--the first 7.)

[Numbuh 0xFF]

thesuki said:

So, basically, ass and damn are permissible? Was the "H-word" on the List of Seven?

Seriously, I don't get why this is suddenly such a big deal. Not like people have suddenly begun swearing more than usual.

Hell? Hell, no! ;D

Same for Hades. Or Gre'thor, for that matter.

As for why is this a big deal now...well, frankly, no clue. James brought it up and I responded because, mod that I am, I have to.

[Cap'n Veg]

People seem to be offended by everything nowadays...

Anywho, I'm with most people on this thread: they're just words, no big deal.

Also-

scrotum

Had to be done.