What’s the deal with swearing, cussing, or using otherwise “bad” language in JC?
I mean, do people care If I occasionaly use 4 letter words? (and you know which ones I’m talking about).
can I use them where needed? For instance in my post in the “FSU” thread, I stated a diffrent possibility for what FSU would stand for. This is not something I made up, I was being factual, and I did not censor myself. I got bad rep for it, so I’m wondering if this is the general concensus of the community.
Are some words ok, and others not? Is just the F-bomb banned? Are we going by those rediculously vague FCC regulations? (I do a radio show, so I know).
Personally, I’m against censoring things here. If there’s a need to drop the F - bomb, go for it. Use common sense when posting. If someone goes overboard, maybe let them know that theres no need for a post brimming with obscenities. Also, when you do start swearing excessivly, those words loose their impact. (I’m pretty sure that’s happened to me by this point, at least when speaking.)
Pretty obvious really: there are kids who read the forum. I cannot understand why there is any need at all to cuss/swear in here. The English language is well capable of expressing any shade of meaning without resorting to swearing, and the posts are better for it.
It probably won’t be long though before the PC and human rights brigade assert their “rights” to swear anywhere they feel like.
Obscenities are used occassionally without reprimand, but it does seem only fair to those adults who are trying to let their children interact with other children and adults somewhere safe on the internet to keep it to a minimum so they don’t have to be on the look out for it. After all, this is a very family orientated sport/pastime with a wide age range appeal, and the forum should reflect that. Also it stops huge, non-sensical flame wars, people have to atleast criticise each other in an intelligent way. Just imagine reading out your post to an 8 year-old kid before you submit it, because doubtless some parent is going to have their kids asking what those words mean tonight if you leave them in.
I agree totally. If you have even the slightest amount of knowledge, the english language is more that equiped to express any feeling at all. I see no need to swear in JC or any other forum here.
Although so far it seems like many people are in favor of keeping this fourm as clean as possible, let m e ask a few more questions.
what about when it comes to quotes? (I ask this due to the recent prevalance of favorite quote / lyric threads).
Or names, or nick names, or quoting what people say.
is it OK if we provide a disclaimer before the thread? how about before the post?
Also, I’m pretty sure that nearly 100% of kids out there (exceptions being home over protected schooled kids) have been exposed to almost all forms of derogatory language by the time they enter highschool, usually much earlier. (but that doesn’t mean we need to contribute, I suppose).
Once again, I’m just trying to get a handle on all this.
I’m gonna say yes to this, because otherwise, it ruins the quote. Sorta reflects my view on music censorship; either sell it uncensored, or don’t sell it at all.
Well if you consider calling someone a “Fing retard" a nickname, then no. But if someone’s nickname is actually "Fing retard”, then go ahead and humor them until they get banned for being a “F*ing retard”.
This seems like the best option to me. It’s the same with those [NWS][/NWS] tags, which means “Not Work Safe” if you didn’t know. They get posted before links that contain perhaps a bit racey material, such as certain videos, jokes, or pictures. Maybe a new one could be [NCS][/NCS], or “Not Child Safe”. I’m just throwing ideas out there, bite 'em if you will.
I think a simple disclaimer, something along the lines of “WARNING: Profanity ahead,” would suffice. I understand that there are not only children that read these fora, but also people that object to such language (i.e. “biblethumpers”, conservatives, etc.). I limit my profanity in real-life, and rarely, if ever, use any on the forums, even though I see no actual need for profanity (it’s true, the English language contains plenty of words that can be susbsituted for naughty words).
Has anyone else noticed the increase in profanity amongst pre-teens? I think it’s incredibly sad that television (MTV in particular) has corrupted the minds of the young and no-longer-so innocent.
We should limit and/or censor profanity (with asterisks) on these forums, but it’s really not anything that kids aren’t exposed to everyday
I don’t appreciate profanity or vulgarity of any sort in the forums but that’s just me. I used to rail against it when it appeared but I’ve long since given up on admonishments. Now I just appreciate the conversations more that are absent of vulgarity. Nick, I really appreciate your inquiry. Very courteous to ask. Thanks.
Apart from my personal convictions, I agree with Naomi. Our forums are a great place to converse and exchange information and in my opinion, vulgarity tends to place limits on the use of the forums for some and taints the professionalism that we seem to have over other fora elsewhere.
Yes, my kids are exposed to cussin’ and other things during their days at school and public life. But attending school is somewhat mandatory here and home schooling is not an option for us at the moment. If we have a choice, we choose to avoid enviroments where we are exposed to such things. In that, our forums are a much more pleasant place for us if vulgarity is absent.
good choice james, as for me, yes i have been introduced to swear words but i chose not to use them, after all they don’t really have a point, I think that if you are going to swear what you can do is put the word in a text that is the same color as the background then you only read the work if you really want, I think that would work much better then some of the things already discussed in this thread
Remember that unicyclist.com is not the only way to view RSU, it can be viewed in other ways that don’t support formatting so colouring text is not as effective as completely censoring it.
As it is an all age forum I support the idea of no swearing.
Although I agree there is a place for swearing, it is not here. For adults it is amongst other adults and for kids, well …
Yes I understand that young people swear but there is a thing called ‘modelling’ which suggests that adults should engage in the kind of behaviour that they would like to see in others.
The problem I have with swear words is that I don’t believe they exist.
I refuse to think that one word is any worse than any other word just because someone says it is. I think that the public stigma against swearing is idiotic and people need to lighten up. IT’S JUST A WORD PEOPLE! The ONLY reason that the words are bad is because people say they are. Words have no inherent evil or offensiveness. If you never told a kid that saying the F word was bad, and they said it every day, THEY WOULD BE JUST FINE! Swear words wouldn’t even exist if people would stop being so afraid of those words. The F-word would simply become a harmless word if people stopped saying it was dangrous. It’s a problem that only exists because people let it exist.
That being said, I can respect that it bothers people and don’t use those words as much as possible (here), HOWEVER, I think that being bothered by those words is silly and archaic. If you believe the earth is round than you should be smart enough to not care about swear words. I just don’t get why people continue to let it be a problem.
Neat perspective. I agree. I wish swear words had no offensive meaning. They are just words after all. Unfortunately, they are swear words by some categorization invented somewhere along the line. Someone much smarter than me would have to tell you where the whole thing originated and why one word is considered a swear word and another is not. But the fact is, they do exist in all their colorful glory. Gotta be at least in part that ol’ societal acceptance thing. Maybe societies determine what is acceptable and what is not. My perspective? Since I live in a society where certain words are considered profanity, I accept the fact that they exist and accept them as such.
The exacty process you described is currently in full gear in my neck of the woods. The F word is used so often now by my peers that it basically has lost its harsh undertones entirely. It’s even spreading into the adult realm as well; my mom is not afraid to use it a lot around us at all. I’m around words like that so often now, it seems like they just don’t have nearly the stigma that they used to carry.
I have not (i think) ever swore in here, all i have ever done is quoted some one who did and said it was unnecessary. I do not like being talked down to i am pretty certain i am capable of having an intellectual conversation with someone. I agree I am exposed to violence and profanity but then i react with the ‘polite english chap’ routine. Basically I try to calm them down and perhaps patronise them a little.
I am not ignorant I am taught well and resent comments of inadequacy because of my age. (i do not watch much TV)
But people use fuck, etc. commonly, at least in my part of the woods, its evil-ness has become archaric to most people excpet the regulars: Police, conservative chruch goin’ Christians and some others.
I understand what you’re saying but that could apply to any word and any situation. Swear words are swear words because enough people have used them to imply violence or hatred towards other people. They are meant to be offensive, that’s why people say them.
‘Unicycle’ is just a word. Yet all of us on this forum know what it means. Exactly what it means, what it implies and what you do with them. Same with swear words. We all know what they mean (at least I hope no one is going round saying things without knowing what they mean) and what they are for. They are meant to be violent/to offend and so on.
I swear in extreme situations. There are so many words in the English language that I don’t understand why you would use those particular words if you don’t mean to shock/offend/express yourself in an extreme situation and so on when you know that is what the words are for.
Enough of us get offended if unis are called bikes, or we are called clowns. yet they are just words too. That’s the trouble with words. It’s all in the meaning.
aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgggghhh!!! you said the 2 bad words in one sentence!
anyhoo, me thinks that ‘swear words’ are a part of the english language that should not be killed off. just make sure that ya use 'em properly and appropiately - and don’t overuse them as space fillers.
i heard that gilby was going to allow either threads or boards to be rated, and you can choose to have them hidden from you if you so desire.
you said the 2 bad words in one sentence!