Posted by IsoM on June 24, 2002, at 19:41:20
In reply to Re: bad words, posted by Dr. Bob on June 24, 2002, at 18:59:46
Thanks Bob, for the dictionary reference. Being Canadian, I prefer to use an English-based dictionary rather than American but I hope that won't be a problem for you.
As for people not willing to unwrap the package (because of some mild swear words), that can go for many other things too. Personally, I haven't been able to 'unwrap' the package of some posts due to the way they were formatted (no paragraph breaks or lack of use of capitals or punctuation) or those that were increadibly long. My brain freezes up. So the idea that some wouldn't open the package shouldn't mean blocking a poster for occasional mild swear words. You'd never consider blocking someone for poorly formatting a post or running on & on - like I do at times (I hope not anyway). :-)
For Wendy, you said:
"Can we agree that *some* censoring is appropriate but disagree on exactly how much?"
That's great! So all we're suggesting right now is not to be too ready to censor mild swear words. That's the input that you've been asking for."Maybe they're lurkers? Maybe they feel unwelcome?"
It's possible that the same amount of people might feel unwelcome for fear of being censored for using some words as much as those lurkers who feel unwelcome because they're offended by these words. We should try to hold to high standards but not to put ourselves above others - kind of like a noble middle-ground.Finally, about the use of some of the words okayed by a dictionary -
"Still, that doesn't mean that those words are never OK -- or that other words are always OK."
I can understand that easily. How about this?Acceptable: I feel so shitty since taking XXX med & just want to know what the hell is the matter with me?
Unacceptable: IMO, I think his views are pure shit. He & his ideas can go to hell.
So what's your opinion of this sort of example? Like I suggested, it's the message that's given, not the packaging only. I don't mean every sentence would be peppered with swearing - just that it can be very descriptive of how desperate, depressed people feel.
poster:IsoM
thread:5720
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20020510/msgs/5772.html