Posted by 10derHeart on January 11, 2007, at 21:21:04
In reply to Huh?, posted by muffled on January 11, 2007, at 16:09:31
Yeah, there are times and places that word has been/can be used as an insult. But that's not important - that's just *my* experience in life. That's not what the standard is here, as many of us would have totally different experiences and possibly just endlessly disagree on which words need an asterisk.
So, Dr. Bob chose a while back to go along with Merriam-Webster's classification of which words are *usually* derogatory, vulgar, etc. So here's what that dictionary says for 'wh*tey':
Main Entry: wh*t·ey
Pronunciation: 'hwI-tE, 'wI-
Function: noun
Usage: often capitalized
usually disparaging : the white man : white societyMuffled - it says *usually,* so the system here at Babble will asterisk it. Doesn't mean YOU used it in a disparaging way, and I doubt anyone here thinks so, seeing the context (you directed it at yourself and your kids, for heaven's sake!). But in case someone *might* be offended, the automatic system kicks in.
An asterisk here comes from an automated, computer program just reacting like it's been programmed to do - it's NOT drawing any kind of conclusion about the person who innocently typed a term. It's truly intended to help you (none of us could possibly be aware of ALL the many words M-W classifies this way,) not convict you
You misunderstood nothing.
You did nothing wrong.
You do something helpful (leave your automatic asteisking system turned on.)
And mostly.....getting a surprise asterisk does NOT NOT NOT make you bad. You hear me?!!
(((((muffled))))))
poster:10derHeart
thread:721225
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20061228/msgs/721507.html