Are we allowed to swear?

[pert]

The forums are so shiny and new, I don't want to be the first to sully them.

 

Or maybe I do.....

[Distortio]

heh, didn't take long did it?

 

as i'm sure we all know, swearing is big and clever, and should be used at every available opportunity. you turds.

 

i could grudgingly confine my tourettes to the home however, if the powers that be don't like it.

[admin]

In matters such as this we believe it is not for the forum administrators to dictate rules, it is up to the forum members to decide. We believe that freedom of expression is a necessity and posts will not be altered or deleted unless a specific complaint is made (which is no guarantee of action being taken) or a post is deemed to be of such poor taste as to cause obvious offence (the criteria what defines 'poor taste' and 'offence' is a debate in itself)

 

So what do you think? Should swearing be allowed and to what extent?

[pert]

I like swearing. It is like linguistic glitter. If used sparingly and tastefully, it can be wondrous.

 

I'll happily ***-out the middle of words if others prefer, though I'm not quite sure what this achieves.

[Distortio]

i reckon so long as it doesn't descend into everyone calling each other twats it'll be ok.

[jim-jam]

I think we should probably exercise some for of self censorship in the swearing stakes. After all, people who are genuinely offended by swearing shouldn't be excluded from taking part in the community. And think of the children!

 

But seriously, I don't think it's much of a hassle to asterix a few letters in a swear word if it saves offense.

[Yowe]

Hooray for swearing, it's great! Swearing is cool and funny and shows a high intellect and a good vocabulary. It relieves stress too. Putting in ****s only draws more attention to it.

[EM]

In matters such as this we believe it is not for the forum administrators to dictate rules, it is up to the forum members to decide. ...

So what do you think? Should swearing be allowed and to what extent?

 

Last edited by admin on Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am; edited 1 time in total

This is a very old post (though not quite as old as the Edit date ) so maybe I've missed some more recent pronouncement. It does not seem to reflect the current T&C which explicitly prohibits "vulgar" language, or the use of the automatic swear filter.

 

I like swearing. It is like linguistic glitter. If used sparingly and tastefully, it can be wondrous.

I agree, but would add that when used excessively it can also be wondrous.

 

It is my experience that swearing is very much part of Shetland, Scottish and Australian culture, and something to celebrate. Scotland is the only place I regularly encounter bus drivers and other "establishment figures" routinely swearing during friendly communication with the public. It is healthy!

 

I'll happily ***-out the middle of words if others prefer, though I'm not quite sure what this achieves.

Exactly. What does it achieve? Does anyone offended by swearing who reads the word sh*te really feel better that the "i" is missing? Even mods do this to get around the filter.

 

... people who are genuinely offended by swearing shouldn't be excluded from taking part in the community.

I think people who are genuinely offended by swearing should try to get over it for their own sake.

[crofter]

... people who are genuinely offended by swearing shouldn't be excluded from taking part in the community.

I think people who are genuinely offended by swearing should try to get over it for their own sake.

 

[Ghostrider]

I like swearing. It is like linguistic glitter. If used sparingly and tastefully, it can be wondrous.

I agree, but would add that when used excessively it can also be wondrous.

 

To paraphrase early Connolly, just skip over the other words in the sentence and keep thae swearie wans.

[JAStewart]

I'm at the stage where I've swore'd so much that it doesn't really impact me as much anymore. Desensitisation is a good thing.

[Njugle]

So, for sake of argument, if a ten year old girl called you a c**t, after you stopped laughing, you would not be offended?

 

How about your Granny, is it right to call her a c*** too?

 

And step forward those that want to explain to their kiddies what a f*** is.

 

I'm kinda short circuiting the point here, but Shetlink is viewed by, and has members that are, minors and some members already find some of the content offensive at times. Those of you/us with leather hides are not really missing out from the lack of it are we?

 

 

So, in summary, we have a swear filter because it is easier to disallow it than to convince those who do not like it that it must be okay, because lots of people said so, or explain it all to kids. There is no watershed here and UK TV doesn't allow it either, pre-watershed, nor do you find it in the press.

 

There are plenty of other outlets for swearing, by all means email yourself with a whole string of profanity if that is what you would like (it works for me), or try training a young sheepdog, a very healthy outlet for verbal tension.

 

In the meantime, enjoy our filtered gems. You may notice that the occasional filtered word isn't even a swear word. There has to be some perk to this moderation lark, ken?

[EM]

So, for sake of argument, if a ten year old girl called you a c**t, after you stopped laughing, you would not be offended?

No more than if she expressed the same thing with sanitised words.

 

How about your Granny, is it right to call her a c*** too?

Again, this is not a matter of the words themselves but of whether Shetlink should permit the fundamental insult, something covered adequately by the other T&C rules. I don't see why such an action is in any way lessened by using "*"s.

 

 

And step forward those that want to explain to their kiddies what a f*** is.

Well this would be difficult, but only because I wouldn't know whether you are suggesting explaining what a f*rt is or a f*ck.

 

I remember sitting with a young kid and his mother in Germany. He was singing along to himself "bumsen, bumsen, bumsen, bumsen" in a cheerful way. He paused and asked his mother "Bumsen, what a comical word!, what does it mean?" She replied matter of factly "Ficken." With a completely relaxed "Ah! I see" he returned to his little tune. He is a very well brought up kid and really balanced.

 

I think that attempts to shield kids from swearing nowadays are at best doomed to failure, but more likely to cause completely unnecessary conflict and confusion in them. Being offended by swearing is a handicap, but where is the benefit? We should be offended by evil. By pandering to the tiny minority of people who claim to be offended by swearing, the offence of truly antisocial behaviour is diluted.

 

I also think that such pandering makes people accept blatent hypocrisy as a societal norm.

[Njugle]

All valid points. I could try to formulate illustration after illustration, but it would be a waste of both of our time EM. I can only add that if teachers started using swear words in class, news presenters, etc, etc, it would be a major societal change.

 

The letters behind the asterisks exist in your mind, but to a four year old, they are just asterisks.

 

I wish you well in your campaign to change perception of such words in the UK and hopefully you've also made the same request to the various other media to which people look each day.

[EM]

... if teachers started using swear words in class, news presenters,

Actually one of the most cringe inducing TV experiences is when some straight-laced has-been tries to revive their career by suddenly swearing to appear streetwise. The ex-newsreader Moira Stewart being one example. You could tell that she was really having a hard time saying the words, presumably due to childhood conditioning. Sad and pitiful.

 

... your campaign to change perception of such words in the UK

Just the UK? Nah! I'm an internationalist, or indeed an effen internationalist.