Thread: Town Hall Discussion: Specific Language - Acceptable or not?

Ok, right now, due to the fast influx of new members who didn't know the rules and what was/wasn't acceptable here, the mods temporarily relaxed the language standards to ease the transition (such as allowing acronyms like WTF or letting slide words that were altered to get around the profanity filter).

This cannot continue if the rules stay as they are, so we need to visit some specifics related to what is/isn't profanity and what should/shouldn't be allowed in posts to give the board input so they can determine if the rules regarding profanity need to be modified or left as is.

Something to keep in mind when answering these questions.

Personal attacks are not allowed, regardless of language being used. So, whether a personal attack/slam is done using a curse or not, it is likely against the rules.

Sexually explicit language (describing sexual acts) is not acceptable as the rules stand, and that topic is not part of this discussion.

So, when we talk about curses/language here, it would be in the context of being used as an exlamation, adjective, etc., not a means to personally attack someone (forbidden with or without curses) or describe sexual acts.

So, please give input on the following words/points (the input on these, will help the board get a feel for what generally is or isn't considered acceptable by our members, and they therefore will apply that to other 'similar' words). Please give input on each of these questions:

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Questions to answer
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Specific Words:

Should the word Ass be censored?

Should the word B!tch be censored?

Should the word whore be censored?

Should the word sh!t be censored?

Should f-bombs be censored?

Should the word b@stard be censored?

Circumventing the word censor:

Should people be able to get around the word censor by adding letters like $ or ! (a$$ or sh!t)?

If a person posts a word that is **** out by the word censor, is that ok, or should the post be edited/deleted and the poster warned (examples "**** this" or "the team played like ****")?

Acronyms:

Which of the following accronyms are ok or not ok (general translation of the acronym given, some variations exist)?

WTH (what the hell/heck)?

WTF (what the fu**)?

FUBAR (fouled/fu**ed up beyond all recognition)?

**** (shut the fu** up)?

LMAO (Laughing my ass off)?

LMFAO (Laughing my fu**ing ass off)?

SNAFU (situation normal, all fouled/fu**ed up)?

SOB (son of a b!tch/bum)?

Other Acronyms you want to comment on?

Any other topics related to language use/profanity that you want to comment on:

I don't know what half of those acronyms mean...

Originally Posted by Broncospsycho77

I don't know what half of those acronyms mean...

Ok, based on this, I will give the common 'long' version, although some variations exist.

I think all WTF, LMAO, ****, etc should all be allowed. I mean, come one you can't wipe all the words out that we have fun with. There is absolutely nothing wrong with those abbreviations. My 13 year old uses those on her chat thingys. You can't eliminate so much and make it elementary.

I think sh!t type words even fuggat are bad. **** should be good, and all variations of LMAO, LMFAO, LMMFAO etc should be allowed.

Ass is not bad but b!tch is. even damn is bad. I used whore earlier, and it was in the context of a movie name. Felt bad typing it, but it was the name!

As for personal attacks, I hope that the Mods use restraint on this because I call people SOB on here all the time, but it is all in love.

Originally Posted by claymore

I think sh!t type words even fuggat are bad. **** should be good, and all variations of LMAO, LMFAO, LMMFAO etc should be allowed.

Ass is not bad but b!tch is. even damn is bad. I used whore earlier, and it was in the context of a movie name. Felt bad typing it, but it was the name!

As for personal attacks, I hope that the Mods use restraint on this because I call people SOB on here all the time, but it is all in love.

Yeah, clay uses "SOB" all of the time, but usually the word "lucky" is before it, so it's harmless... and then there's a drinking symbol following that, so sobriety surely played a part...

I agree about the $$ and the ! to replace letters. That's over the line. I don't have any problem with asterisks, though. It still leaves some of it up to the imagination.

Originally Posted by claymore

I think sh!t type words even fuggat are bad. **** should be good, and all variations of LMAO, LMFAO, LMMFAO etc should be allowed.

Ass is not bad but b!tch is. even damn is bad. I used whore earlier, and it was in the context of a movie name. Felt bad typing it, but it was the name!

As for personal attacks, I hope that the Mods use restraint on this because I call people SOB on here all the time, but it is all in love.

Thanks for adding SOB, I'll add it to the above list

Should the word Ass be censored?
No
Should the word B!tch be censored?
yes
Should the word whore be censored?
yes
Should the word sh!t be censored?
yes
Should f-bombs be censored?
yes
Should the word b@stard be censored?
yes
Circumventing the word censor:

Should people be able to get around the word censor by adding letters like $ or ! (a$$ or sh!t)?
technically no, but it doesn't seem quite as offensive for some odd reason

If a person posts a word that is **** out by the word censor, is that ok, or should the post be edited/deleted and the poster warned (examples "**** this" or "the team played like ****")? This is fine.

Acronyms:

Which of the following accronyms are ok or not ok?

WTH? ok

WTF? ok

FUBAR? no

****? no

LMAO? yes

LMFAO? no

SNAFU? no

I'm really not a snob, as I actually saw one of the new posters even use "C u n t" in a post. If we allow this and others, then you have to ask yourself what element of poster do you want to attract? For I think this poster just was having fun, but to imagine seeing this language in numerous posts and frequently may be offensive to a lot of men as well? Maybe I'm just not accustomed to partaking in conversations with some of this language, so I'll adapt to whatever is decided.

Good grief. Eliminating abbreviations like WTF, ****, LMFAO is going overboard. Just my opinion.

Good grief. Then one has to ask themself 'why' they feel it's necessary to use all those terms on a routine basis on a public board. The privacy of friends or their own home, etc. is a different matter.

Plus, what the Freaks do not understand is how much room tned has given all of you as new members of this board, and it was not what we had for boundaries prior to your coming on board. However, some change is good, not denying that.

Originally Posted by Jody

Good grief. Then one has to ask themself 'why' they feel it's necessary to use all those terms on a routine basis on a public board. The privacy of friends or their own home, etc. is a different matter.

No one would have to ask themselves why am I so sensitive over people having a little fun.

Those abbreviations don't even spell a word. Eliminate cuss words, but at least leave a little something to have fun with in some areas like the lounge.

Originally Posted by Bronco9798

No one would have to ask themselves why am I so sensitive over people having a little fun.

Those abbreviations don't even spell a word. Eliminate cuss words, but at least leave a little something to have fun with in some areas like the lounge.

I think 'anything' should go in the Smack Forum, but not all forums.

Originally Posted by Bronco9798

No one would have to ask themselves why am I so sensitive over people having a little fun.

Those abbreviations don't even spell a word. Eliminate cuss words, but at least leave a little something to have fun with in some areas like the lounge.

They don stand for words. I really don't want someone using **** with me. I don't call that having fun. I call that being rude.

Originally Posted by TXBRONC

They don stand for words. I really don't want someone using **** with me. I don't call that having fun. I call that being rude.

and that was the point of my last post. YOU would get offended at that. I on the other hand is so used to it that I wouldnt even think about it.

funny how what good behavior is so different from man to woman, city to city and country to country isnt it?

Originally Posted by TXBRONC

They don stand for words. I really don't want someone using **** with me. I don't call that having fun. I call that being rude.

I think you have to have a little more leeway than that. I mean, if you allow more words to be used it will be obvious when it is in fun and when it is used to be mean or attack someone. If a poster keeps attacking people they get the boot. So what is the real issue here?