Subject:
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Re: Language slipping?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.admin.general
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Date:
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Wed, 22 Dec 1999 19:17:48 GMT
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Reply-To:
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jsproat@[avoidspam]io.com
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Viewed:
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413 times
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James Brown wrote:
> Hmm. Hate to be the guy who calls this out, but I've noticed a higher than
> normal use of "casual use" vulgarity in the last few weeks. Not really from
> any single "offender" or anything, nor used in a particularly offensive way,
> but it's there.
Hmmm. I am a potentially guilty party. I previously addressed my feelings
about parts of this issue in .debate . (1)
Sometimes I need to express myself in a quasi-vulgar way. For example, to
express extreme frustration in a socially conveient way, I may refer to the
!@#$ brain-dead MFC libraries. (2) I expect to be free to express myself
publicly in this fashion, and on LUGNET unless Todd forbids it.
> Just a general call to keep it clean, folks.
> <cynically donning flame suit>
Cynically riffing on this subject...
Where do we draw the line? Do we limit all our expressions on LUGNET to the
"clean" ones? Do we aim to make all of LUGNET readable for an audience of
8-year-olds? Does this apply to language, or also to Lego models? Are
military models out? Should we weed out any references to bad manners? Is
name-calling out, then?
Or perhaps a little bit of the "dirty" stuff is good for the community. Those
who are offended by real-life feelings should be careful about what they read.
Cheers,
- jsproat
1. WARNING: If you're especially fragile about the S-word, don't read this
article:
http://www.lugnet.com/off-topic/debate/?n=2407
2. There's something magical about the word !@#$. Instead of inserting a
known obscenity into the conversation stream, I can use w word whose meaning
is determined by the reader based upon the context. The reader's imagination
typically allows the worst possible word for an arbitrary feeling. Good for
venting. I could have used a more eloquent word, such as "inelegant" or
"ill-designed", but that fails to confer the raw feeling behind my sentiment.
I understand the need to watch oneself. For example, there are the famous
Seven Words That Can't Be Said On TV. Polite conversation demands that we
pretend these words don't exist. Shouting one on a river in Michigan can land
you in front of a judge. My only exception to these words is that they're so
banal; they have no terrible meaning in and of themselves.
--
Jeremy H. Sproat <jsproat@io.com> ~~~ http://www.io.com/~jsproat/
"Hello. My name is Jeremy, and I'm a...a brick chewer."
(in unison) "Hi, Jeremy."
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