I did miss ya, JOHN. Sorry if my post was not sufficiently clear without the smiley so here it is – Remember your motto:
I have to confess I occasionally use the word “Nazi” to mean someone overly controlling. It’s not a term I refrain from using because it is inherently derrogatory to a class of people, the way “slurs” are. (How could you insult a true Nazi by calling him a Nazi?) Nor do I refrain from using the term because people are “sensitive” to it – the people I know are not. They understand the context in which it is being used (akin to the famous “Soup Nazi”) and no one presumes to tell me that I am trivializing the Holocaust by referring to the office bean-counter as a “receipts nazi.” And I would second the opinion that the term as used has to do with rigid over-control and conformance to authority, not death camps – and I frankly don’t think anyone else has the right to tell me what the term means to me or to others whom I might address.
Truthfully, I think objecting to it is juuuuuust over the line of political correctness – but barely (it’s a judgment call). That said, I think the true meaning of “political correctness” is to refrain from using language people reasonably object to. So I hearby pledge not to use the term around here. Everybody happy?
To play devil’s advocate for a moment, with the help of Merriam-Webster:
While the word “rape” is indeed loaded by its most commonly-used (today) definition, it can well be used to describe violations of a non-sexual nature. That being said, It is at best sloppy language and at worst horribly offensive when “rape” is used in the context of anything less than “an outrageous violation.” Of course, outrageousness varies from person to person, so one man’s rape could be another’s overpriced textbooks.
Where did I say anything about you actually being a moderator? I hate quoting myself, but look at the quote. Read it, scrotum whisker. Shut up. Read it again. Shut your hole. Read it again. Now read the special treatment part:.
Where do I say you’re dispensing special treatment? The only treatment I see you dispensing is you being a first-class prick. I said treat everyone the same. You say you will. Fine. That’s all I ask. You take exception to usage of certain words; I can respect that. You wish to protect their original usage, I can respect that. Here’s what I can’t respect:.
So I’m an idiot for asking you to relax? Read your own sig, man. How’s this:.
[holding up right hand] I hereby and forthwith do solemnly swear to never call anyone a Nazi unless they are one. Furthermore, I swear to never use the word rape in a non-rape context.
[putting hand down]
It could also be a European herb of the mustard family.
BTW, I looked the word up at Merriam-Webster Online, and below the definition was an offer to send me to the “Top 10 Most Popular Sites for ‘Rape’”. I’ll never look at a dictionary in quite the same way again . . .
So Yue Han, you mean it’s OK for me to call you a geek, then? (God, this is fun.)
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Doghouse Reilly *
BTW, I looked the word up at Merriam-Webster Online, and below the definition was an offer to send me to the “Top 10 Most Popular Sites for ‘Rape’”. I’ll never look at a dictionary in quite the same way again . . . QUOTE]
I saw that too. Really creeped me out–I could just imagine someone looking over my shoulder and seeing that line on my screen. Templates can make for such fun.
Darien: You said I was overreacting because I threatened to have people banned. I did not threaten to have people banned. I sarcasticly said I was a moderator and would ban them because they accused me of being ‘PC Police.’
What exactly is your problem with this? It’s mildly offensive, but it’s pretty run off the mill for the Pit. I responded to their calling me the ‘PC Police’ with sarcasm, and clarified my reasons for posting this thread, pointing out that I can’t actually do anything to anyone.
Doghouse:
What the hell are you talking about? I said I don’t think calling a person a geek is as offensive as calling someone a Nazi or misusing the word rape. I also said it was pathetic to try to use ‘you were unpopular in high school’ as a strike against me in this argument.
Jodi: I meant ‘I missed you too’ as an addition to missing MysterEcks, not as an aggrieved response to your post. No harm done.
Why does it matter to you how popular I was in high school? I could explain whether or not I was popular, but if I said I was you’d just say I was lying. At any rate, it has absolutely nothing to do with the offensiveness of comparing sexual assualt with paying too much for a CD. What exactly is your fixation on knowing how popular I was in high school anyway?
So, the guy who keeps bringing up whether or not I was popular in high school, he’s perfectly mature and grown up; you have no admonishments.
On the other hand, I find it offensive that rape, a traumatic vicious degradation of a human being, is used to whine about the difficulty of a test, so I’m immature.
Fuck you. You are the first person who has really pissed me off in this thread.
It’s OK man, you don’t need to dwell on it. We still think you’re OK, even if you did get picked on in high school. Not everybody can be a “cool dude” at 18. Now if you’re still a virgin at 20, I’d say that there might be something wrong . . .
(Boy, this makes for an amusing Saturday afternoon.)
Hey, Doghouse, why don’t you come out and say “I don’t spend as much time on the Boards because I have a life”, why don’tcha? Fuckin’ dolt, you do realize that your comments simply paint you as an Ignorant dickhead, yes?
Whoa, I’m really stepping in it today. I mention high school geekdom and hurt Yue Han’s feelings, and now I making a passing reference to adult virginity and it turns out that I’ve inadvertently touched a hot-button topic for Spoofe. I swear, the SDMB is an emotional minefield sometimes.
I admit that I’m a little too busy to stop in to the SDMB so often, but then again, I never realized it could be quite so entertaining . . .
And I must say, you haven’t been very good attention to this thread, Spoofe. As Tapswiller pointed out, some people might find the use of the word “dick” offensive, because they have one of their own that they find themselves quite attached to. I assume this would extend to the usage “dickhead” as well. I think you owe all people with dicks an apology. And you can apologize to Yue Han too.
I realize that was uncalled for, and apologize. But Yue Han, you do realize that you’re opening yourself up for at least some mild ribbing when you blast the world at large for some common word usage that probably most people here are guilty of? Banging the drum of victimhood and claiming to speak on behalf of some real victims (with whom you apparently have no connection) does come across as a tad uptight, and pretentious. But sorry again if I carried it too far.
Nope, no harm done, DR. After I realized you didn’t take high school popularity seriously and were just using to jerk me around, I was fine with it. It’s the Pit, you know?
Like I said, the only post that really mad me angry was weirddave’s. I don’t mind arguing, even heated arguing, and in the Pit heated means really hot. I don’t mind be teased, so long as I’m allowed to retaliate. But it bothers me that he was so, I dunno, dismissive.
Yue Han, if you had said something like “please don’t call people Nazis”, or “please don’t use the term ‘rape’ metaphorically, it offends me”, in other words asking instead of ordering, then I might have considered making some effort to make sure I don’t use such similes and metaphors. I’m not sure if I ever actually use these terms, but I might have given thought to making sure I don’t.
But instead, you tell me “Don’t call people people Nazis” and “Do not say, I got raped on a test today” as if you have some kind of authority over me. If you were a moderator, I could understand this. But when I look under your name, I see the word “Member”. Just like under my name.
The first draft of this reply had me really flaming you, calling you the things and inviting you to do things to yourself. I thought better of that, because I realized you really do have good intentions. But I suggest that future requests be made in less of a self-important manner.
When I said don’t do these things, it was meant as a counterpoint to an OR situation… Don’t call people Nazis, or I will be offended and come into your thread and say, ‘please don’t call people Nazis.’ This thread, which is now 2 pages long and rapidly growing more pointless, was just meant to let people know about my position on that.
At any rate, it’s pretty ludicrous to be taken to task for being obnoxious in the Pit, but that’s fine. Have a nice day.
Remember your motto: