# Is the C-word allowed outside the Pit? {Answered: not in a misogynistic way or to insult. Not even with a letter changed} **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 11, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325 "2022-02-11T18:13:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/124 "2022-02-13T01:42:05Z")
I knew what you meant, I have had spell check do worse. ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/125 "2022-02-13T01:43:38Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > What the fück are all y’all doing hitting your thumbs with hammers? The last time I did that I was too young to swear. I do whenever I’m trying to create a contraption to catch Bugs Bunny. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/126 "2022-02-13T02:29:46Z")
Seriously, if you find yourself hitting your thumb with a hammer, hold the damn nail with needle nose pliers and strike the head of the nail with assurance. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/127 "2022-02-13T03:22:53Z")
Well, that’s no fun. I’ve got my thumb on the wall, the hammer held high and a blindfold on. For science. Don’t most folks let out a yelp or grunt when barking a shin, or stubbing a toe, or stapling their thumb to a batch of document? It’s startling, and then the pain kicks in seconds later, and then comes the stream. FuckshitGrandpa’sEatingDingleberryStew. Or whatever. Hey, what the hell does any of this have to do with misogynistic slurs in Politics and Elections? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/128 "2022-02-13T03:26:34Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > then comes the stream That doesn’t happened to me from pain, only when I’m really scared. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/129 "2022-02-13T03:29:59Z")
Literally? I know a guy who pooped himself as he as being chased by a German Sheperd and some angry cops. He was quite surprised his body betrayed him that way. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/130 "2022-02-13T04:00:23Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > It is censorship since you know what the words mean, and you choose not to use them. Like every single other person, I know thousands (probably tens of thousands) more words than I use. I know words like automobile and stereoscopic and collywobbles and, yes, c\*\*\*. I’m not censoring myself by not using them: _they are not part of my active vocabulary._ Words in a person’s passive vocabulary have to be used deliberately. They don’t see casual use, even as expletives. Censorship (filtering) is an active process. I wouldn’t jokingly call a friend a shithead if my mother was in the room because I code switch when my parents are around. But if you were about to get hit by a car, I wouldn’t shout to look out for the ‘automobile’ no matter how panicked I was. If I was extremely ill and halfway delirious with it, I wouldn’t tell you I had the collywobbles. And if I hit my hand with a hammer, c\*\*\* wouldn’t be my expletive. Those words are not simply not being filtered in the first place. It’s like a person who says a bunch of racist shit while they’re drunk and claims it was the booze talking. The only thing the booze did was to remove inhibition. Alcohol can’t make you racist, and pain can’t make you a misogynist. They CAN reveal what you might say or do when you aren’t self regulating. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/131 "2022-02-13T05:16:19Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Alcohol can’t make you racist, and pain can’t make you a misogynist. They CAN reveal what you might say or do when you aren’t self regulating. Saying cunt does not make you a misogynist, and saying the N-word does not make you a racist. I think your point is that you’re not as aware of those words in your day-to-day life as others might be, so you have no occasion to use them. But for someone who encounters them more frequently, the words might very well spring to mind. But the appearance of condoning misogyny or racism is hurtful to many of our members of our community here, and that is the reason the words should be weeded out. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/132 "2022-02-13T09:27:02Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > Or worse, Legos. Worse is right. I’ve never been harmed by lava yet. Legos are banned in my house. I learned that lesson a long time ago. > [@Riemann](#): > > if you don’t dispute that in _general_ usage the word “c\*\*\*” is a misogynistic slur of much greater severity than “fuck I think I’ve explained this enough in this thread. If you don’t understand it by now, I can’t help you further. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > And to get this thread back on track and away from curse words, the word in question (however spelled) WAS used to demean a woman. If the mods decide whether or not RCH is a valid unit of measure or not acceptable is fine and all. But specifically this usage was at antithesis to the SD’s quest to reduce misogyny. Absolutely correct. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > I know that you use the word indiscriminately among your friends, but understand that you shouldn’t do that among strangers, because you’ve said so. No, you are missing that I don’t use _any_ swear words among strangers. It’s not just one word I won’t use, it’s pretty much all of them. I don’t understand why that concept is hard to comprehend. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Which in itself means that you don’t think it’s generally acceptable language in the culture. It’s like no one even reads my posts. I don’t think _any_ swear words are acceptable public language. Therefore, I don’t use them in public. > [@TroutMan](#): > > Nah. The goal is to stop misanthropic slurs used against women. If we institute a bright-line rule that you can’t say “cunt”, then people game it by calling women sluts or harpies or qunts. > > Making a rule that misanthropic slurs aren’t allowed is more effective, even if it means some people need to learn what misanthropic means. Yeah, good luck with that one. That’s going to go exactly nowhere. Remember a few months back when a poster was saying in the Pit that women that got drunk were asking to be raped? Not all the mods put together could come up with a reason to tell him to knock it off, so they had to bring Ed into it. Ed told him to knock it off (I’m not sure if he actually got a warning) and he would be making up a rule to prevent that. Six months later and I haven’t seen a new rule announced. Maybe I just missed it. And this was, what, five years after the crackdown on misogyny was announced? > [@Czarcasm](#): > > How about the way it was gamed in the OP?? Are you kidding? That is specifically in the rule. It’s a one sentence rule, it couldn’t have been that hard to read. Are you talking about something different? > [@BlankSlate](#): > > Hey, what the hell does any of this have to do with misogynistic slurs in Politics and Elections? Yeah, that would be absolutely nothing. I suspect this will be an Ed ruling, so nothing to do but argue pointlessly until a decision is made. You know, just like it usually goes here. 😀 > [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > But the appearance of condoning misogyny or racism is hurtful to many of our members of our community here, and that is the reason the words should be weeded out. Yep, that’s why I’m surprised that three mods thought the creative spelling made it ok. It was clearly directed at a woman and was an obvious play on the word cunt. No way that should have been shrugged off. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/133 "2022-02-13T11:55:47Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Yep, that’s why I’m surprised that three mods thought the creative spelling made it ok. Are we sure it’s that? On this board it may also be that since it was directed at a Republican woman, that made it OK whereas has the same sentence been about AOC or Kamala, the anger of a thousand mods would have been brought down upon the poster. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/134 "2022-02-13T14:03:45Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > > [@puzzlegal](#): > > > > I know that you use the word indiscriminately among your friends, but understand that you shouldn’t do that among strangers, because you’ve said so. > > No, you are missing that I don’t use _any_ swear words among strangers. It’s not just one word I won’t use, it’s pretty much all of them. I don’t understand why that concept is hard to comprehend. How is that inconsistent with anything i said? (It’s not.) ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/135 "2022-02-13T17:13:54Z")
I’m gonna shoehorn a brief anecdote into this thread because I don’t know where else to put it and it’s for sure not worth it’s own thread. When I was in college a guy I know took exception when I referred to his fraternity as a ‘frat’. “Don’t call it a frat! Would you call your country a ‘cunt’?” “No,” I replied, “but I’d call you one.” ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/136 "2022-02-13T17:27:58Z")
And then the whole room broke out in applause. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/137 "2022-02-13T18:08:23Z")
“When England was a kingdom, we had a king. When we were an empire, we had an emperor. Now we’re a country, and we have Margaret Thatcher.” —Kenny Everett ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/138 "2022-02-13T18:16:49Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Are we sure it’s that? On this board it may also be that since it was directed at a Republican woman, that made it OK whereas has the same sentence been about AOC or Kamala, the anger of a thousand mods would have been brought down upon the poster. Unfortunately, that’s a possibility. It’s not like she hasn’t already been called every other name in the book, what’s one more? To tell the truth, I don’t read the Politics forum so I wasn’t aware that name calling was the norm there. If you are going to allow posters to call women cunts there, you may as well just combine it with the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/139 "2022-02-13T20:29:39Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Remember a few months back when a poster was saying in the Pit that women that got drunk were asking to be raped? I don’t remember that, actually. Got a link? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/140 "2022-02-13T20:34:20Z")
A modnote has been issued, **there will be more to come from the staff in this thread.** > [@Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene MUST GO](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-marjorie-taylor-greene-must-go/931895/440): > > Modnote: After careful deliberation, we feel this modnoted is needed. It is the board’s policy to stop casual misogyny. It will not be tolerated, even in the Pit. We are not specifically banning any words, but please report instances of misogyny and expect moderator action. The use of ‘qunt’ was misogynistic, and thus a modnote has been issued. We apologize that it took so long to resolve this. We were distracted by ‘should we ban this word?’ The mods have agreed that in general, we don’t wan… _Please note, no word is being banned. It is misogyny that is being modded._ ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/141 "2022-02-13T20:44:30Z")
Here’s the result of the discussion in the mod loop: **It is the board’s policy to stop casual misogyny. It will not be tolerated, even in the Pit. We are not specifically banning any words, but please report instances of misogyny and expect moderator action.** **The use of “qunt” was misogynistic, and a mod note has been issued.** **We apologize that it took so long to resolve this. We were distracted by “should we ban this word?” The mods have agreed that in general, we don’t want to ban words, and then realized that the issue here was not about the word, but the misogyny.** ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/142 "2022-02-13T20:48:13Z")
I don’t remember the thread, I didn’t read it. It was the one you had to ask Ed to step in on, there can’t be too many of them in the Pit. [Here](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-split-p-j/941620/288) is his post about the rule that is to be forthcoming about blaming drunk women for rape. July of last year, and if there is a rule that came out I missed it. > [@Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene MUST GO](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-marjorie-taylor-greene-must-go/931895/440): > > We apologize that it took so long to resolve this. We were distracted by ‘should we ban this word?’ The mods have agreed that in general, we don’t want to ban words, and then realized that the issue here was not about the word, but the misogyny. I don’t understand this part. Does this mean the word can be used as long as it’s not directed at a woman? What are the non-misogynistic uses of cunt that are okay to use? You are just begging for rules lawyering with this decision. If you have, as a group, decided this word is misogynistic why are you allowing other uses of it at all? Just reading this thread tells you it’s all about the word. All kinds of posters were on my ass because I use it as a swear word sometimes, didn’t matter to them, it was about the fact that I used the word at all. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325/143 "2022-02-13T20:51:57Z")
Using it as an insult is pretty much misogynistic. Using it as an alternate term for vagina is just crude and won’t be modded I would think. Someone might find a way to get warned for it when not an insult. Never put anything beyond a creative would-be jokester or rules lawyer. I will say it is not encouraged. It will be removed from thread titles but that is not a change, even less offensive words already are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-word-allowed-outside-the-pit-answered-not-in-a-misogynistic-way-or-to-insult-not-even-with-a-letter-changed/959325.md?page=8)