# Is this hate speech? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 18, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714 "2010-06-18T21:35:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/81 "2010-06-19T19:46:58Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > The problem is that you have double standards. The moderators allow so-called skeptics to get away with murder, when attacking superstition. But no criticism of skeptics is permitted, even when they are obviously lying, or otherwise acting like dicks. I have always found this to be so. And yet you continue to post here. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/82 "2010-06-19T20:01:46Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > No, the point of Skammer’s remark is that he had only heard the word used for female genetalia. > > I don’t even see how your interpretation is possible. As **Marley** points out, **Skammer** never said he had heard it used to refer to female genitalia, and explicitly said he did not know what it referred to: ---
**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:** [June 19, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/83 "2010-06-19T20:30:42Z")
Marley, you are just making a ridiculous justification. You permit so-called skeptics ti insult their opponents with “woo-woo” but you don’t permit their opponents any come-back. Your claim that there is a difference between “woowoo” and “skep-dick” is nonsensical. Whether you like it or not, woowoo is a widely used term for female genitals. > [@Marley23](#): > > To review:[list] > \ ***Skammer** … guessed (incorrectly) that maybe it meant vagina. Nice circular reasoning there. > [@](#): > > \*Mel Brooks used “woo woo” in _High Anxiety_ as a substitute for womb (uterus, not vagina) You need to watch the clip again. He distinctly says that woowoo means “the female erogenous zone.” > [@](#): > > And he is obviously not using the word to mean “someone who believes in pseudoscience.” No, he’s using the word to mean vagina. And here’s the thing. It’s a famous and much quoted movie. Millions of people know woowoo as a synonym for vagina through seeing this movie. > [@](#): > > These are some of the worst cites I have ever seen on this board. You’ve got a guess, an Urban Dictionary cite that even Urban Dictionary voters don’t agree with, and joke from a Mel Brooks movie. Oh, really? I can produce several thousand cites if you want. All I need do is Google “woowoo vagina” and find a huge number of people who agree with Mel & me, and disagree with you. Are you going to claim that every single one of them is wrong? Here’s a few hits where people talk about vaginas and call them woowoos WARNING: some may be NSFW, and some may be TMI > **[Eliminate Your Crotch Odor!](https://prince.org/msg/100/257070?pr)** > **[Private Site](https://cuntlove.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/diva-cup-menstrual-product-alternatives/)** > **[Liberty Measles & Other Madness (really long)](https://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/2/8/105251/7242)** > > Daily Kos is a progressive news site that fights for democracy by giving our audience information and resources to win elections and impact government. Our coverage is assiduously factual, ethical, and unapologetically liberal. We amplify what we... [http://thefastertimes.com/unconventionalrelationships/2010/05/11/hell-respect-my-vagina-in-the-morning/comment-page-2/](http://thefastertimes.com/unconventionalrelationships/2010/05/11/hell-respect-my-vagina-in-the-morning/comment-page-2/) [http://www.richardsonschuster.com/selections.html](http://www.richardsonschuster.com/selections.html) And there’s plenty more where that came from. I could quite easily find a thousand cites. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/84 "2010-06-19T20:37:17Z")
If someone can call me a woowoo, can I call them a twat? ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/85 "2010-06-19T20:41:33Z")
This thread just gets better and better. How long 'til it’s up for _Threadspotting_? Time to think of titles for it: Is w **w** the w_rst w_rd ever? ---
**Author:** ![Drew\_Kit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Drew\_Kit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drew_Kit)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/86 "2010-06-19T20:50:39Z")
I’ve never heard woo-woo being used as a term for vagina, I would’ve remembered that. To me it is the sound a little boy makes when he pushes his toy train into a tunnel so I would’ve guessed differently. Mind you, I thought cunt meant penis for the first few years after I heard the word, and that could’ve been a disasterous misjudgement. Everyone believes something irrational at some point in their lives, if only because adults contrive to lie to children. Since science progresses, things we hold to be rational now will be irrational in future. Any rational person who experiences first hand something that they can not explain should be free to discuss it without being labelled ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/87 "2010-06-19T20:55:55Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Marley, you are just making a ridiculous justification. You permit so-called skeptics ti insult their opponents with “woo-woo” but you don’t permit their opponents any come-back. Your claim that there is a difference between “woowoo” and “skep-dick” is nonsensical. > > Whether you like it or not, woowoo is a widely used term for female genitals. Are you aware that some words have more than one meaning? Gross=144, gross=icky, gross=before any deductions. So if some asks what your gross income is are you going to say they insulted you, are you going to multiply by 144, or are you going to use your brain and figure out the context? In this case, woo-woo is widely used to refer to pseudoscience or those who believe in it, and less widely used to mean cunt. Use you brain and figure out from the context what someone is referring to in a thread about pseudoscience. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/88 "2010-06-19T21:09:24Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > And here’s the thing. It’s a famous and much quoted movie. Millions of people know woowoo as a synonym for vagina through seeing this movie.. Well then, hundreds of millions know that it wasn’t over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/89 "2010-06-19T21:19:48Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Are you aware that some words have more than one meaning? That’s kind of the entire point. “Dick” is a forbidden insult on this board, because it has more than one meaning. It can be a detective, short for Richard, male genitals, a type of sponge cake, or an obnoxious person. > [@](#): > > In this case, woo-woo is widely used to refer to pseudoscience or those who believe in it, and less widely used to mean cunt. Use you brain and figure out from the context what someone is referring to in a thread about pseudoscience. And likewise, if someone calls you a dick, they are probably saying you are an obnoxious person, and probably not claiming that you are literally a penis. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/90 "2010-06-19T21:22:08Z")
Not very likewise. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/91 "2010-06-19T21:24:48Z")
You’re all a bunch of quijibos. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/92 "2010-06-19T21:35:13Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > I think that from now on, all vaginas must now be referred to as “woo-woo’s” Sorry. The official term is “hoo-hoo”. An acceptable regional variant is “hoo-hah”. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/93 "2010-06-19T21:49:04Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Marley, you are just making a ridiculous justification. You permit so-called skeptics ti insult their opponents with “woo-woo” but you don’t permit their opponents any come-back. I’m confident that if you wish to Pit someone for using “woowoo” in ways you find annoying that no moderator will warn you for it, so long as you comply with Pit rules. That said, I suspect that such an attempted Pitting would backfire rather spectacularly. Bottom line here is that “people that believe in paranormal powers” is not now, and does not appear likely to become, a protected class on the order of race, religion, gender, national origin, or sexual preference. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/94 "2010-06-19T22:33:55Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Sorry. The official term is “hoo-hoo”. An acceptable regional variant is “hoo-hah”. That’s it!The perfect title for threadspotting: _ **Woo woo: is it a hoo-hah?** _ ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/95 "2010-06-19T22:35:32Z")
Or, What’s the hoo hah about the woo woo? ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/96 "2010-06-19T22:39:24Z")
[Official thread theme song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIKORxPeFq8&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/97 "2010-06-19T22:48:06Z")
Words have meaning only in context. As I’ve said many times here, context is everything. The context of woowoo in the original post by Diogenes was utterly clear. Especially when he used this sentence: “Give me your stories of woo.” Nobody on earth could read that sentence in the context of a post about ghost stories and think it was being used to mean vagina. The total lack of reason in understanding the issue, the arbitrary and capricious definitions, the ignoring of countering arguments, and the sheer repetitiveness of assertions shown to be nonsense are all ironically hallmarks of woowoo debates. You’ve managed to embarrass and discredit the entire community of woo by your behavior in this thread. All I can say is, thank you from our side. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/98 "2010-06-19T22:55:55Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > “Dick” is a forbidden insult on this board, because it has more than one meaning. It can be a detective, short for Richard, male genitals, a type of sponge cake, or an obnoxious person. **Peter** , you are aware that “peter” also means a dick, aren’t you? Are you going to start claiming hate speech when someone calls you Peter?😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/99 "2010-06-19T22:56:21Z")
There is an antiquated use of “woo” in the expression “pitching woo” which meant to flirt and flatter. It was considered sort of an art. (One that didn’t require material like the composition of poetry.) That makes me think that the term may have been associated with love or seduction at some time. **Fear Itself** , “the Mound of Venus” is actually something else, but _Oh, you kid_! > [@](#): > > **Czarcasm** : And again I ask you-what word would you prefer we use for those who reject science and embrace nonsense? I would call them **teachable**. But first I would be sure that both parts of that description are correct. And I ask you: What word would you prefer we use for those who reject cosmic possibilities even though they claim to embrace science? **Marley** , I noticed that you have arbitrarily decided to exclude Spiritualism and New Ageism from the heading of _Religion._ Also, somehow, “belivers” don’t seem to make the grade with you. Somewhere around here I have an excellent resource that I bought when I was seventeen which has served as a reference for me on the world’s religions. That was in 1960, I believe. It included both Spiritualism and New Ageism even at that time. I think that you will find that “the New Age” is a little older than you think. It goes back over a hundred years. Spiritualism began about the middle of the Nineteeth Century. Arthur Conan Doyle was a Spiritualist. (And a man who valued science too, of course.) ---
**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:** [June 19, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714/100 "2010-06-19T23:10:08Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Nobody on earth could read that sentence in the context of a post about ghost stories and think it was being used to mean vagina. And when someone says that you are a dick, nobody would think that you actually are a penis. Do you understand that this is EXACTLY the same thing? > [@](#): > > You’ve managed to embarrass and discredit the entire community of woo by your behavior in this thread. All I can say is, thank you from our side. In the first place, I am and have always been a sceptic. In the second place, YOU and people like you, using vile termsof abuse like woowoo who embarass and discredit sceptics. So rot you from our side. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-hate-speech/543714.md?page=6)