This is just a short note on a topic that I have seen come up before. The use of “vulgar language” in thread titles makes it difficult for those not wishing to see such things to not be subjected to them. Such suggestions are usually within a thread of a different title so I thought I’d throw it in here.
I have briefly looked at the ATMB Stickys and THIS appears to be were a rule against curse words in the title should be located. I feel this is a simple request as many Dopers read the Board in their living rooms and such were there may be children of reading age playing.
I recall many, many years back this being a somewhat similar problem with those with CB bases in their homes. In the evening there would be some users that were free with their language and many users that were in family environments while talking.
I myself am not in the least sensitive to what may be considered “foul” language but I am aware that it has been a problem for some others.
If it please the Powers-That-Be could this be discussed or presented to Doperdom for consideration?
There’s a valid point here. The title should be PG. That’s not asking too much.
What, I have to censor myself to adhere to your arbitrary system of morals? Blow it out your ear, Chairman Mao. If I wanted to soften my language for children I’d be posting on a children’s message board.
I remember a few years back when there was a problem with people posting vulgar thread titles just to be vulgar: “Cockgobbler Mother-Raper Tits Ass Whore Cum Schlong Hahahahaha!!!” And I think the mods were right to quash that; this isn’t the third-grade boys’ bathroom.
On the other hand, this is an “adult” board, not in the sense of XXX, but we do have a minimum member age of 13. Granted, I’m speaking as a childfree person, but I think it would be nice not to have to tone down everything we say as if the kiddies were around. I’m not offended by a thread title such as “Fuck WalMart!” (or whatever).
Seems to me that it’s the parents’ job to protect their kids’ eyes from the F word, not mine. And if it’s YOU that’s offended by naughty words, then I think you may be in the wrong place.
I hope they do no such thing. This is NOT a family-oriented message board. If you are worried about your children seeing bad words (which is pure silliness, IMO, but that’s for another thread), then install a foul language filter and let the rest of us title our threads as we see fit.
It’s hilarious, anyway, to watch grown-ass, rational adults scrambling to protect children from hearing certain words. As if little whoever doesn’t hear it on the playground, on his favorite TV show, on the CD at his friend’s house, etc., and somehow hearing “fuck” or “bitch” before they reach some arbitrary age is going to warp their brains forever and turn them into sobbing, dysfunctional messes.
As I stated in the OP, I have no objection to foul language in general and have used it freely in the Pit on an occassion or two. My point is that it seems a bit childish to inflict it on some who would, and do, avoid the Pit for just this reason. I can regulate what appears on my screen when there are kids present in the room but it is difficult when scanning New Posts.
I have no objection to it’s use in the Pit. I seems like little to ask in a Board of intelligent and considerate users to hold the extreme verbage for the body of the OP.
Just sayin’
And Fetus this is not the Pit so don’t start with me. I am posting a proper suggestion in the proper way.
You are, of course, perfectly entitled to ask the membership to self-censor their titles. Some may even honor your request. However, you appear to want the board staff to enact a rule to that effect; that’s where I have a problem. I reiterate that I would be strongly against formulating such a rule–starting down the road of censorship is never a good idea, regardless of the purity of your intentions.
I still fail to see why this should be our problem. This board is intended for adults, not children. If you feel that its content is inappropriate for your kids, then don’t expose them to it. You wouldn’t take them to a titty bar and ask the dancers to cover up, would you?
It may not be quite as implausible as you think. Once, at the house of a kid I babysat, I used the word “jerk” in front of him (not in reference to him, of course). He had never heard the word before (at least, not in the sense in which it might refer to a person), and I had to explain what it meant. He would have been 8 or 10 years old by then, and he wasn’t homeschooled or anything, so he certainly had time on the playground with other kids by then. Fortunately, that’s about the harshest language I’m in the habit of using, or I suspect his parents would have been particularly unpleased.
So, you started a thread about a point which you don’t object to? Nice. Call me when someone who cares cares enough to start a thread.
And, for the record, as a mom of two, I’m totally fucking against censoring posts OR thread titles. And, logically, you’ve got to do both if your intent is to shield the kidlets from seeing words - they can just as easily glance at the screen while I’m reading a post as when I’m looking at the thread titles.
I’m hardly a blue-nose…far from it, by God.
But the statement above should be an argument against strong language, in my not so humble opinion. Adults should be able to express themselves, both in joy and in anger, without cursing.
Frankly, if there’s anything that writing for pay and news has taught me it’s that the most destructive words in the world, the ones that have the most impact and the most ability to change the world and the persons who read them, are the mildest, most even-tempered ones.
I wouldn’t censor anyone. But I find people who curse just because they feel they have the right to do so, well, tiring is the best word. Like a new 21-year-old who orders a beer in a restaurant because he can and not because he wants (I speak as a man who, when a boy, did just that thing because my uncle dared me to).
But, they should also be allowed to curse if they so choose. Which is the issue being debated here.
I just wanted to note that when I hit “New Posts,” this thread came up. Followed by this one.
I laughed.
Yes, but neither should the whole world be rated G just to avoid sullying the children. I did draw a line between vulgar language for its own sake and the occasional F-bomb. I’m not advocating turning the air blue.
I just find it rather presumptuous that someone else expects me to mind my language, sitting here typing quietly at my computer, just because his kids might be in the vicinity of his. Monitoring his kids is not my job.
Huh. Playgrounds must be different in Bozeman than the ones I played on in the DC area. By the time I was 10 I knew, and used regularly, most of the contemporary vernacular’s foul language.
Interesting.
On the one hand, I tend to agree that a rule imposing censorship of any kind is not a good thing.
On the other hand, I am surprised at the fact that so many people today believe they should be able to freely impose their own vulgar habits and tastes and language on whomever is around them, without regard for the other persons in viewing or hearing range. What happened to the concept of a polite society? 
Oh, I’m pretty sure that the concept is still alive and well.
The concept might be fine and dandy, but the execution could certainly use a little work.
Well, did he not know ANY “bad” words, or just the nearly archaic “jerk”? The kids at my local playground are far more likely to call each other cocksucking assholes who want to teabag their grandmothers than “jerks”.
Last night my 14 year old didn’t recognize the word “gargantuan”. But either he was having a brain fart or it was just somehow never used or brought to his attention. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t know “large”, “humongous”, “gigantic” or “really, really big”, though.
By the way, I have intentionally not changed my language around my own children, nor do I ask other people to. Frankly, I think it calls more attention to the matter and makes “bad” words more enticing if you’re always saying, “So I told him he could take his fucking - oops! I’m so sorry! I forgot there was a kid here! - take his dumb old ring and shove it up his…nose.” It seems to have worked with my kids, generally speaking. WhyKid did say “Oh, fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” to a police officer when he was two, but the guy just laughed and said it happens all the time after car accidents (the kid was indeed repeating my words as another car plowed into us.) That’s when I told him that there are “grown-up” words, just like grown-up drinks and grown-up TV shows. He went through a short period around 9 or 10 when he’d say “suck”, and then stop dead and look at us like, “uh, am I in trouble?” Sometimes I’d ignore it, sometimes I’d just raise an eyebrow, and that died out pretty shortly. I’m sure he swears like a sailor around his friends, but I just can’t bring myself to give a shit - I’m sorry. To care what words he chooses to use with them as long as he can control it around me, his grandmother, his teacher and any future employers.
I have a rather massive vocabulary, by any test I’ve ever taken. I suspect most Dopers do, at least relative to the general population. That doesn’t mean that a curse word isn’t the right choice in a particular context. It means we have lots of words to choose to employ for the best meaning, whether that be denotative or connotative, or simply rhythmic or ironic, and sometimes that’s a blue one.