# What's up with the language police lately? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 4, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247 "2015-05-04T15:01:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/21 "2015-05-04T17:31:26Z")
More than anything else I’m amused by how behind the times and out of touch this board can be compared to other places. So much for the self described “hip” status. Not that I’m on the bleeding edge of the zeitgeist or anything, but some of these issues people bring up as new are years, sometimes decades old. Hey guys, did you see this funny video of a cat playing a keyboard? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/22 "2015-05-04T17:32:22Z")
If its the “play it off cat” I wouldn’t mind using him around here some. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/23 "2015-05-04T17:37:28Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > A gardening consultant used the word the other day to describe a particularly aggressive plant in our yard. Nightshade? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/24 "2015-05-04T17:38:37Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > More than anything else I’m amused by how behind the times and out of touch this board can be compared to other places. So much for the self described “hip” status. Where are you seeing this self-described hip status? To a large extent, we’re a bunch of old fogies. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/25 "2015-05-04T17:39:37Z")
Thugs are the guys who try to beat up Bogart in private eye movies, and what Bogart [played](http://www.lassothemovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/The-Petrified-Forest-1936.jpg) in \*The Petrified Forest. \* ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/26 "2015-05-04T17:40:07Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Nightshade? I thought Nightshade was a Marvel villain. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/27 "2015-05-04T17:50:51Z")
> [@funky\_little\_lee](#): > > Wow, I see that people have taken exception to the words that insult people of different mental capacity and different skin color, but no one has mentioned the one that is a huge and vile insult to women. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised there, but whether or not “cunt” is crimethink, it is definitely not acceptable. AFAIK, only one of the three has a board rule forbidding its use. Any guesses as to which one that is? ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/28 "2015-05-04T17:53:12Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Where are you seeing this self-described hip status? To a large extent, we’re a bunch of old fogies. “(Your direct line to thousands of the smartest, hippest people on the planet, plus a few total dipsticks.)” is near the bottom of every page. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/29 "2015-05-04T18:01:08Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > “(Your direct line to thousands of the smartest, hippest people on the planet, plus a few total dipsticks.)” is near the bottom of every page. 😉 That stopped being an apt descriptor years ago. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/30 "2015-05-04T18:06:34Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > That stopped being an apt descriptor years ago. A _lot_ of total dipsticks? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/31 "2015-05-04T18:19:02Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > That stopped being an apt descriptor years ago. I always figured it was just sarcasm. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/32 "2015-05-04T18:29:16Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > “(Your direct line to thousands of the smartest, hippest people on the planet, plus a few total dipsticks.)” is near the bottom of every page. 😉 Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/33 "2015-05-04T18:37:47Z")
There have always been taboo words. Probably every culture has or had them. Which words are taboo changes over time, just like a lot of other things do in living languages. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/34 "2015-05-04T18:48:43Z")
I would never use the word cunt. I love cunts. If I was to call someone a cunt, I would mean it as compliment. Never figured why it is supposed to be an insult. But apparently it is, so I won’t use it. I would also never use the word retard. This is because I never want to insult actual retards. Retards are fine. Some of my best friends are retards. I want to insult stupid people. Seems unfair on the retards to group them in with the idiots, morons and dipshits. As for “thug”, I’ll just say that I’ll never stop being amazed at the variety of words that a batshit racist society is able to turn into racist slurs. The creativity is mindblowing. Maybe if society was less batshit racist, this wouldn’t be a problem. (As for “batshit”: Shitting bats are out of luck. I don’t like 'em.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/35 "2015-05-04T18:57:20Z")
Alternatively, I’ll never stop being amazed at the number of words people can take offense from. Maybe if we weren’t so crazy about trying to take offense, this wouldn’t be a problem. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/36 "2015-05-04T19:22:18Z")
Offensensitivity. [![](https://archvillain.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/offensensitivity.jpg) ](https://archvillain.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/offensensitivity.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/37 "2015-05-04T20:24:07Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Where are you seeing this self-described hip status? To a large extent, we’re a bunch of old fogies. Yeah, “hip status” means something else around here. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/38 "2015-05-04T20:25:11Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > AFAIK, only one of the three has a board rule forbidding its use. Any guesses as to which one that is? Is that a trick quesiton? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/39 "2015-05-04T20:40:12Z")
> [@tapu](#): > > Yeah, “hip status” means something else around here. To be fair, it probably was true… in 1973! But now it means “I recently had hip replacement surgery”. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247/40 "2015-05-04T20:44:22Z")
> [@tapu](#): > > Yeah, “hip status” means something else around here. I’ll say. For the last decade I’ve stopped worrying about being hip and started worrying about breaking one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-language-police-lately/719247.md?page=3)