Forum Rules (Use of Profanity)

[Temotei]

Most profanity is censored by our filter, though a few mild terms (generally those that appear in the comic) and words that have both a benign meaning and a profane or offensive one, are not. However, the excessive use of profanity, whether or not it is filtered, is not acceptable.

I know the rules are updated every once in a while, so for the next revision, I wanted to bring up an issue that bothers me--no examples.

Without examples, some people will use words others might find offensive, but the poster might not originally, since they had been raised or conditioned to "know" it's not an offensive term.

In particular, the words that bother me most are "retard" and its counterpart "retarded."

I know there are more words that probably offend some people but not others, and I know you and the other moderators and administrators can't constantly filter out text like that. My suggestion for the future is an addition of an "Examples of Shaky Words" section under the section on use of profanity.

Examples:

"Retard"
"Retarded"
"Gay"
"Lame"
"Cripple"
"Crippled"


All of these words have two meanings; one meaning is benign, while the other is offensive. The first two describe human beings with mental handicaps. Their alternate meanings are fairly benign, describing slowing speeds, time, etc. The next one describes human beings with a different sexual orientation than the majority. However, it is often used to describe activities in a negative fashion. That's an insult. The last three describe human beings with physical handicaps. "Lame" is okay in certain situations, but often, it's probably not. To say something is "lame" is like saying something is "gay," except it's less obvious. Not cool.

Luckily, the board is fairly good with this. Most on the forums don't use the above words except in their most benign forms. Even so, there are some exceptions. These exceptions are the reason for this thread.

To summarize, I just want this board to be as friendly as possible, and with the spreading of the above word, I think the boards would be even friendlier.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff of Moddingham: These things aren't really profanities. They may constitute Flaming if they are used to refer to a person or persons. They may also be part of a Trolling comment depending on the context.

Regarding actual profanities, we're highly unlikely to add examples. Instead, we're likely to continue to rely on the dual principles of 1) when in doubt don't use it and 2) no matter how mild you believe the insult to be, don't direct it at other posters, individually or collectively. (Oh and using "gay" as a pejorative tends to draw a quick warning about potential hate speech.)

As you note, we don't really have a problem with this. People here are generally good about avoiding even non-profanities that are offensive in the way you describe.