swearing

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so, we're allowed to post pictures with swears in them and images with breasts and buttocks under certain circumstances but not allowed to actually spell out certain swears?

Weird.

Just sayin'.

If someone's evading the swear filter and you want us to do something about it, you need to tell us where. You can use the moderator attention thread to get our attention.

Last edited by Moog on 18 Oct 2011, 8:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

no. Just pointing out that we can post images with swears in them and sexually explicit photos but we're not allowed to write swears. Even in the adult forum.

Just find it kind of strange.

It's not strange if one takes into account the likelihood of technical limitations in the forum software.

Last edited by Moog on 18 Oct 2011, 8:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

again, just saying it's strange that we aren't allowed to swear ourselves but are able to post images with swears in them. No moderator attention is given to these images.

I should be able to say swears, especially in the adult forum.

For example:

[img]Edited[/img]

but I can't say f**k you

see what I mean? It seems that images such as these are allowed. If not, they're overlooked.

Yeah, I think moog gets it. It is due to technical limitations. In general, I think excessive use of profanity degrades communication. There are other ways to get your point across.

You're able to, but you don't have to, and you shouldn't. Swearing is against the rules, but filtered swearing appears to be permitted.

If you want moderator attention to be given to them, you have to report them. We aren't omniscient



You should, should you? And why is that?

And what is so adult about swearing?



If you want moderator attention to be given to them, you have to report them.

If I notice them, I do edit them. The moderating team cannot notice the content of every post that passes through Wrong Planet. That is what the moderator attention thread is for. Or you can PM us.

i tend to give priority attention to when people are swearing AT each other, or if they are generally using abusive language, or if they are also breaking other rules, or if they are swearing a lot so that it becomes barely intelligible. we really don't micromanage/police swearing to an extreme degree. the swear filter assists us with this for the most part. if anyone is finding the swearing offensive and wants to have us moderate it more strictly, please let us know. but right now, it isn't all that draconian.

i would prefer people did not use graphic images with unfiltered swears in them, so feel free to flag them and i will remove them as necessary. i have removed videos that had graphic swears in the title, for example. some of the computers i use have netnanny software that blocks most images from certain sources, so i rely on people flagging offensive visual content a lot of the time.

if anyone feels it is unfair, then help us to make it better by bringing it to our attention, for example PM a moderator or post a link in this thread:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt158661.html

The swearing filter is just a basic word filtering device built into the forum software and as a pretty mindless, automatic feature it serves a general purpose in keeping things "sweet" and relatively safe from certain words which can, I'm told, genuinely offend people on sight.
Personally I'm not too bothered either way in seeing it implemented, although this sums up my general view on such things:

Unfortunately such a simplistic filter can make a mess of feline-related discussions and similar innocent things, although there are ways of defeating it which for a modest fee I may reveal. (I'm joking, Ok? )

But on balance it's better if users just don't swear and it's not unreasonable to insist they do not; it's unnecessary and as hyperlexian mentions, it becomes a priority when people resort to swearing at each other or being generally abusive - swearwords being basically designed for use in an aggression or attack context - so in that sense the filtering does at the least help lift some of the moderating load. Plus there's the advantage that attempting to insult someone with a string of asterisks tends to lose its edge somewhat and so it should quickly self-limit.
Also, it's not that draconian and it's actually quite reasonable for certain levels of swearing to be permissible subject to context and moderator discretion, asterisks or not.

Unfortunately, potentially offensive images will always require a scanner - aka moderator - to process them. Deconstructing an image or video and detecting the naughty bits is well beyond the capabilities of forum software.



I'm just sayin' is all.
Do please carry on...

It doesn't cut out the C-word.

Cucumber!
OMG you're right - there it is!!

Yeah, I know the one you mean.
I assume it's not barred because it's not used in the USA - it would be an obvious candidate if it was in use, surely. But naughty words for one culture don't necessarily translate to another, if they're known at all.
Does it allow fanny? (checks post preview) Why yes, it does - but it doesn't mean the same in the USA (eg. "fanny pack") as it does here.
In the UK it's practically your C-word...
There's already a similar effect in reverse when attempting to describe a really cute little blue-eyed Siamese p**** I saw today. From it being barred, I assume that in the USA cats are generally not called that - but here, they are.

So should the banned word list be updated to block words which are potentially offensive in the UK, but harmless or unknown in the USA - and vice-versa? And what about the other countries?
It would very soon become more of a problem than what it attempts to hide.
Better if people simply don't swear. Even if it's only a swear word within a national context the user will still use it with the same intent, irrespective of whether the meaning carries.

How many words would be left if every countries' obscene words were blocked?

The BBFC (UK film classification body) recently required a kids film to remove the word spazz (or get a less child friendly certificate) because it has a more offensive meaning in the UK as opposed to the US.



I would assume that Aunt Fanny in the Famous Five books was not named after the lady cave.

If we're talking about the 'C Bomb' it definitely does filter that.

Maybe you mean a different C-word?

Well, quite a few - but the obscene word list would be both huge and hugely funny. Behind drawn curtains, of course.

Not by Enid Blyton, that's for sure - but Dick might have some explaining to do.

c**t. Oh, it does.

it doesn't block out mushi, which is german for the english p-word. but that doesn't bother me because mushi is a funny word.