Is WTF realy any different than dropping the "F" Bomb?

Ummmm? Should I be offended by this thread?

I would think ATS would not be the place for anyone who is so easily offended.

While I agree some use slang, cursing, etc. as a crutch. at times such descriptive word usage is completely appropriate and necessary to convey a thought.

reply to post by Blaine91555

i heard jive turkey is pretty bad

So, wait...

it doesn't mean wascally tango fanatics?

FFS! ITT: AFZ 4 ATS?

-m0r

Originally posted by Blaine91555
reply to post by shagreen heart

 

With a straight face your saying when people post WTF, they don't mean it the way everyone else takes it? Yeah sure

I did not expect this to go beyond a couple of replies to be honest. Not even remotely my intention.

sigh.. again, no, you're misunderstanding me. i'm saying it doesn't really even matter what someone means when they say WTF, cause its just slang anymore, and it's not abusive. but, it also doesn't matter what the letter F meant in STFU, because that's abusive language. you don't get to post things like "shut the hell up your opinion sucks", or "shut up and don't say stupid # like that again", or "shut up nobody listens to you", which is essentially what saying stfu means. this is the same point i was making earliar that went over your head.

reply to post by Blaine91555


Does it matter?


>SNIP<

It's only offensive or "inappropriate" if people LET it bother them. How is it any different than saying sexual intercourse? That's not censored? Lol?

Just because some priest in some church didn't like this word a few hundred years ago, doesn't mean it's forbidden or somehow "evil". What's gonna happen if you use it? Nothing, that's what. Some old grandma is going to gasp? We shouldn't care, at all.

It's just a word. Get over it. No one cares.

Just look at it this way:


WTF = "What the freak"

SHTF = "Stuff hits the fan"


If words are that offensive to you, just imagine different ones in their place.


Frankly I find anyone who takes offense at words ridiculous, because they no doubt use other words that mean the exact same thing and think nothing of it. It's robotic and ignorant.

Okay than;

STFU: Sincerely taper fantastical utterances.

So we can have both now or we accept the fact that a swearword is used in each.

We either allow all or start being niggardly with our language.

-m0r

"The F Bomb"

omg words! how shall we ever get past it in our politically correct society?!

morons.

The one that gets me is POTUS.

It just sounds gross.

"ok, who left the giant POTUS in the urinal?"

Depends on the context you say it in. If you told someone on here to FOAD (F off and die) that would be considered quite rude and possibly offensive. But I don't think WTF is bad

Originally posted by Blaine91555

Originally posted by Anttyk47
Who does WTF hurt, comparison to STFU?
....

It hurts no one. That is not the point. It offends some, it's unnecessary and childish. There are many sites where it is the norm. I hope it does not become the norm here.

it offends some people? maybe they should put their big boy pants on and stop crying about it.

Originally posted by WTFover
Ummmm? Should I be offended by this thread?

I would think ATS would not be the place for anyone who is so easily offended.

While I agree some use slang, cursing, etc. as a crutch. at times such descriptive word usage is completely appropriate and necessary to convey a thought.

Bingo! Thank heaven for you and some others showing some adult sense in this thread. Words only have the power we give them. Recall the infamous words first spoken by a wise person very long ago:

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"

I've repeatedly seen females recoil in horror and behave as if they were scalded with boiling water when the "c" word is uttered. OMG = oh my God, for an adult to behave like that is pathetic. As someone stated earlier, this is living in conditioned reflex. Acceptable behavior for an immature person who cannot yet think for themself, and sad behavior for someone who considers themselves an enlightened thinker.

While I cannot control all that happens around me, I can control how I react to it. I try not to get hung up by a word, phrase or acronym at the expense of the thought or sentiment being shared. I also try to keep in mind there are no 'dirty words', only my thinking makes it so.

There is already plenty of censorship on ATS. When is there enough ?

Originally posted by m0r1arty
Okay than;

STFU: Sincerely taper fantastical utterances.

So we can have both now or we accept the fact that a swearword is used in each.

I think plenty of us already "accept the fact" that "swearwords" are used. What I don't understand, is why some people ARE OFFENDED BY WORDS when they undoubtedly use the words "sex," or "fornication" or some word WITH THE EXACT SAME MEANING.


I think the bottom line is some people are cry babies, and just WANT to be offended. Otherwise it makes no sense. It's robotic conditioning, and I laugh at people who are mortified by simple words. They're usually also the same ones supporting wars and all kinds of things that do real physical damage to people.


There's another word for that and I think it's called "stupidity."

reply to post by Hefficide


You can get a warn for a # on the screen. True story. So despite what some of the mods are saying about how the WT_ word should be handled, know in advance that its not really about whether or not a swear word appears on the screen. Its about whether or not what you put on the screen causes a swear word to appear in the MIND of the reader.

So use with caution.

Originally posted by Topato

edit on 4/15/2011 by yeahright because: Mod edit: Don't evade the censors

Yeah dont type the word in so that the censors will catch it thinking that is the right thing to do either.

Its not. The crime is committed by swearing, no matter how it ends up looking on the screen.

I would not want ATS to lessen their current standards any. If this were a Lenny Bruce fan club blog I would think it a bit tight-lipped, but that is not the case here. ATS has been a training ground for me, and one reason I am still here is that I still need the education it provides. Despite having my own discussion blogs I still contribute here.

I continue to ask more of myself than ATS requires of anyone. Nobody minds when I maintain those standards, though someone somewhere would surely be offended if I let them slip if I felt "words are only words."

I don't believe I have any problem whatsoever with SNAFU or FUBAR though I cannot think of a single instance where I have used them. If I had occasion to use them but could think of a more eloquent way to say it I would probably use that course instead, though I can think of instances where the euphemistic acronyms might be more appropriate and would go that route in those situations.

I also do not believe ATS should clamp down any tighter either, that would tend to stifle communications and turn the mods' jobs into censors. Let someone bypass reading my posts for being too wordy as I have a tendancy to do. It is not for offensive language, rather too much of it.

Originally posted by Erongaricuaro
If I had occasion to use them but could think of a more eloquent way to say it I would probably use that course instead

I respect your opinion, but at the same time I'm forced to recognize that this creates a polarity, a pair of opposites. The more you put emphasis on "eloquence," the more some people are going to alienate themselves from and judge people who do use "foul" language. A standard is created that perpetuates the existence of offensive language.


Effectively all that's being done is reinforcing the idea of "these words are evil," which is the whole problem in the first place. When people stop recognizing certain words as offensive, and realize they're just sounds that people make with their mouths, no more or less offensive than any other sounds people make, then we'll finally be getting somewhere.


People with nasty attitudes can use any number of words to promote their nasty attitudes. It doesn't require them to have a special list of extra-bad words that exist solely for the purpose of offending. Essentially I'm saying this is one case where "de-sensitizing" people to the issue will actually do us good.


Roosevelt said the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Well with offensive language, the only thing we have to be offended about, is being offended itself.

"WTF" is more like a reaction.

Where as "STFU" is a verbal attack.

I don't see anything wrong with "wtf"

WTF is an acronym for you know what.

If you have to use it, you already lost the argument.