WTF are the rules on cursing??

Stephen fry once said that “anyone who thinks cursing is a sign of diminished intelligence is quite frankly a F#@C?I*G idiot”

I agree with him, i pride myself on my sometimes colourful language, however at the same time I do think it is possible to articulate a point without cursing and insulting each other. I have noticed recently, and yes I am also guilty of this, that the use of innuendos and acronyms has increased, surly using a expression like “BS” is just as bad as saying bull shi....ahhhh you get the idea. I have seen what can happen on other sites when cursing is allowed, you end up with members just exchanging insults with each other and the quality of the literature on the site takes a real knock because people don’t use cursing appropriately.

My question is, could ATS please issue a list of words that count as cursing because I am confused. Can I write BS in a thread for example, and what about cultural differences, some words Americans regards as cursing are not the same as people from the UK for example.

I would like to see ATS issue a survey to find out what members regard as cursing or offensive language and then use that data to issue a thread state clearly what words and phrases constitute cursing and will lead to posting penalties. And I mean explicitly stating what those words are and inform members of them when the sing up and nobody could start arguing over it because everyone would have voted on it.

Could be a interesting experiment for the ATS staff to try out, using the survey system to see how members get on making collective desisions for the site.

Thanks.

reply to post by kevinunknown


Well I know I asked and "crap" is allowed so why not BS??

But a definitive list would be nice although some will say context comes into play..

what about suck?

as in, "that sucks"? it's all over tv and seems quite normal now.


also WTF? WTH?

Why should I be offended sir? You see in my century we've learned not to fear words.

Yes I'm quoting star trek tos. The point was valid then, and its just as valid now.


As for bs, it's just a load of bullocks anyway.

reply to post by kevinunknown


To be honest, in normal conversation I swear a considerable amount although I'm fairly sure most people wouldn't take offence. When I swear and mean it, there is a difference

With regards to on the board speak, I find it best to avoid using any abusive language. Not much point in composing a well thought out, well written hypothesis and then killing your intelligence using swear words...

You diminish the effect of the "F" word every time you use it, even in it's more palatable form of "WTF".

I don't want this forum to become full of cursing, swearing ... it's totally juvenile.

reply to post by backinblack


Saying that some would argue that it depends on context is very subjective, for example I was once given a ban for calling a user (or about 400) a idiot under the current rules that was fair enough, but it was a subjective decision by the mod, there don’t seem to be any guidelines on what is and is not offensive. However if there had been a list of band words decided upon by the users of ATS and idiot was not one of them I would not have been banned.

It would also help address some of the issues we have around mods censoring stuff, if there was a list of banned words the majority has agreed on as being offensive it would be allot easier I think to justify the censoring of offensive threads.

reply to post by Niall197


I am not advocating the use of cursing on the boards, just grater clarification about what constitutes as offensive language, to make things easier on the boards. For example the use of the word “retard” it has its proper meaning but it can also be used as a insult is that acceptable, I think not, some however would say yes. Say goes with say “oh that’s gay”, some would find that acceptable however others would find it offensive for the word to be used in such a way.

I don't really understand the rules for this either but it does seem to be at the discretion of the staff.

If I say..."that is just bull scat"...then am I within the threshold?

"Holy guano"...is that more appropriate?

I think a good curse word is appropriate sometimes and I agree with you OP, it is not a sign of diminished intelligence at all, matter of fact it might mean just the opposite in some cases!

reply to post by jerryznv


And if there was a set of worlds that everybody agreed on based on a ATS survey nobody could start complaining about a mod picking on them because it would have been set out in black and white “these words are not to be used on the boards”.

If you wouldn't use the terminology in a church, town council meeting, the front desk at the police station, in a TV news broadcast or in front of your parents or your own children, then you shouldn't be using it here.

I agree that it can depend on the context of what is being said...if for example you call someone a "f***ing idiot (replaced the letters with stars just in case :lol just because their opinion differs from yours, then yes, I do think your post should be removed. If however (as happened to me recently someone called me a fool and an idiot (when they hadn't even read my post, as well as some other, rather unsavoury, yet not swearing adjectives) their post was removed. In a seperate post to me, they contradicted themselves unbelievably and even called out my 17 yr old daughter (who has nothing to do with it) I quoted their post and replied that it was the most foolish, moronic and fkd up post I had ever read...my whole post remained...

So I think the old maxim of attack the post, not the poster is probably a safe bet....and of course not just cursing and swearing just for the sake of it, as it just isn't necessary.

reply to post by kevinunknown


I don't think a proscriptive list of "bad words" is the answer. I guess you would have to consider each "indiscretion" on a case-by-case basis, the context in which the word is used and the standing of the member concerned.

Perhaps it's a generational issue, even geographical. I find the use of "WTF", "SHTF" and such like totally offputting, it detracts from everything else the person is trying to say. I report everyone who uses such terms, sometimes they're moderated, other times not. So I agree with another contributor, there seems to be a degree of discretion exercised by the Moderators.

As ever, it's mainly USA members who take this to extremes, perhaps to hide their basic inarticulacy or because that's the way they speak at home or on msn, I don't know.

Don't get mad, get even ... that's the way I see things. But I'm in my fifth decade now, that's just the way I was brought up. Perhaps that's no longer the case with younger people.

reply to post by masqua


So I have permission to cuss like a sailor then you are saying?
I have never understood why people get offended by mere words, just becasue someone like a million years ago labeled them as bad words.

Originally posted by masqua
If you wouldn't use the terminology in a church, town council meeting, the front desk at the police station, in a TV news broadcast or in front of your parents or your own children, then you shouldn't be using it here.

And that did it.

All questions answered in one frank sentence.

Why can't we star here?

I guess y'all forgot this little gem in the Terms and conditions:

15b.) Profanity: You will not use profanity in our forums on the Websites, and will neither Post with language or content that is obscene, sexually oriented, or sexually suggestive nor link to sites that contain such content. You will also not use common alternative spellings or net-speak alternative for profane words.

Didn't you agree to this when you joined ATS?

If the rule isn't to your liking, start your own website without the rule. Easy to do... really.

reply to post by masqua


The problem is that is not clear enough, for example and this is only a example the use of the word “cock” is company used in some parts of the UK such as “alright o’ cock how you getting on” in America and other parts of the UK that constitutes cursing. Same goes for a range of other words, I really don’t see any problem with my idea of just publishing a list of words we cannot use.

Some people find some language perfectly acceptable depending on their background whilst others would find it offensive so what constitutes foul language on ATS with such a vast membership is becoming increasing ambiguous.

reply to post by kevinunknown


That's why we have a veritable horde of moderators to distinguish the intent behind the language being typed.

That's only the ones we find ourselves or are alerted to by the members.

reply to post by masqua


I want to be clear, I don’t have a problem with that rule, far from it, I just think that there would be no harm in some clarity, I have noticed a increase in terms that could constitute a breach of that clause in the T&C’ language is very subjective by its very nature we need some clear guidelines on what words will lead to posting ban’s.

reply to post by masqua


Yes but intent is so subjective as well I was once banned for calling members idiots who were clearly being idiotic. It was not intended to be perceived as offensive language but rather a statement of fact or my opinion depending on how you look at it.

I am not complaining about the ban it was almost a year ago its just the best example I can come up with.

I don’t see the harm in just publishing a list of words that are not to be used on the boards based on user feedback.