Author Topic: DEBATE: Swear words (Read 3642 times)

Sage · « **on:** December 21, 2009, 04:54:22 PM »

Swear words should not be censored or banned regardless of who the audience is.

AFFIRMATIVE- Frezal

NEGATIVE- Sage, Reier, anyone else (as long as it's on topic).

______________________________________________

AFF-

Who is actually hurt by "swear" words? Besides, why is "sh**" worse than "poop"? Why is "****" worse than "copulate"? If you can't come up with an answer as to why one is offensive and not the other, your stance is irrational.

NEG-

In a standard American society, there are many parents who feel the use of such "cuss" words to be impolite, wrong, or derogatory. One reason this may be is because of religious backgrounds. Anyone using God's name (or Jesus) in vain is looked down upon and is insulting all of the Biblical faith. It's basically taboo in our culture. That goes for all swear words. It's not the meaning of the word that is bad (unless it is a synonym of copulate, which many parents feel is not something they want their kids to learn about at a young age) but it's usually the word itself. Through generations of society, certain words become taboo for reasons such as impoliteness of obscenity. It can be considered "not proper" and in using such forms of these words you can make yourself look less professional, less educated, and much less of a nice person. While in an adult society these things are up to the person's choice of how they want to present themselves to the world, in the topic of a Lego forum there will undoubtedly be kids and young adults who may not grasp the social consequences of using said words. By inserting a filter into what is said, we can ensure that these harmful uses of the English language won't enter the minds of young adults until they are old enough to fully understand what the words mean.

ashman12 · « **Reply #1 on:** December 21, 2009, 05:14:52 PM »

im only 12 and there are people younger than me who's parents might not allow them on the site if there are "rude" words posted about.

me personally am not bothered in the slightest if there are swear words because im used to it as i hear them all the time but i think they should be limited so that there isnt swearing all the time.

thats all im mentioning the now as i cant think of anything else.

RedSawn · « **Reply #2 on:** December 21, 2009, 05:20:13 PM »

I'm leaning towards affirmative - in today's.. uhh.. "~~poopy~~" society, these words are heard so much anyway, it becomes hard to control it at all. There is no censor on spoken word, atleast when you're in proximity.

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(Hehe. Sorry, Red... couldn't resist. Mad.)

Natef · « **Reply #3 on:** December 21, 2009, 05:32:06 PM »

I am on 'affirmative'. Little kids should know they shouldn't be on the internet, with people who swear. Also, why is 'sh**' worse than 'poop' or 'crap'? It's just a synonym!

Madiaba · « **Reply #4 on:** December 21, 2009, 05:34:06 PM »

Now, get out the popcorn...

Oh '~~XXXX~~!' .... (= 'DoDo!').

You must be LRA2, since you're so nosey.
Ever heard of 'flypaper'? I have Your IP address now.....

RedSawn · « **Reply #5 on:** December 21, 2009, 05:36:29 PM »

Quote from: Natef on December 21, 2009, 05:32:06 PM

I am on 'affirmative'. Little kids should know they shouldn't be on the internet, with people who swear...

While I'm kinda on your side, that first point is kinda flawed.. you make it sound like it's the kid's fault for stumbling upon swear words. I don't know many places which have a competent ultra-safe swear filter.

Naryar · « **Reply #6 on:** December 21, 2009, 05:38:57 PM »

Quote from: Natef on December 21, 2009, 05:32:06 PM

Little kids should know they shouldn't be on the internet

I will agree with this.

System32 · « **Reply #7 on:** December 21, 2009, 05:40:31 PM »

Madiaba wins again.

Anyway, Sage has got that basis of it down correct, but let's look at two examples not related,

One which isn't a swear word, and one a racial slur.

First: at the end of WW1 there was a phrase, "Shell shocked." simple, and to the point.
However, over time and our society's apparent need to avoid offence, it became battle fatigue, then PTSD. Our society, and vocabulary tries to avoid offence, and look more mature at the same time.

Second: in the 1800's, British explorers found a strange and new man. Enslaved for god's will and greed, By the end of the century they were given a name, "Negro". After the abolition, racists adopted the name into "Nigger" as a racial slur. As an out of sight out of mind policy, (See: German censorship over WWII) we branded both as swear words.

I personally don't give a sh**.

Madiaba · « **Reply #8 on:** December 21, 2009, 05:45:45 PM »

Good points everyone, just keep the 'personal attacks' out. Let logic dictate over emotions... Nice start.

Badnik96 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 21, 2009, 06:06:07 PM »

ummm everyone remember LRA2? He swore a lot, everyone hated him and now he's banned. That's why I don't swear on this forum. I don't want to get banned from the only forum that actually discusses what I love. Even kids at my school think robot combat is lame.

ashman12 · « **Reply #10 on:** December 21, 2009, 06:29:04 PM »

Quote from: Badnik96 on December 21, 2009, 06:06:07 PM

I don't want to get banned from the only forum that actually discusses what I love. Even kids at my school think robot combat is lame.

same here other than kids at my school think that anything i do is lame and stupid.

Natef · « **Reply #11 on:** December 21, 2009, 06:40:34 PM »

Yes, anything kids at my school they don't like, they label 'gay', or in Nary's case, 'ghey'. :P

Nobody in my school knows what RA2 is. They mostly play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 or Halo 3. Nobody plays game that are older than the X-box or PSP. When I tell people I play RA2 or anything related to robotic combat, they think it's gay and for 4-year olds.

Sage · « **Reply #12 on:** December 21, 2009, 06:47:55 PM »

ON TOPIC GUYS!

Times like these I wish I had mod powers...

Natef · « **Reply #13 on:** December 21, 2009, 06:55:55 PM »

Anyway, this was said before, but what is the difference between 'sh**' and poop'? Or 'ass' and 'butt. What makes 'sh**' and 'ass' more offensive? It baffles me.

Sage · « **Reply #14 on:** December 21, 2009, 07:14:34 PM »

Nothing, only that sh** is also used as an expletive. For example, OH sh**! has nothing to do with poop. It has been turned taboo by our society, and we cannot change that. Ass is used as an insult (YOU ASSHOLE) and is mainly meant as an insult, so even when you use it in a benevolent setting (My ass is cold) it is viewed as improper because we use it for other means. Unfortunate, but that's just how today's society works. Because we can not change that, we should not assist in teaching younger kids these words even if they may learn them in other ways. Especially if they have parents that are very proper, they might have to have their mouths cleaned with soap. Which I can imagine isn't very pleasant.

System32 · « **Reply #15 on:** December 21, 2009, 07:20:25 PM »

The irony is almost everyone I know learned a swear word from their parents.

You just can't kep stubbing toes for 5 years and not say anything.

Natef · « **Reply #16 on:** December 21, 2009, 07:22:55 PM »

Kids will learn swear words some day or another, what's the point of not letting them learn them at all (not at a young age)?

trumpetguy · « **Reply #17 on:** December 21, 2009, 07:23:51 PM »

I'm negative, but some swear words have alternative meanings like *itch means a female canine, --ck means well....wiki it, everybody knows --it means poop, so on, most are still offensive.

frezal · « **Reply #18 on:** December 21, 2009, 07:53:59 PM »

Quote from: Sage on December 21, 2009, 07:14:34 PM

Nothing, only that sh** is also used as an expletive. For example, OH sh**! has nothing to do with poop.

So are "shoot", "crap", "darn", "drat", etc. Does that make those words unacceptable as well?

Quote from: Sage on December 21, 2009, 07:14:34 PM

It has been turned taboo by our society, and we cannot change that.

We could if people like you would stop perpetuating the arbitrary rules against using them.

Quote from: Sage on December 21, 2009, 07:14:34 PM

Ass is used as an insult (YOU ASSHOLE) and is mainly meant as an insult, so even when you use it in a benevolent setting (My ass is cold) it is viewed as improper because we use it for other means.

"Jerk", "idiot", "moron", "dummy", and "weirdo" were all used as insults as well, yet you're not advocating that they be banned.

Quote from: Sage on December 21, 2009, 07:14:34 PM

Unfortunate, but that's just how today's society works. Because we can not change that, we should not assist in teaching younger kids these words even if they may learn them in other ways.

But we can change how society views things! If everybody taught their kids that those arbitrary rules are bullsh**, they would be gone in no time. While these problems still exist, we didn't make significant strides in reducing racism and sexism by continuing to teach kids that women and non-white people are arbitrarily inferior. To make change occur, you gotta institute it.

Quote from: Sage on December 21, 2009, 07:14:34 PM

Especially if they have parents that are very proper, they might have to have their mouths cleaned with soap. Which I can imagine isn't very pleasant.

We shouldn't base policy on the off chance that a kid has abusive parents from the 1950s.

What many people don't seem to recognize is that to join the forum in question (or most forums), you must be 13 years old. In movies rated PG-13, "sh**" is allowed an unlimited amount of times, and you get one "****". So if kids can go see a movie with this language, why wouldn't they be able to handle it on the web, where they are most likely illegally watching porn anyway?

Jack Daniels · « **Reply #19 on:** December 21, 2009, 08:11:09 PM »

Speech, just like every other form of communication is all dependent on the audience. There are ways to offend people with words, music, visuals, gestures, etc etc. It all depends on who you are communicating with. Who is your audience?

As a courtesy, refraining from swearing in public is a good idea because your audience will vary and, thus, their opinions will vary. But, alas, we also run into the argument that it is a "Free World" and we have "the Freedom of Speech". Some people will take that freedom and run with it, disregarding the feelings of others in the process. But if you don't care about the level of respect your peers have for you based on their opinions of what you say, then why not?

The internet f*cks it all up though... Is it a private area? Is it a public area? If a messageboard is considered public then people should have the freedom to operate and communicate however they see fit. The respect given from the other members of the forum will ultimately decide whether those actions are favorable. If a messageboard is considered private then, by all means, the owner of the private board has just as much right to kick you out just like you were cussing up a storm in his/her own home.

I think cussing is totally fine as long as you are aware of the fact that there will be an audience that will find it permissible and an audience that does not. Also, in specific reference to the internet... it is not as public as it may seem. Think of your presence as being in someones house, if they don't like your conduct, they will simply ask you to leave or move you out by force. That is their right as well.

Paint a picture of a beautiful nude woman and you will find that there are places you can hang it that will bring you enemies by the boatloads... and there are places you can hang it and receive adoration and respect. Swearing is like a beautiful nude woman... :D

Just like art... just like music... just like any other form of human expression.