A random train of thought occured to me over the weekend as I was scratching my hands to pieces while trying to extricate sloes from blackthorne hedges and swearing at myself, the hedge, the dog (who kept rolling in fox dung) and the world in general.

I tend to swear a lot to myself, but rarely to other people, and even more rarely in written format. The most common use of swearing seems (to me) to come from the groups of 11-16 (approx) year-old lads (mostly) that seem to hang out at bus-stops throughout Britain (and unfortunately also outside our neighbours)

I think swearing is something which works as an explosion of annoyance or frustration and a good means of releasing the pent up emotions. As I tend to think about what I'm writing it doesn't have the same effect. However, I am left bemused when people write using ***'s in place of letters. Is there anyone who doesn't read it as the word intended by the author?

So finally, the question is...
What is peoples prefered use of written expletives?

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 34 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: Written Expletives (34 votes.)

Written Expletives (Choose 1)
* Use of **s. Not too rude, but gets the point across - 6% (2)
* Full spelling, everyone reads the word as intended anyway so what's the point of dumbing down? - 41% (14)
* Pictographs - (Like the Asterix Comics) Obviously swearing but with the comic relief - 12% (4)
* No swearing - 15% (5)
* Depends... - 24% (8)
* Results only - 3% (1)

Well, swearing adds emphasis to statements; it can be useful to add a certain emotional level to one's postings. But in order to bring such an emotional point across it has to be applied economically. If swearing is placed in your text - or your words - inflationary, it will become a nuisance.

Accordingly, I like the use of swearing every now and then if it's kind of sensible. In these cases it should be written unscathed - because everyone knows what's behind the asterisks, and the displayed beep is a bit ridiculous.

BTW, on these board's it's not the author's choice whether or not to censor their swear words. Just go ahead and try to type **** suck and dick. ;)

[EDIT] What? Suck and Dick went through? Police are sleeping or what? **** You. Bull****!

I don't mind mild swearing but when used in excess it becomes crude and childish.

The thing I hate the most is when 'normal' words have been abused and become swear words and cannot be used like *****, *****willow, bastard, hell etc.

@Darkthrone - I can't understand why you would think "suck" would be censored in any way. Even in the extreme sense, "suck" could only be considered swearing when paired with a few very specific words, regardless of whether preceeding or following the word "suck". It would be the equivalent of censoring "hole" or "head" based on what could preceed it.

I swear a lot in my spoken language, more in Swedish than in English and to some extent it shines through my written forum and chat language. When it comes to spoken language I can almost look a bit askew at someone who never swears, feels stiff and unnatural.

Cesard, the words you listed to be "abused" must have been abused for centuries in that case, actually most of our swear vocabulary is surprisingly old and unimaginative. Not much new in it, sure there are waves and trends but they come and go. Some creativity can be found in the area of euphemisms though.

OK, everyone knows I don't speak like a little girl. It almost always has a comical effect, though.

Swearing needs to be done in style. Otherwise it's just a piece of offensive rubbish. Especially if accompanied by bad grammar or spelling. I've been known to start paragraphs in letters with swearwords, but not to miss commas after them.

Sometimes I'll use asterisks, but that's when I need to identify a word when quoting and the audience would be offended by hearing the full version, and there's no need to to use the same number of asterisks as of missing characters.

In some situations swearing just doesn't go, such as dealing with customers. It should be controlled by people who talk in front of the camera, as well, so as to avoid obscenity. For a man, swearing on dates and in similar situations doesn't go, either.

We only have 6 words on the censor list, 5 of them such that they could never be used in a legitimate, non-expletive word. (And that one that could be never is.)

There's no censor on words like bastard or Dick because around here bastard swords are frequently mentioned, and Dick is a common name, obviously. I don't consider "suck" to be anywhere near offensive enough for it to need censoring. As I said, only the 6 most offensive (and most commonly used) expletives are on our censor list.

Only six... not seven? Well, I guess things have improved since George made his list so long ago.... ;)

hmm, now I'm kinda wondering what the words are :D

figured out what 3 of them are but what about the rest??

And another thing, it can be really embarrassing when you accidentaly get one of these gems in your post (like missing the 'r' in 'shirt').

@ Arahar: I think that two of Carlin's 7 words are variants of other words already on that list, but one of them may not be on the list. At least one that I've seen starred out was not on that list.

IIf you feel its inappropriate to swear, then don't.
If you either feel its appropriate, or are going to swear anyway, then have the courage of you're convictions and spell it out.

OT. Mmmmm, Sloe Gin, :D

@Aldeth and Tal: Stop preaching to the choir, dudes! This was just to show how ridiculous it is to try to filter swearing, when swearing is all about colorful language and metaphors rather than single words.

Besides, you're :yot: and :banana: !

Or did I miss your special sense of humor? :p

@ Arahar: The words are ****, ****, *****, ****, ******, and ***. ;)

[ November 30, 2004, 09:34: Message edited by: Darkthrone ]

well I figured out what ****, *****, **** were but I'm still a little unclear as to ****, *** and ******

And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab [Numbers 21]

Hmm...

[ November 30, 2004, 22:13: Message edited by: chevalier ]

Never heard of that Carlin guy but I looked him up now... 4 of those words are on our censor list. The two longer ones have never been used on these boards so there's no need to censor them (and yes, I WILL give you the idiot plaque if you try posting them) and I don't consider "piss" to be really offensive, so it's not censored either.

Btw Darkthrone, we don't censor them because we wouldn't want to see them used in "colorful language and metaphors", but because they're frequently used in an insulting manner.

Oh, and for those playing the guessing game, the words censored on SP have 4, 5 and 7 characters. There are no 3 or 6-character ones.

we don't censor them because we wouldn't want to see them used in "colorful language and metaphors", but because they're frequently used in an insulting manner. Not to mention some of the younger members of our boards probably shouldn't be exposed to certain language. Granted, it's the parents job to know what their kids are up to, but I don't know of any parent that is looking over their kids shoulder 24/7 when they are at the computer.

And that, of course.

Never heard of that Carlin guy but I looked him up now :bang: Gotta stop feeling this old . . .

George Carlin is/was one seriously funny mother****er (which, IIRC, is one of his words)

I've never heard of him either. I assume he swears a lot.

hmm, those last three words are really bothering me for some reason. Oddly SP lets us put in derogatory words for prostitutes.

I've got three of the 4's and a 5, two ideas for another four and a total blank on the 7...

@Gnarfflinger - the 7-letter word your looking for is the plural - put an "s" on the end of it and I'm sure you'll come up with it.

@ Everyone who never heard of George Carlin - totally reasonable if you aren't an American. While I would be surprised of any American never hearing of him, it's not like he's known world-wide outside of his comedy routines. Yes, Carlin does swear a lot, but he also tackles numerous social issues as well, usually with a very humorous spin.

@dmc - now I feel old too.

Funny, my 7-letter word is no plural and has no s at the end. Looks more like an "e". Could be there are 2 7-letter censored words, eh?

Looks like the biggest group of voters is for spelling everything out in any case. Those of you who voted "Depends...": Depends on what? Whether you're writing a christmas card or posting in a forum?

"Better to let someone believe you are a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

In most circles, the excessive use of profanity is believed to be inversely proportional to intelligence.

My favorite Carlin quote:
"The weather for tonight is DARK."

His routine on the difference between baseball and football is priceless:

In football the objective is to drive through your opponents defenses, penetrate the end zone and score a touchdown. In baseball you run home.

@Darkthrone - you're probably right - as the singular of my word would also be banned, and thus, it's really 6 letters.

Arahar, most frequently used is the keyword of our censoring, as I explained above. That's not commonly (or ever, that I've seen) used around here. The censor only replaces with asterisks the exact word on the list, any characters before or after it don't get asterisked too. And yes, there's only one 7 character word on the list.

Wonder if that word is *******?

My, such curiosity.... So many people want to know, in detail, what they're not supposed to be typing. Seems to be an odd obsession.

I'd have given a list back at the beginning if I had any idea this be going on for so long, but hey, I'm not going to spoil it now. :D

****, ****, *******, *****, ****, ****...

~Got them all!~

okay I've got F***, P****, S***, A******, C***

One to go :)

could it be T***

Yes got all of them.

[ December 02, 2004, 00:16: Message edited by: Arahar ]

**** **** ******* .. just testing ^_^

ooh.. now only 3 more

***** ****

hmm, I give up, dunno more than the 5, I suppose dont curse and swear that often.

[ December 01, 2004, 23:57: Message edited by: Lokken ]

Yea, ok, I don't want 50 people testing it here now. :rolleyes:

Do it in Random Babbling if you must, and edit your post to something else after you're done.

hmm...ö after figuring out the last one, I have to wonder why it is censored... muight be the fact that I amnot a natve speaker, but at least to me it has never been an offensive word.

(and no, it's not just because I am... me, either...)

Because Tal is trying to force us to speak properly. The word he wants us to use is Breasts or Mammary Glands :D

what, so if i wanted to talk about what my favorite sausage entials, I'd ahve to say "porcine mammary tissue" instead of pig ****? that's not fair to us typo-demon-farmers!

And I defy you to work on a farm without using the word "****" as it was originally meant...