Cussing -- using the 'F' word.

[johnny]

Yorick, you have been to Holland right ? Maybe you've heard about this: there's no other country in the world where swearing is so common as here. Dutch people have a habit of using all kinds of terrible disseases when they are angry with someone. And they are good at it too, there's a list made once of all existing cursewords Dutch people can come up with, and there's over a thousand of em. I think it somehow became kinda natural to use those kind of words. In some cities it's worse than in others. The city i was born in must be one of the worst, they even curse eachother out when they haven't seen eachother for some time and it's not even considdered cursing, more of a way to greet eachother (in sort of a moronic way).

[Melusine]

Johnny, ouwe paardezak! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Actually it depends where you go... I agree that it's quite common in the Netherlands and the shock value of a lot of words is lower than for instance the f-word in the USA. Also, we borrowed the f and s word from English and here they have much less offensive value than in native speaking countries (a nasty surprise for Dutch tourists). But you shouldn't get the impression we curse with everything we do and to anyone we can think of. But yes, we have a pretty relaxed attitude towards it.

Personally I try to remember that different countries have different attitudes towards this. So whereas in Holland the f word is not very offensive (to compare: I wouldn't hesitate to use it if my mother was around) I know that it's different for some of my native-speaking friends and try to act accordingly.
However I also agree with Yorick there are no intrinsically offensive words. But your example demonstrates that words CAN be truly offensive and hurtful depending on the context in which they are used.

[ 10-16-2002, 06:35 AM: Message edited by: Melusine ]

[johnny]

Hm... *makes notes* ouwe paardezak... could come in handy sometime.

[philip]

Originally posted by johnny: Yorick, you have been to Holland right ? Maybe you've heard about this: there's no other country in the world where swearing is so common as here. Dutch people have a habit of using all kinds of terrible disseases when they are angry with someone. And they are good at it too, there's a list made once of all existing cursewords Dutch people can come up with, and there's over a thousand of em. I think it somehow became kinda natural to use those kind of words. In some cities it's worse than in others. The city i was born in must be one of the worst, they even curse eachother out when they haven't seen eachother for some time and it's not even considdered cursing, more of a way to greet eachother (in sort of a moronic way).

That's sooo true. And they don't have to be angry to say it. Last time I was riding with some friends from school to home, there were some guys in a car driving in the opposite direction and waiting for a traffic light. They opened their window and just started to scream those things at me.

But have you seen a German curseword dictionary? My German teacher showed us it last year. It's about 5 centimetres thick, nearly as thick as a normal one!

[Ziroc]

Originally posted by Moni: Well I hope this did not come about because of the All Time Favorite Thread thread and my reminding those who remember it of the inFamous thread's existence! If that were the case, I would feel just horrible! I feel awful as it is being reminded that you were away when myself and others had two days of unrestrained cursing in just one thread! I agree that cursing is not necessary here! Even I have learned to employ the use of the word "dang" and "crap" which I will admit was something I had to THINK about and something I now appreciate being able to do without having to think about it! I agree with Attalus' sentiments on cursing. As I have promised before to comply with the way you want your board run, Ziroc, this also will apply to my posts. No cursing and (*&$^%@#% in place of anything offensive that I might feel I HAVE to type cursing into my expressions! Hey, that's kind of fun...*(&#^Q$ (*&$^@$@ &@%@$#$*(%$ [img]smile.gif[/img]

No, no... it wasn't that thread at all. I was doing a search for the 'F' word, and saw a LOT of posts as of late. I edited some, and deleted others. not all though..

[Ziroc]

Originally posted by Arvon: I'm not sure why this thread was required. Just your basic board rules and good judgment on the part of the poster is all that's needed. If someone breaks the basic rules...OUT! Oh BTW the 3DO community board has an automatic intercept for bad words. They replace them with 'furby'.

I could do that as well.. I could censor ALL the cuss words.. but I have faith that you all can use your good judgement and self-control...

[Ziroc]

Originally posted by Epona: Ah Arvon. Do a search on the word in question in the BGII archive, and you will see just how much we used to swear at IW, when there were only a few of us. Rikard could hardly write a post in those days without peppering it with 'f' words, and the rest of us were almost as bad. In a way I think it's a shame that the relaxed atmosphere we used to have about swearing is long gone, but this is Ziroc's board and whatever he says goes. I'll refrain from using it - I don't agree that it is 'low-brow' or unintelligent to swear and have personally heard royalty and academics alike having a good cuss should anyone doubt that view - but by the same token I wouldn't want any of our younger members to be prevented by their parents from coming here.

I meant that it MAY look low brow to some new user coming in here.. you know? I didn't mind back in the good old days because we didn't have nowhere near the viewership and membership we do now. I mainly don't want to get any more emails from parents or schools or older adults telling me off. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Ziroc]

Originally posted by Cloudbringer:

I don't think he meant that using it once or twice in posts makes one low-brow, Epona. I think what he means is that when everyone uses it and the place is peppered with it, it doesn't look like we have any self-control, ie: the place looks a bit 'run down', I guess is how I'd describe it. It's not as if none of us ever USE the words in daily life, but a concentration in threads doesn't look that good to the rest of the world, theydon't KNOW that we're all pretty well educated, friendly, and downright cool as opposed to flame-baiters etc like you'd find in other places where the use of 'bad' language is the norm rather than a means of expressing a strong emotion now and then. Anyway, from what I've seen I think it boils down to Z not wanting it used mainly because we have so many minors about, not so much because he doesn't think we use it irl or should use it at all.

EXACTLY! [img]smile.gif[/img] You said it better than I could! I don't want kids to see it and I don't want new users see it so often that THEY feel the need to use it, thinking it's okay here...

Personally, I cuss like a Sailor here at home.. you should hear me screaming at my 'Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2'.. I yell at the cheating cop cars ramming me off the road--even created some NEW words! 'Mother Crunching Ass master'! Donna laughed!! I'm not SERIOUSLY angery, just having fun. I DON'T talk like that around people I don't know or in public though... [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Melusine]

Yeah well I actually agree that there's a difference between the forum as it is now and the old Blue Board. Ziroc simply has to keep in mind how many members he has and how big the forum has become. Back then, it was just a couple of friends hanging out on the blue board together... most of us cuss in front of their friends sometimes. But now we're more like a huge family - including lots of young nieces, cousins, nephews and irritable old grannies (huh??). Anyway, I can actually see why using the f-word would be more of a problem now than it was back then. And I also agree I wouldn't be terribly impressed with people who can't talk without using cursewords.

[Ziroc]

Originally posted by /)eathKiller: Alright from this point forward i'm cursing with words that PSO sencors... [img]tongue.gif[/img] Did I ever cuss to begin with?? O.o? >_< "saTURDay sHOE Sale at PAYLESS..." [img]tongue.gif[/img] Or maybe I should try it in foreighn languages where it doesnt have as much importantce... "Dodu oh echi baka!" or perhaps we should all just say "BOTTONS AND BARNTOOLS!" ^_^ hmmm cencorship is such a fun thing to mess around with...

It's not funny if it gets you banned! [img]graemlins/bootyshake.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

[ 10-16-2002, 07:55 AM: Message edited by: Ziroc ]