[4389] in Depressing_Thoughts
badwords
adwright@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (adwright@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Mon Mar 7 23:18:16 1994
Well, I hain't posted here innawhile, having tossed the group off in
exasperation. But, I'd like to respond to a few.
Here's one; bcb writes:
- dcctdw: It's small enough not to need them. By now any time I notice a
- message that is mostly gratuitous obscenity, I check the name and hit 'n'
- if it's adwright. (Other senders may occasionally use gratuitous obscenity
- and have something worthwhile to say despite it.)
Your calling something "gratuitous" doesn't necessarily make it so.
And what is obscenity?
- And before you flame me for this, adwright -- I skip your messages
- not because I disagree with them
Being a little supra-magnanimous here, aren't you?
To the contrary, you most certainly do disagree with them, else you wouldn't
be so up-in-arms about them to the extent that you are.
- but because you state your opinions in such a rude and offensive manner
Language prudery. Simple as that. You exemplify the language-prude, my
good man.
What is rude or offensive about the word "fuck", in and of itself?
Why is something rendered "rude" if a certain noun is preceded by a "fucking"?
It's such an undangerous little thing, "fucking". It's a word.
What rational argument can you offer me, to convince me that "fucking thing" isthe epitome of rudity, whereas "thing" is simply a nonspecific label referring
to a previously named, unnamed, or unnameable, "thing"?
Why is it that a good number of you people are willing to jump headlong and
proudly into the profanity-bandwagon, and decree words such as "shit" to be
offensive and obscene? Do you have any defensible reason to do so?
Explain yourselves, please. I submit that you can't. Because your respective
positions are groundless, and baseless, and completely without merit.
Positio-ad-reflexus. Or knee-jerk, whatever you like.
Reacto-bate. To ban something. And all you're doing is banning speech. Or
at least, supporting the banment of it.
Never occurred to you to question why certain words are "bad", eh?
Why doesn't it occur to you now?
- that
- (a) I find it difficult to determine your point,
Maybe you could ask for clarification.
- (b) I have little enough respect for you that it seems unlikely that
- your point will be of any value even if I do find it,
Why do you non-respect me? Can you answer me that?
Is it solely because of my use of certain words ("fuck", "asshole", "shitty",
"goddammit", etc.) that make you cringe? If yes, then you, sirrah, have petti-ness down to an exact science, it would seem.
Why do these words make you cringe?
It's not that they are little bits o' evil-badness. It's something else,
something really simple. Taboo. And you've bought into it, sold out unto it,
and swallowed it whole, with nary a smathering of indigestion.
- and
- (c) I find your rudeness distasteful enough that I have no desire to wade
- through it in order to discover your point.
"Wade"? The only reason it takes any effort for you to read through and past
such words, is that you have a hang-up over 'em.
What rudeness is this? Use of a word.
Ah, the triviality of it!
- If you wish to convince people of anything, even if you want to use emotional- arguments, it is useful to be rational enough that they'll want to keep
- listening to you.
If you are offering insights on rationality, well then I'm afraid I'm gonna
have to pass on them, thanks-a-bunch.
Your take on language, your reaction to it, reeks of irrationality.
Your position then, is that "fucking school" is ir-rational, whereas "school",
surprisingly enough, is rational.
Funny, I can't seem to convince myself of any worth of that view, try as I
may, as I might.
