officious u.s. officials

[wyndhy]

a NYC councilman is introducing a resolution calling for new yorkers to stop using the words nigger, nigga, or any combination of syllables that come close to sounding like nigger. they find the word so offensive, they can't even spell it out in the official paperwork. it's referred to as "the n word". it's not the first time our brave leaders and their civilian lackeys have seen fit to ban words.

i'm not one to go name calling but uhm...s'cuse me dumbasses, there are a few thousand other words out there just as - or more - offensive. care to make a list?

i'll start.
1) bowdlerise

[Lilith]

Here was my least favorite from yesterday, from the mouth of an 8 year old

2) stinkwideasswhitehobitch :D

[wyndhy]

ban it! ^^

3) fbi'santipornsquad

[Lilith]

4) shizzle :D

[Belial]

1. aks (as in "Who fuckin' aksed you, smartarse?")
2. bettn' (this contraction of "better not" is seemingly an Australian creation, popular amongst uneducated mothers (correlation is not causation, I've never heard anyone else use it) as in "We better not go in there, bettin' we?")

[scotzoidman]

The word I've always found most offensive?



"censorship"



As for the smells-just-like-something-I've-stepped-in legislation mentioned above, seems under the terms stated the word "niggardly" would be banned as well...while seldom used anymore because it sounds ugly, it's a perfectly acceptable word that has nothing to do with color or race (altho some of us of Scottish descent might not care to be described as such)...

[wyndhy]

it’s just plain insane that they want to ban words. words! words are nothing but groups of letters that have a definition. they have no power until you add context and connotation. we have laws in place against hate crimes, bigotry, and discrimination…that’s where the hate is…it’s not in a word, it’s in the heart.

and what if i wanna sing along with ice-t or tupac on my ipod while i’m walkin down the street. you gonna ban that, too? what if i only lip sync?

tigga, please! or can't i say that either?

[jseal]

wyndhy,

Yes'm, I must agree. I’m sure that this public servant has the best of intentions, but good intentions are rarely enough. Criminalizing racist language would obviously limit freedom of speech, one of the basic freedoms on which other liberties depend. In and of itself, that is not sufficient objection. People can reasonably argue, and history has shown that there are limits to freedom of expression. The question is where you draw those limits. In the liberal tradition, they have been put at the point where speech becomes a threat to others, the poster child for which is shouting of “Fire” in a crowded theatre (at least if it is false).

I also wonder if this proposed law will have unintended consequences, such as giving extremists an example of “government run amok”?

[wyndhy]

a rose by any other name... :D

and it's not so much the free speech issue for me, it's the unbelievable stupidity of it, the total waste of resources. if we ban the word hate will people stop hating? no. if we invest some resources in educating people about the ill effects of hate, chances are that would do worlds more good in the long run. i also get a chuckle out of the sheer namby-pamby pussyfication they showed in not actually spelling out the word nigger in the legislation. in 500 years, (after the collapse of our electronic communications network :D) when our descendants are digging throuhg old documents and come across this bit of brilliance, i wonder if anyone will even know wtf they were talking about.

[Oldfart]

They want to ban the "N" word??

Unless they define the exact word that other things sound like, the exercise is worse than meaningless. Jurists will be able to interpret the undefined word to suit whatever they are pushing at the moment, and the main loser will be the richness of the language.

Will Tom Sawyer be banned, bleeped or beautified to remove the offensive word?

Our language is an evolved creature, and terms of abuse and derision lose their sting in the fullness of time and perspective. Editing them from the language removes the history of the word, and the salutary lesson an understanding of the history of our words holds.

You cannot erase the past, but you can gain from an insight of it.

[wyndhy]

wild thing ^^^ .....i think i love you.

[Oldfart]

But I wanna know for sure.

[IowaMan]

Will Tom Sawyer be banned, bleeped or beautified to remove the offensive word?
It was just this past week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Students can still get the book in the school's libraries but it cannot be taught as literature.

[scotzoidman]

The Tom Sawyer problem first became known to me way back in 10th grade, when it was assigned reading by my English teacher (who was young, red-haired, & considered pretty hot by a certain teenaged student, btw), then next semester she discovered it was already on the banned list, & begged all of us never to tell anyone we read it in class...I always felt that Mr Clements was actually far ahead of his time in terms of racial attitudes, but as a writer he was just using the words that a real-life 19th century Missouri boy would have used...


Is "pussyfication" actually a word? I guess it is now, I kinda like it...

[jseal]

Gentlefolk,

The Europeans are having a similar debate about “Holocaust denial (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6263103.stm)”. They seem to be grappling with the same issues.

[wyndhy]

:rolleyes2 i'm reminded of how real little kids think covering their eyes means no-one can see them.

[Lilith]

ha ha. I saw a picture of an autistic kid doing that^^ yesterday!

[WildIrish]

I wanna go back to the good old days.

You know, back when I call you a name and if it offends you... you tell me, yell at me or punch me. Then I learn not to say it to you.

If it happened with a variety of people, I'd learn not to say it at all.

Perhaps this way dealing with it is too simple to work anymore.

[Oldfart]

Duelling pistols at dawn?

[MrBrownstone]

So much easier to appease a few with stupid legislation. As Scotz indicated above, the word niggardly is hardly used any more because it sounds inappropiate. In fact, a reporter a few years ago was fired for using the word correctly. She was fired for using the word appropriately. The word means stingy or not generous, by the way.

How can someone be fired for using the right word even though it sounds offensive.

Are we going to not allow hitters to lay down a bunt?
What about a kick?
Or someone being fussy?
Or opening a lock?

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

[WildIrish]

Duelling pistols at dawn?


I'm offended by that remark and wish to ban the use of the word "at".

[wyndhy]

i want to ban tones of voice...we can do that right? no-one is allowed to say mommy in a whiney voice ever again.

[WildIrish]

no-one is allowed to say mommy in a whiney voice ever again.


Children in need of assistance or wishing to express their opinion (ie dissatisfaction) over a ruling must now address their parents as "Mother" and "Father" and the words must be spoken clearly, intelligibly and using an English accent.

[Lilith]

My students luuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrv the "N" word. I told them this story as my current event and one kid screams, "they, they should ban the "C" word then too" and despite being very afraid of his answer asked him which "c" word, he sweetly replied "cracker" whew!

[wyndhy]

:roflmao: ^^
in the interview i heard about this topic someone said they wanted to ban the f word too. the interviewer asked, 'f word?' and the interviewee replied, "yeah, the f word: faggot."

[jseal]

wyndhy,

Perhaps the interviewee was auditioning for a role in “Dumb & Dumber 2”?

[wyndhy]

well, it don't get much dumberer. :D

[jseal]

well, it don't get much dumberer. :D
wyndhy,

Here is the competition (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6336513.stm) from the European Union.

[wyndhy]

yes, i've heard. and i read the similar article you linked earlier.

[gekkogecko]

I've said it before, but it bears repeating: There's nothing wrong with censorship & mind control. Provided, of course, that they're *my* brands of censorship & mind control.