Thought or Rant of the day!!!

[masterekat]

Agreed. I do understand that there are some who don't want to receive mental images for whatever reason, and it bugs the heck out of me when my friends curse in front of children without even realizing it or caring when I bring it to their attention.

[mojomuppet]

Normal characters are suddenly at an all time low, please spawn someone normal and thinking. That is all.

[phoenixannwn]

A word is just a word and the only reason kids like to use those words is because they know they shouldn't--and they only know they shouldn't because adults make such a big deal out of it.
Anyway, why shouldn't kids say nasty words? I never understood that. Whoop-di-doo, it's a swear word, what's the big deal?

[Doug R.]

You'll understand when you're a parent.

[masterekat]

The reason why it bothers me is much is when a five year old hears someone say something like dick or fuck at a restaurant and then she asks her parents what it means, it might create an uncomfortable situation for a family, and I would want nothing to do with it. I don't mind refraining from a few things in public, especially if it isn't really a big hassle for me. I'm hoping others will do the same when I have children one day.

[phoenixannwn]

Well, yeah, but also, why not just tell them what it means?
I was a curious kid, and when I asked, my mom told me. I sorta got 'the talk' when I was like 5--so it wasn't a big deal to me. Same with alcohol. Mom always let me try hers when I was a kid, and now, I don't even like the stuff and I rarely drink, and even though we have alcoholism that runs in both sides of our family, it's not even remotely a strain to not drink or whatever.
My point is, the only reason they make a big deal out of it is because you do.

[Armulus Satchula]

I also hate when people say something like.

I would have said something mean right now, but I didn't. It's basically the same thing.

[Cdls]

I would have said something mean right now, but I didn't. It's basically the same thing.

Pfft, I could say something really sarcastic about this, but I wont.

Just kidding, had to do it though!

I do know what you mean though, although I find it more amusing than annoying. Obviously it is a ploy to gain attention as the most natural response is to push for the person to reveal what they were gonna say. My typical response to a statement like that:

"I could have cared, but I don't."

[Addicted]

I hate swearing and I don't swear. My children all know the facts of life and I'm happy to explain the meaning of the swear word. To me, and I know I'm old fashioned, swearing is a form of violence. You drop a brick on your toe, you swear, I can live with it. You call me a name, you shout and you use swear words, I'll be upset. (maybe you have justification, maybe not ). The tricky part comes when swear words are used in normal conversation and take on a totally different meaning. Society is changing and respect is going out the window. I am a productive, helpful etc member of society and I deserve some respect. Why should I have to put up with words I find offensive in a conversation about cricket or politics?

[Comy]

What's even funnier is the words they come up with to replace them: "Son of a biscuit eater!" "Fruit packets!" "Shucky darn!" "Cheese and RICE!"

Those aren't even fun words! I come up with things that are fun to say when I replace swearing, which I do, well, mostly just because I'm the kind of person to shout "Nut logs!" instead of the ever-versatile fuck. I actually tend to get annoyed when people swear (excessively) when they're angry because then it just sounds to me like they're putting on a show. But in many ways, I am my mother's daughter and she swears like a sailor. She, however, has the defense that, when she was a sailor, it was literally necessary for her to start swearing and making rude gestures to get the men on the boat to pay any bloody attention to her.

Speaking of my mother, she is awesome and spent five to ten minutes laughing like Elmo while I was visiting her earlier.

Thought: I've decided to give New Years gifts from now on because I like to be arbitrary and my friends are hard to shop for.

[phoenixannwn]

My thing is, if something jumps out and scares me, I am not getting yelled at for shouting "HOLY FUCKING FUCKPANTS." You reprimand me, I'm going to be pissed. Or using it to describe something epic. I agree you shouldn't use it against somebody, and I think it's just crass to use it as a verb, but it's my favorite word to use pretty much anywhere. And "It was big as crap!" will never do quite the same justice that "That shit was big as FUCK." will, to me.
Also, awesome, about the sailor thing, lol.
And anyway, I am an adult, and I have every right to say whatever words I want in public--just like I ought to have the right to smoke my cigarettes there. If you don't want to smell my smoke or hear me cuss, go somewhere else. Why are you in a bar if smoke bothers you?! Why do you have to ruin it for everyone else?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW COLD IT IS OUTSIDE?! I HATE YOU!
Sorry, I got a little off topic there. The ban hit us a bit back and closed down all our hookah bars. :[

[Doug R.]

And anyway, I am an adult, and I have every right to say whatever words I want in public--just like I ought to have the right to smoke my cigarettes there. If you don't want to smell my smoke or hear me cuss, go somewhere else.

I'm pretty sure you'd annoy the hell out of me if I met you in real life. Can't tell you how many times I've walked by people cursing up a storm for no reason, like they wanted the whole world to hear it, with my 5 year old kid in tow. There is a supreme lack of respect in the world today. People think that just because the law gives them the right to do something, that they can do it. Common decency is a thing of the past. My wife has problems hiring people your age at her company. Everything with them is "me me me me me, I deserve this and I deserve that." They're so ego-centric, probably from all the BS politically correct "there are no losers" mentality that dominated the world of children's sports over the last two decades or so, or because their parents let them raise themselves because they were "too tired" from work to actually instill any values. I swear a lot. I like to swear. But I don't do it around people that I know don't like it, and if I do it in public, I do it so that the strangers around me can't hear it. That's common decency.

So, yes, it's your right to pollute the air around you with vulgarity and smoke, but I also have the right to resent you for it, and also to pass laws to keep you from doing it. Turn about is fair play.

And yes, I know I sound like an old fuddy-duddy with this "kids today" post, but I really don't care. It's becoming harder and harder to raise a polite, respectful child in today's day and age. Even the worst kids I knew when I was a kid never acted like many of the kids I pass in the mall do. And Phoenixannwn - just because you're over 18 doesn't make you an adult in my eyes. I've known 40 year olds that I still consider children.

/rant

On a more up-beat note, I hope all of you have a very blessed Christmas and a happy new year!

[nateflory]

(( *fistbumps Doug's last comments in solidarity, then shrugs* ))

Rant: Holiday vacations making me work night-shift and totally messing up the playschedule I have for Cantr, and feeling like I've been "abandoning" the folks I usually am active at a similar time with, thus bringing awkward silences to my favorite characters right now. BOO!

Also Rant for said night-shift killing my brain and making code-scripts look like blurs of grey pixels instead of actual useful programs. Sorry testers!

[gejyspa]

What's even funnier is the words they come up with to replace them: "Son of a biscuit eater!" "Fruit packets!" "Shucky darn!" "Cheese and RICE!"
Technically speaking, that's doing the SAME THING, just with different words. So they're not really being any better, those words are just more socially acceptable.

Someone watches Monk.

But anyhow, Doug took the wind out of my sails, but I was going to hit upon many of the same points. First, "rights" is a chimera. Your boyfriend had the "right" to dump you like a sack of moldy potatoes, but how did YOU feel when he did that? The word "rights" does not appear in the Hebrew Bible (can't say I know about the NT). Why? Because it talks of responsibilities, not rights. The poor don't have a "right" to charity, rather the non-poor have the responsibility to see that the poor are taken care of (tithing, corners of the field, forgotten sheaves, gleaning). When you stop talking about what you have the right to do, and learn to think about how others may feel about what you do and your responsibility towards others, and self-constrain, then you begin to think like a mature person, and be a contributing member of society.

On the profanity issue itself -- yeah, it's pretty much a way to draw attention to yourself. If you drop a heavy can on your foot and say the F-word, well, that's not so terrible. It's a reflex. (My reflex is to say, "ow", but too each his own). But if you go around saying "why the F--- didn't you buy the F---ing beans like I F--ing asked you, you s---head?", instead of saying "Was there a reason you didn't buy the beans?" or even better, "Did you forget that I asked you to buy beans?" or "Well, I was going to make chili for dinner tonight, but it looks like we're out of beans, so let's order a pizza", then, yeah, you're just cursing because you don't have better words to use.

On the other hand, as a Scrabble player, will I play a profanity on the Scrabble board if it's the best play[1]? Sure, because it's devoid of all meaning there, and every professional player understands that's it's only a string of letters in that context. (Quiz-- at the start of the game, you hold a blank+UCKING. What's your best play?[2])

[1] Legal in club and tournament play (dictionary used in North America/Israel/Taiwan is The Official Tournament and Club Word List), but not in School Scrabble or home use, which uses The Official Scrabble Players' Dictionary

[2] answer: KINGCUp, with the K on the double letter score. See? You're STILL thinking like a curser, and need to learn more words.

[Armulus Satchula]

Words are just words and people now are much too sensitive now-a-days. I think its crazy for people to get upset when there is no intentional or directed insults towards someone. The US has freedom of speech, putting laws on what people can say is just ridiculous to pass laws to restrict that. However, feel free to resent as much as you like.

With that being said. I've been know to be belligerent from time to time, but I always try to watch my mouth around children or kick a friend in the shins if they speak vulgar around a child. I agree that people should be more considerate around children.

Side note: There is this fallacy that people use to be better. This is completely untrue.