Swearword substutution

[kayakamina]

I posted this in Editor's blog and someone suggested I also place it here.

' It is the substitution of an 'unacceptable' word by another 'safe' word which drives me crackers!
In the crossword section ( Not Chatterbank) I was attempting to explain a crossword answer to a questioner. The word was Parish and the wordplay was bottle in the local area.
I tried to advise that it was ARIS ( or Ar$e / Cockney slang ARIS(totle) (bottle) in PH (public House) P ARIS H
Your censor decided that it should be ELBOW in PH !!!!!!

[sandyRoe]

'He's lost his elbow,' somehow doesn't have the same ring to it...

[kayakamina]

A friend said to me that the editors probably didn't know one from the other!

[sandyRoe]

LOL

[swedeheart]

I agree, kayakamina. And here's another reason why substituting one word for another is such a tedious idea: It forces us to read through our own posts once again AFTER we've posted them, to see if there are any "elbows" sticking out that need explaining.

"There wouldn't be any need for that, Swede, if you refrained from posting bad words in the first place!" I hear you say, Spare. Not so. Who could have foreseen you wouldn't be allowed to post about bitches in Animals & Nature, for instance... I believe that this has been corrected now, but you see my point: It isn't always self-evident what will be substituted and what will be allowed.

My own personal opinion: Let us swear all we want, as long as it's not intended to be abusive. But if you really feel that it's necessary to educate us on language as well as on manners, then please stick with the asterisks.

[B00]

Oh what do you know? ruddy foreigner!

<legs it>

[swedeheart]

^^Jävla fubbik!

[B00]

I'm telling on you Swedey!!!

[jno]

I quite like the idea that people who deliberately use rude words should see their posts turn into mush. It might discourage them.

But perhaps that should only apply in CB, where impropriety tends to run free? Bitches clearly need to be allowed into Animals & Nature, for instance. Can the swear filters be limited just to one section?

[mike11111]

Two "Jävla fubbik!"s in one day. Must nip out and buy a copy of Teach Yourself Swedish.

[swedeheart]

You do that, you damn fubbik. ;-)

[mike11111]

Is 'fubbik' a word His Majesty King Carl Gustav is wont to use? If not I'll pass on buying the Teach Yourself Swedish thing.

[swedeheart]

Suit yourself Mike, go ahead, model yourself after our King http://i52.tinypic.com/2yoes0n.jpg

[Canary42]

I saw both the ELBOW and DUKE OF EDINBURGH posts, and was extremely puzzled by them. Perceived obscenity should be replaced by astersiks, not words which change the meaning of a post. Thin end of the wedge of Answerbank re-writing our answers for their own ends.

[bibblebub]

kick-ass

(just want to check whether this film title will be left intact in a question title)

[mike11111]

Thanks for that, Swedeheart. Thought I was looking in a mirror for a moment.

[boxtops]

you can get round it sometimes by putting the word you want with a substitution, like @rse, and most of use know funicular now - but I agree, I've fallen foul of the ch1nk before now.

[mike11111]

As I have said on a previous post, when helping to translate some Latin the poster said that the website would not accept cum, so she had to spell it with spaces, even though it is a perfectly ordinary Latin word and one which is used in many English phrases.

[boxtops]

indeed, as in graduating summa c u m laude....

[karenmac60]

Or when you type the geniune word and then it looks like you've sworn - like I said that someone should fluff someone else up, meaning flatter them, but it looked like I meant something entirely different.
Eddie, I remember your Prince Philip post - it did make me laugh :)