paul wheaton wrote:My understanding is that in england, "faggot" can be a stick or a cigarette.

In England you can refer to a cigarette as a "fag" but definitely not as a "faggot".

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/290786/origin-of-fag-meaning-a-cigarette-in-british-english

It seems to me that what has been lost (in addition to common sense) is the inability to read something and be able to identify context and intent.  The English language, in all it's forms and dialects, have many words with varied meanings.  Some is slang and others are words rooted in the language itself.  Both the context and intent of the post being referred to here, not only is the word properly used, when considered in its context, but also within its intent.  People look to be offended.  If more people would not put up with those who take terms out of context and with no ill intent, instead of bowing to the PC pressure, we'd have a much more civil society, both on and offline.

William Allendorf wrote: I remain your Superannuated Flatulence ever

I'm SOOOOO stealing this!!! :P

I want to thank you volunteer moderators again!

What you are doing is truly amazing.

I don't spend much time on FB, twitter and other such forms of social media but I do occasionally spend time on email lists and discussion forums. One of my favorites, I think the best of them as far as non-Permies sites go, is mainly comprised of researchers, professors and other people interested in a very specific topic. They are what you might call very well read people who are excellent writers and whose social skills are good and who all share somewhat similar values. Still, it never ceases to amaze me how quickly things can get heated in that forum and how much one person can influence the morale of the whole discussion forum. No one ever uses any "bad" words there but they still manage to get into a fight while argumenting politely and rationally. I don't think they are evil people. They just do not know how to be nice. As there are no moderators or publishing standards, all that a peace loving person can do is to try and get in between the fighters and try to make them both feel heard while looking for common ground. That works up to a point but it doesn't solve the real issue.

My point is that what you are doing here is so much more than just deleting posts with certain words. You are helping people to be nice, to present their rational arguments in a non-hurtful way. That to me is something worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize

I've been thinking about this thread and in particular it's title. Several people have said that it was thought provoking, that the title caused them to read the thread and comment, and that it was maybe even clever. Several people have seemed to support the idea that it's ok to use what is generally thought to be unacceptable language in the cause of the greater good.

But after thinking about it for a bit, I think not. Poor language is simply poor language. There really is no excuse for using it. There are much better ways to express ourselves. We don't need to resort to the profane, disparaging or disgusting. There's just no need. I'm not suggesting that words be banned. For example I've always thought the whole American requirement to say "the n-word" instead of the actual word, was/is a very childish response to a word that need never be used in the first place. If you're going to use a word, don't play games with it. Be honest and use it. But, words that once were acceptable words like that one, and like those used in the title of this thread, have now acquired such an enormous amount of loaded meaning that there just is no longer need to use them for any reason. We are better than that. We can do better than that. We do not need to use language that upsets or demeans or condescends or patronizes.

I suspect the point of this thread is that words that are very offensive in one part of the world, have no such emotional baggage in another.  

Sometimes...

Person A uses a word as they understand it to mean: for example faggot for describing a bundle of small sticks.

Person B lives in a part of the world where that word is an extreme insult.

Person A has no idea that Person B is insulted by this word.  Person B is angry and upset that Person A is being deliberately offensive.

A has no idea there is a problem.  B has no idea that A has no idea there is a problem.  Things escalate.  

This thread is about communicating.  It's about helping people understand that this situation happens.  Neither A nor B is to blame.  But maybe B has the advantage because they are aware that something is wrong here, and they can use the tools at their disposal to communicate their discomfort.  We have a snazzy report button that is perfect for this situation.  Person B politely draws the attention of the moderators to the post in question and lets us know that this word is causing unpleasantness.  

Mike Barkley - Chi chi is what most people of Mexican heritage around here call breasts, in fact, it is the standard word that most people around here use in reference to breastfeeding. They ask their children if they want a chi chi. I did, everyone I know did. More amusing to me, is that a bunch of grown men would giggle at this.

That aside, I do understand being mindful of others experiences.

I have a friend who grew up in a Mexican-American family, where they used the term "ya-ya" to refer to their female parts, as in, "Go take your bath and make sure you wash your ya-ya."   It was a big family with a lot of girls --- lots of ya-ya's.  The term was used politely, not to be naughty or crude.

One day some of their friends came to visit.  They were from the Philippines, where the term "Ya-ya" was a term of affection used to refer to a housekeeper or nanny.  "The Ya-ya is coming over tonight to watch you while we go out for dinner."  

So after dinner, the adults moved to the living room to sit and talk, while the kids went to the back room where someone put a video on the TV to entertain them.  Someone else asked, "Where are the kids?", to which the Filipino mom responded, "Oh, we set them in front of the electric Ya-Ya."

My friend spit out her coffee in laughter.