Language is a funny thing. It evolves. I remember that as a young guy in the 1950s I apologised to a woman because I'd accidentally said "bloody" when I was speaking to her. It's the way things were.
Lots of things are acceptable now that weren't so in the past and while it'd be deplorable to go back to yesterday's restrictive attitudes, swearing often takes the place of things that could be better expressed in plain language. It's in the eye (ear?) of the beholder.
All of which brings me to a story.
I used to work with a guy we called The Parson. He'd been in theological college as a young man and was a lifelong churchgoer. He never swore and when he wanted to express himself he used "flop" as in, "Where's my flopping pen?"
Once I heard him rousing on a guy who'd dropped a four letter word into the conversation. (Well, a five letter word, since he probably spelt it with a ph...) The man said, "Really Parson, there's no difference between me using that word and you saying 'Flopping'."
"You're right, Frank," said the Parson. "Why don't you go and get flopped!"
have any of you been warned about cursing on this site? i've just been warned again about usin' expletives and apparently, next time i'm banned permanently. so, i was thinkin if i get a premium membership i can get away with a little more or will they just refund my money and kick me off anyways?
Marysson are you saying we should have class structure to take away vulgar behaviour, such as swearing?
If you have classes doesn`t that mean you have groups of people who are better than others? You might even be in danger of viewing some people as elevated types and others as analogous to sewage or soiled clothes for example.
With this type of class structure you might be positively incouraging the worse class of people to swear because people often act up to the roles inadvertently given to them by social structures.
i have not been disrespectful to anyone on this site without someone else instigating it, which you just did so here goes it...why don't you keep your mouth shut and read all my comments on this thread before you make such statements and next time you wanna give me your two cents send me a cheque. i thought 1945 was a time for celebration with the war ending and all but then you were born and kinda ruined it.
Thanks - I got a good laugh out of this. First you post a topic which is open for anyone to comment - and then when someone says something you don't like - you tell them to shut their mouth. You asked for my two-cents when you posted the topic. And you asked for another two-cents when you responded to my comment. But your comment about 1945 and the war ending and me being born is too ridiculous to answer - (although it did make me chuckle). There are plenty of places on the internet where people can be vulgar and offensive. It's good to have a haven like chess dot com and I certainly hope they remove anyone who is disrespectful to the general membership. The topic is - you like swearing - swearing is disrespectful - you already know that - if it wasn't - you wouldn't do it.
i made this post to find out two pieces of information which are clearly stated in the post. i new it had potential to become a debate about what's proper and so on but when folks tell me it's not polite to swear yet attempt to demean me and others like me or say i should be off the site it just seems a little hypocritical.
lets rock ;)
I hear this particular piece of trash all too often. The most eloquent speakers and writers I've had the pleasure of being audience to have almost all had filthy mouths. Masters of the brush don't omit black from their art because it is dark. On the contrary, they recognize the power and beauty that it contains when properly harnessed. So it is with profane language. For those skeptical of my position on the matter, I reccomend the following writers: Kurt Vonnegut, David Sedaris, and Charles Bukowski.
That said, I do believe foul language should be kept out of Chess.com. Simply put: most people don't like it. I do dream of a day when intent rather than content carries more weight.
Again, someone misreads the statement: "relies TOO MUCH on vulgarity". I have never said that vulgarity, itself, is a sign of a limited grasp on the english language. When every other word is a swear word, then I have to wonder if you are not a native english speaker who learned the language through watching Sopranos, or if you just don't know any other words to express yourself. I think it often (NOT ALWAYS) shows a lack of creativity.
The best insults, in my opinion, don't use vulgarities, but instead strike at the heart of who the person is (or at least the part you don't like). For instance: calling someone a "yuppie" if that is a type your don't like, or "frat boy".
A premium membership doesn't excuse rude behavior. Refund? Are you kidding? How old are you?
i don't consider swearing to be equal to rude behaviour. i'm not really serious cuz i can't afford a membership anyway as i'm juss a poor boy with a mental capacity of a six year old. i'm older than six.
timmy
Swearing is rude behavior. Try breaking into a stream of expletives in front of your mother and father some time and see if they consider it acceptable. Also, swearing online is a little different than swearing to someone face to face. When you are angry and shouting at someone it is easy to swear and then backpedal and claim it just slipped out. When you are typing in a forum it takes a little more effort to swear at someone and it is not as easy to dismiss it as an accident.
Looks like I have been missing out on a lot. Here's my contribution to a very lively debate : Remembering the international nature of chess.com, I was wondering if swearing in non-English languages swearing ?
there is an old saying that your right to throw a punch ends at the tip of my nose.
a person's right to express themself does not trump other people's rights not to be offended. obviously a line that must be drawn at some point, and we have drawn ours. i understand that swearing is sometimes used for some people's kind of humor, but that is best kept in groups where that is understood to be accepted, not in the general public.
i'm sure there are places to play chess with more tolerance for abuse or swearing, but not chess.com :)
Agreed Erik :), and I thank you for your stance on this. I, for one, am offended by swearing, and I don't swear myself, although on a unfortunate occasion words may slip. But it definitely shows respect for another person by not swearing, and I personally find swearing to be completely pointless.
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