No one is getting banned for posting an excerpt from Huckleberry Finn as part of a book club discussion, either.
You asked a specific question. I gave you a specific answer.
Careful, he’s going to ask you for math lessons next.
I think it makes a lot of difference. A word whose only use is to insult/target/intimidate/bully/harass people with a particular characteristic is a word that shouldn’t be used.
I think we’re back in the cultural differences between US and UK arena again to be honest. ■■■■■■ here is now so divorced from its original meaning that its only real use is as a term for a lousy, horrible person, maybe in the same way that bastard means a similar thing and no one thinks of a child born out of wedlock.
At least the SMP invasion involved a wider breadth of vocabulary.
Dude, this is the first time someone has said it’s “threads”. Fine, I will stand corrected.
You could have said “hey, those results are actually threads.” No need to be a prick about it.
If we really want to offend someone we can keep including marty in amongst the Brits 
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Can you not accept that the meaning of a word frequently changes over time?
In the early days of multiplayer games, I doubt a day went by when I didn’t call somebody a f----t. I never intended it as a slur against gay guys; it was reserved for campers, cheaters, people who used overpowered weapons/specs, people who did stupid shit, and just for random outbursts against players who annoyed me. Seems everybody I called that, I could have just as easily called a c**t. But like, it should be relatively obvious that both words implicitly rely on their most derogatory meanings to have the status of the go to insult in a more “innocent” context, specifically when they are used by dudebros.
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If the term is, as you say, such a truly generic insult devoid of its original meaning in your parlance, is it such a burden on you to use a different one? It might even help your vocabulary to use a new, more specific term rather than one that’s turned so flavorless over the years.
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As I have said, it seems that posters ITT are forgetting why swear words exist in the first place.
What is your explanation for why?
Looking hard for that misogyny I hear so much about
That’s another question entirely.
It’s not like anyone here intends to call people ■■■■■■ often. I think it’s more a question of people not having someone else’s definition forced on them, and I’m sure most Brits here don’t want to use it a lot if it causes great offence.
How do you feel about the word “bastard”? Should it not be used in the company of people born out of wedlock?
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I have my own views (or, I guess, my own reasons for why I use them) - sometimes for shock value, sometimes to underscore that I feel particularly strongly on a topic, sometimes to build camaraderie with a new acquaintance (I guess as something of a shibboleth). Just to name a few reasons off the top of my head.
I recall seeing a documentary Stephen Fry did on swearing. I believe he actually found that swearing while experiencing physical pain lessened the pain, but I could be mistaken (that was just one of the things in the doc, IIRC). I’ll see if I can find it.
I mean, it’s in the use of the word knowing that it is offensive to so many, and either not giving a shit, or intentionally using it because “fuck your feelings.”
You have known full well that it causes great offense, and you continued to use it.
If community members felt that the term “bastard” was a slur against them, yes. I’d stop using it.
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I mean, that’s just because you’re an empathetic human being who cares about others feelings though.
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