beach chick Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 anyone seen the report in today's Daily Telegraph? (sorry, dont have a link). basically, the rspb has banned the use of the word cock in relation to male birds on its forums, in case anyone should be offended... apparently children might be reading and therefore 'cock' is potentially offensive. however, the person who started it all off managed to post about 'great tits' (or parus major) in Latin, without offence... sometimes I despair!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnieP Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 I don't think this is strictly true that the RSPB have banned them, but more a media hype about how keen we are all these days to protect ourselves on forums, and rightly so! The problem is, that like any other forum, (including ours), certain words are ****'d out as they are considered not suitable for family consumption. We have the same thing on here, so that we do not offend or insult anyone. Of course, on the RSPB site, certain bird breed words have double meanings, (I don't need to highlight these to you intelligent Omlet forum users ) and so have to stay as legitimate words. However, I think you all would agree that this is a moderating nightmare, as there are so many spam postings on any forum these days, that filters are a must. The downside of this is that GENUINE posts, which mention "Bloody" combs etc (and worse ) often get filtered, much to the annoyance of all concerned, and to the delight of the media, who must have had a light day news wise. You should all therefore be doubly grateful that very own dear SuperKate does such a WONDERFUL job at keeping spammers and their nasty postings away, and that you are all such great forum users who maintain a high sense of decency in all you post and maintain what is, a truly family friendly forum. Long may it continue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted June 1, 2007 Author Share Posted June 1, 2007 annie - I entirely agree with you!! I think this is a great forum, and where I have seen any misunderstandings they are clarified very quickly and rightly so, without any personal animosity etc etc. sorry, didnt mean to cause any offence, it just made me kind of despair! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnieP Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 No offence caused. In an ideal world "Ooops, word censored!"ody would swear or say offensive things on a public forum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 You should all therefore be doubly grateful that very own dear SuperKate does such a WONDERFUL job at keeping spammers and their nasty postings away, and that you are all such great forum users who maintain a high sense of decency in all you post and maintain what is, a truly family friendly forum. Long may it continue! Here Here! Thanks to all the moderators, & computer whizz's. I am quite happy for alihodg (son, aged 10) to flit about this forum unsupervised- I am sat in the same room though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 I think it is nice that we have quite a few young members on here and we don't need to worry unduly about what they may see. I think using $$%&^&*&** becomes quite helpful on a family forum! Youngsters don't need to know exactly what word we were thinking of and can interpret it in their own way ...and certain words are necessary at times such as the 'bloody comb' I would have thought that the RSPB site was best left alone - most people know which context is used when certain words appear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnieP Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 OK. I have had a few PM's over this . It seems there is some confusion even on our forum about what is acceptable or not. As a primary school teacher, I would not use ANY swear word in front of my class, no matter how mild. Not because I don't swear , or am a prude , but because, as adults, we should set the highest standards for our young people. What words are acceptable in everybody's own homes, is a matter for them to decide of course, but this is a public forum, with some very young children on, and I think we should therefore aim as high as possible. Please can we all adopt Lesleys suggestion, (unless talking about medical/technical chicken stuff): I think using $$%&^&*&** becomes quite helpful on a family forum! Youngsters don't need to know exactly what word we were thinking of and can interpret it in their own way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 Hear, hear! My mother always said that swearing just indicated someone with a limited vocabulary. She never swore in front of us when we were children, but she could come out with some extremely withering expressions, that didn't use any rude words at all! I'm afraid that I don't always follow her example - but AnnieP is right, we should be setting the highest standards we can. I think a bit of $$%&~*£&* is a great way to express those feelings of frustration. Maybe we could have an Emoticon for 'swear word' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnieP Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 Great idea Olly! How about this one! : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cate in NZ Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 I like that one Annie I agree with you on this debate, I think that we all get frustrated at times and it's great to be able to use an emoticon or a series of %**!>~! to express our frustrations. I tend to feel that the written word has a great deal of impact, and since none of us can accurately guage how later readers of our postings will interpret them much better not to run the risk of possibly causing offence by using proper swear words............ even if you would normally choose to swear in a real conversation. Playing with the symbols bar of the keyboard is so much more satisfying than just typing out an unimaginative and quite frankly boring swear word Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubereglu Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 Some legislation is barmy, isn't it? Unfortunately we don't make it up so we can't change it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 I like that one Annie I agree with you on this debate, I think that we all get frustrated at times and it's great to be able to use an emoticon or a series of %**!>~! to express our frustrations. I tend to feel that the written word has a great deal of impact, and since none of us can accurately guage how later readers of our postings will interpret them much better not to run the risk of possibly causing offence by using proper swear words............ even if you would normally choose to swear in a real conversation. Playing with the symbols bar of the keyboard is so much more satisfying than just typing out an unimaginative and quite frankly boring swear word Well said Afamily. We have to remember that youngsters regularly use this forum and I'm sure we wouldn't swear if they were actually in our presence and would justifiably object if anyone swore in front of our own children. That goes for smutty Frankie Howard style double entendres too. A bit of fun is one thing, vulgarity is another. I find it immensely satisfying to type %$&***&£%$&*% It conveys the meaning with out causing offence to anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 I LOVE that one, Annie! Could we have it on the Omlet Emoticons list?! I'm afraid I said a very rude word earlier I'd just sat down with a coffee and the rare treat of a Saturday paper, and the cat knocked a full vase of water over the table (including the paper which I hadn't even started reading!) But you're right, if one of my friends' children had been in the room, I would have amended it to a very vehement 'OH BOTHERATION'! The cat understands - it was out of the catflap faster than the words left my mouth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnieP Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 Oh dear! I don't have permissions to put emoticons on the little panel on the left unfortunately, otherwise I would have put the cube pictures on there too, rather than hosting them on my photobucket account. Not sure that Kate can do this either, and I daren't ask James for something so trivial when they are rushed off their feet, so you might like to copy it to your own photo hosting account, for those moments.... Or "favourite" the website they came from: Its a good one! http://bestsmileys.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 That's a brilliant website, Annie - thanks! If I'd known about that, I could have saved a whole sentence. This is what the cat did after it knocked the flowers over - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 I find these ones are good for those ***** moments Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paola Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 I find these ones are good for those ***** moments And very Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 Please can we all adopt Lesleys suggestion, (unless talking about medical/technical chicken stuff): I think using $$%&^&*&** becomes quite helpful on a family forum! Youngsters don't need to know exactly what word we were thinking of and can interpret it in their own way I think it was Shona who had mentioned this somewhere - I just borrowed it, as it seemed a timely place to put it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhapsody Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 sorry to go OT but that website is FAB I partic like this- which covers a multitude of situations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
