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Please don't put words in my mouth. Some words are offensive and people should not use them. However, other words aren't offensive, have never been before, an

Please don't put words in my mouth. Some words are offensive and people should not use them. However, other words aren't offensive, have never been before, and don't need to become so. Intention is everything. If there is some word, and literally nobody has ever used it from a place of hate, then taking offense at that word is wrong and a mental pathology. I totally agree with you about words used by some to express hate and other nasty intentions. So in your example, 'tr$&%y' is a nasty slur some people use. Everyone should stop saying 'tr$&%y'! I'm very much NOT saying that an innocent person can say 'tr$&%y'. I am saying that if you have a word like 'boogyman', what is the point of trying to issue some kind of warning that you should really say 'boogyperson'? Are there actually some kind of non-male boogy's that we are somehow excluding?

TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
> Some words are offensive and people should not use them. > However, other words aren't offensive, have never been before, and don't need to become so. Not all the words `alex` deals with are offensive, though, but inconsiderate in other ways. I'm not sure if you're saying they all are supposed to be offensive, but I'm assuming you are. Also, which words are you referring to which aren't offensive? It's all very well talking in the abstract, but without actually defining this you're making statements that are essentially all things to all people. > Intention is everything. Intention does matter somewhat, but only somewhat. If you repeatedly use offensive language, without good reason, after being warned about its effects, perhaps you should stop. And unintentional effects, while you didn't intend them, are still very much real and you should still acknowledge them. People who feel they are doing the right thing can still cause harm. That they felt it was right doesn't completely absolve them. Edit: By the way, are you sure expanding your comments after they've been replied to is a good idea? This makes it look like the people who've replied to you have ignored points you've made.
DanBC 11y ago
> Intention is everything. If there is some word, and literally nobody has ever used it from a place of hate, then taking offense at that word is wrong and a mental pathology. Do you have any examples from the submitted project?
- justin_vanw 11y ago
  That was an example from the project. >>> 1:5-1:14 warning `boogeyman` may be insensitive, use `boogey` instead
  - DanBC 11y ago
    Wait, you made all those posts just because of that one fucking word?
    - 13thLetter 11y ago
      The inclusion of that word is extremely telling. Someone who thinks the word "boogeyman" is exclusionary or otherwise harmful is either completely unfamiliar with normal English usage, is not quite right in the head, or is attempting to enforce some kind of fringe agenda. Whichever one it is, they are not someone you want to hand control of your language over to.
      - DanBC 11y ago
        You realise this project just flags things that you might want to think about? You're not handing control over to anyone. You can just ignore the flags.
        13thLetter 11y ago
        Well, I can also just not use the software at all, if it's written by someone so goofy that they think "boogeyman" is an offensive word. Or at least, I can avoid using the software until Github or Reddit or somebody gets bullied into adding it to their site backend. Then things get awkward.
      - deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]
  - TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
    As I've pointed out in other places, the thing about that word/words like it which would make it/them 'inconsiderate' is not offense, so it's an invalid example.

TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago

> Some words are offensive and people should not use them. > However, other words aren't offensive, have never been before, and don't need to become so. Not all the words `alex` deals with are offensive, though, but inconsiderate in other ways. I'm not sure if you're saying they all are supposed to be offensive, but I'm assuming you are. Also, which words are you referring to which aren't offensive? It's all very well talking in the abstract, but without actually defining this you're making statements that are essentially all things to all people. > Intention is everything. Intention does matter somewhat, but only somewhat. If you repeatedly use offensive language, without good reason, after being warned about its effects, perhaps you should stop. And unintentional effects, while you didn't intend them, are still very much real and you should still acknowledge them. People who feel they are doing the right thing can still cause harm. That they felt it was right doesn't completely absolve them. Edit: By the way, are you sure expanding your comments after they've been replied to is a good idea? This makes it look like the people who've replied to you have ignored points you've made.

DanBC 11y ago

> Intention is everything. If there is some word, and literally nobody has ever used it from a place of hate, then taking offense at that word is wrong and a mental pathology. Do you have any examples from the submitted project?

justin_vanw 11y ago
That was an example from the project. >>> 1:5-1:14 warning `boogeyman` may be insensitive, use `boogey` instead
- DanBC 11y ago
  Wait, you made all those posts just because of that one fucking word?
  - 13thLetter 11y ago
    The inclusion of that word is extremely telling. Someone who thinks the word "boogeyman" is exclusionary or otherwise harmful is either completely unfamiliar with normal English usage, is not quite right in the head, or is attempting to enforce some kind of fringe agenda. Whichever one it is, they are not someone you want to hand control of your language over to.
    - DanBC 11y ago
      You realise this project just flags things that you might want to think about? You're not handing control over to anyone. You can just ignore the flags.
      - 13thLetter 11y ago
        Well, I can also just not use the software at all, if it's written by someone so goofy that they think "boogeyman" is an offensive word. Or at least, I can avoid using the software until Github or Reddit or somebody gets bullied into adding it to their site backend. Then things get awkward.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
- TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
  As I've pointed out in other places, the thing about that word/words like it which would make it/them 'inconsiderate' is not offense, so it's an invalid example.