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This is all bullshit anyway. A word is just a word and whenever it insults somebody it's their own problem. I would rather change my actual name to Fuck if I wa

This is all bullshit anyway. A word is just a word and whenever it insults somebody it's their own problem. I would rather change my actual name to Fuck if I wasn't too lazy to deal with problems like that. I once read a story of a Vietnamese man named Hui. He had to go to the court to protect his right to be named this way in Ukraine where the word is used widely and has only one meaning - a dick.

reaperducer 7y ago
A word is just a word and whenever it insults somebody it's their own problem. There was a study linked to on HN a couple of years ago that found that babies recognize swear words even before they have language skills, and that people can sometimes recognize swear words in languages they don't speak. It has to do with the tone and sharpness of the sounds.
- qwerty456127 7y ago
  Does this mean a baby, whose father's name is Dick would feel bad and/or get mentally traumatized?
  - lostlogin 7y ago
    > It has to do with the tone and sharpness of the sounds.
  - afandian 7y ago
    Precisely the opposite.
  - michaelmrose 7y ago
    Babies are recognizing the act of swearing at someone rather than the particular word being spoken. The baby wouldn't experience the father's name as a swear word unless the conversation was for example about the dicks new girlfriend and his wife's assessment of the matter. Dick vs DIIIIIIICK
cortesoft 7y ago
This is a nonsensical argument. A word has meaning, which is why it is a word and not a sound. If I yell insults at you, you are saying that doesn't mean anything? And if you get insulted, it is your own fault? No, words have meaning based on a common understanding between the person saying the word and the person hearing the word. If I insult you and you understand it, it is me who did the insulting, it is not 'your problem' You should try this argument out in court: "No, your honor... I can't be guilty of threatening to kill someone.. sure I said, 'I am going to kill you tomorrow at 5pm', but those were just words! If the person felt threatened, that is on them!"
- manigandham 7y ago
  > "And if you get insulted, it is your own fault" Yes. It's just sounds that you hear, then your brain recognizes and turns them into words with meaning. How you react to the meaning is entirely within your consciousness. This is how you might pick up words from languages you don't know if the sounds are similar, yet you wouldn't claim to be insulted by them. > "If the person felt threatened, that is on them"" Yes, your feelings are your own, nobody else controls them. That's one of the fundamentals of free speech. There are some very limited situations (like threats) where it's overruled, not because of your feelings but because of the intentions being forecast. Even then, there's a very high bar to prove any criminal intent there.
  - saagarjha 7y ago
    > How you react to the meaning is entirely within your consciousness. Considering that it is often very easy to guess how people will “react to the meaning” of the sounds you make, it’s often considered polite to refrain from making them when they would probably offend.
    - manigandham 7y ago
      Sure, but politeness is besides the point. It doesn't change the fact that your reaction is still your responsibility.
- 7y ago
gridlockd 7y ago
> A word is just a word and whenever it insults somebody it's their own problem. That's what you think the world should be like, not the way it is. If your name is Adolfhitler Smith, a perfectly legal name in the US, then you will have trouble getting hired. That's a made up example, but there's evidence[1] that unusual (not necessarily obscene) names will lead to less success in job applications. If you have a "bad" name, it's your problem well before anyone else's. [1] https://www.nber.org/digest/sep03/w9873.html https://www.nber.org/digest/sep03/w9873.html
gdy 7y ago
"A word is just a word" Good luck using the N-word in the US.
- kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
  Dave Chapelle's Mark Twain prize show on PBS was littered with N and F bombs. Only Fuck was censored.
  - rjeli 7y ago
    Not sure if you are aware but Chapelle is black
    - homonculus1 7y ago
      Does the skin color of the person vibrating the air impart some intrinsic quality to it? The point of the comment above is that the meaning is informed by the listener, you can import all the traumas and neuroses of those around you or you can listen mindfully and limit the impact to whatever is the speaker's intent and capacity to harm you.
      - gdy 7y ago
        In the historical context, where in the US people with white skin had people with black skin as slaves, yes, it obviously does.

reaperducer 7y ago

A word is just a word and whenever it insults somebody it's their own problem. There was a study linked to on HN a couple of years ago that found that babies recognize swear words even before they have language skills, and that people can sometimes recognize swear words in languages they don't speak. It has to do with the tone and sharpness of the sounds.

qwerty456127 7y ago
Does this mean a baby, whose father's name is Dick would feel bad and/or get mentally traumatized?
- lostlogin 7y ago
  > It has to do with the tone and sharpness of the sounds.
- afandian 7y ago
  Precisely the opposite.
- michaelmrose 7y ago
  Babies are recognizing the act of swearing at someone rather than the particular word being spoken. The baby wouldn't experience the father's name as a swear word unless the conversation was for example about the dicks new girlfriend and his wife's assessment of the matter. Dick vs DIIIIIIICK

cortesoft 7y ago

This is a nonsensical argument. A word has meaning, which is why it is a word and not a sound. If I yell insults at you, you are saying that doesn't mean anything? And if you get insulted, it is your own fault? No, words have meaning based on a common understanding between the person saying the word and the person hearing the word. If I insult you and you understand it, it is me who did the insulting, it is not 'your problem' You should try this argument out in court: "No, your honor... I can't be guilty of threatening to kill someone.. sure I said, 'I am going to kill you tomorrow at 5pm', but those were just words! If the person felt threatened, that is on them!"

manigandham 7y ago
> "And if you get insulted, it is your own fault" Yes. It's just sounds that you hear, then your brain recognizes and turns them into words with meaning. How you react to the meaning is entirely within your consciousness. This is how you might pick up words from languages you don't know if the sounds are similar, yet you wouldn't claim to be insulted by them. > "If the person felt threatened, that is on them"" Yes, your feelings are your own, nobody else controls them. That's one of the fundamentals of free speech. There are some very limited situations (like threats) where it's overruled, not because of your feelings but because of the intentions being forecast. Even then, there's a very high bar to prove any criminal intent there.
- saagarjha 7y ago
  > How you react to the meaning is entirely within your consciousness. Considering that it is often very easy to guess how people will “react to the meaning” of the sounds you make, it’s often considered polite to refrain from making them when they would probably offend.
  - manigandham 7y ago
    Sure, but politeness is besides the point. It doesn't change the fact that your reaction is still your responsibility.
7y ago

gridlockd 7y ago

> A word is just a word and whenever it insults somebody it's their own problem. That's what you think the world should be like, not the way it is. If your name is Adolfhitler Smith, a perfectly legal name in the US, then you will have trouble getting hired. That's a made up example, but there's evidence[1] that unusual (not necessarily obscene) names will lead to less success in job applications. If you have a "bad" name, it's your problem well before anyone else's. [1] https://www.nber.org/digest/sep03/w9873.html https://www.nber.org/digest/sep03/w9873.html

gdy 7y ago

"A word is just a word" Good luck using the N-word in the US.

kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
Dave Chapelle's Mark Twain prize show on PBS was littered with N and F bombs. Only Fuck was censored.
- rjeli 7y ago
  Not sure if you are aware but Chapelle is black
  - homonculus1 7y ago
    Does the skin color of the person vibrating the air impart some intrinsic quality to it? The point of the comment above is that the meaning is informed by the listener, you can import all the traumas and neuroses of those around you or you can listen mindfully and limit the impact to whatever is the speaker's intent and capacity to harm you.
    - gdy 7y ago
      In the historical context, where in the US people with white skin had people with black skin as slaves, yes, it obviously does.