7 ms·

Domain names with curse words in them are a big turn off for me. I'm not going to share this on Facebook, forward this to my friends, etc... even though it's a

Domain names with curse words in them are a big turn off for me. I'm not going to share this on Facebook, forward this to my friends, etc... even though it's a pretty cool idea. Other than the domain name, it seems like there's an incentive to post if you want a place identified, but little incentive to identify places. Something like badges ("world traveler", "Canada expert", etc.) or a wall-of-fame could be good incentives.

breckinloggins 15y ago
Agreed, though I like the humor. How about having a domain alias that's a bit more polite and, when the site detects that you've come via that domain, tones down the language on the site? Also, could it use something like TinEye to try and find probable matches with geotags?
18pfsmt 15y ago
Being offended by words deemed arbitrarily offensive by society doesn't seem logical to me. I realize that within professional circles this might be an issue, but I can't find a reason within personal circles unless we are talking about when interacting with children. I apologize, but your comment comes off as quite prudish, and I think getting hung up on a name is shortsighted.
- shin_lao 15y ago
  I also dislike the use of curse words in some contexts, and that is a context where I find it inappropriate. Sorry if it sounds illogical to you, but you must accept people's sensitivity might be different from yours.
  - 18pfsmt 15y ago
    I guess my point was that the response appears emotional (as can be seen from the mentioning of sensitivity; sensitivity is emotional in nature by definition, I believe). and not logical. When I was about 11 years old in the 80s, my brother and I invented words to use as our own 'bad' words with similar phonetics to popular 'bad' words because our father had such an issue with our usage of such vocabulary. While nostalgic at this point, it seems like a waste of time to spend any effort on such a thing in retrospect. Edit: Grammar and clarity.
- Aloisius 15y ago
  I'm not offended, but I do find it crude and unprofessional. And it really doesn't matter if it is logical. It is reality and if you want users, you have to work the existing system.
- yock 15y ago
  There are generally legitimate reasons for various words to be regarded as crude or offensive. Often enough that is the very intention behind a word. Not being offended by them, or at least claiming so, is not a mark of enlightenment. Nor is being offended by them something for which to be shamed. I'm with the OP, domains with foul language don't hit my sharing feeds and I'm not likely to make it a habit of frequenting the site.
  - 18pfsmt 15y ago
    I'm with the OP, domains with foul language don't hit my sharing feeds and I'm not likely to make it a habit of frequenting the site. While that may be true for you, my point is that I believe that to be a shortsighted view. It will almost certainly reduce your chances of finding some interesting material. Maybe the trade-off doesn't matter to you, and I certainly can appreciate that, but a trade-off is being made.
- xiaoma 15y ago
  From a logical standpoint it still doesn't make any sense. Do the pictures have anything to do with fucking? No, they don't. Is there anything particularly curse-worthy or even startling about them? Nope. They're a bunch of random boring places. Putting "fuck" in the domain name adds nothing and it makes me less likely to share links with some people who's sensibilities matter to me. My grandmother is one such person. She's one of the few people I'm close to that would really appreciate the functionality of this site, but it's just not the kind of domain name she'd be comfortable going to.
  - gnaritas 15y ago
    The word fuck doesn't always refer to fucking, it's a generic adjective that adds emphasis to anything and is common language for a huge part of the population. Most people don't even realize when they curse because words are words. You're being prude!
    - gojomo 15y ago
      You're being prude! You're being obtuse. The taboo around certain words in certain contexts is a consensus that serves a purpose. You can use them and receive certain extra attention, but also lose other people to distraction. Like others, I have no problem with using this myself, but wouldn't pass it on to a general audience. If I were to do so, I would signal that I am careless and casual with the use of the word 'fuck', when it is too important of a word to devalue so. If the creator's goal is to limit adoption to a certain audience, the use of 'fuck' is a good idea. If they want wider adoption, it isn't. Both are valid choices.
      - gnaritas 15y ago
        > The taboo around certain words in certain contexts is a consensus that serves a purpose. You can use them and receive certain extra attention, but also lose other people to distraction. Sure, and in this case, good riddance to them. Anyone who avoids sharing this app because of the word fuck has zero sense of humor and isn't the target audience. Anyone who critiques it for the word fuck, isn't the fucking target audience. There is nothing wrong with the word fuck in non fucking formal circumstances, even to a general audience. There are times not to use the word fuck; this isn't fucking one of them.
- lpolovets 15y ago
  My comment does say something about me, but part of the problem is not just what I think, but what I predict my friends would think. I would not share something on Facebook if I expected it to offend 20-30% of my friends. There are plenty of uses of the f-word that I find funny, witty, or appropriate, but this is simply not one of them. (NSFW humor: http://justin.justnet.com.au/rudestuff/uses-of-the-word-fuck.html http://justin.justnet.com.au/rudestuff/uses-of-the-word-fuck...)
  - 18pfsmt 15y ago
    So, your point is that your decisions are driven by what your friends might think, rather than what _you_ think?
    - lpolovets 15y ago
      When it comes to sharing things with my friends en masse? Definitely.
    - waterlesscloud 15y ago
      Yes, since the entire point of sharing something with them would be that I think it's something they might enjoy. It would be completely valid in this case to consider what they might think.
      - 18pfsmt 15y ago
        Interesting. My perspective is that I share things my friends and family might find useful, but potential for enjoyment is not a factor.
- scott_s 15y ago
  Logic has nothing to do with it. People have emotional responses to certain words. Arguing that it's not a "logical" reaction misses the point.
mtogo 15y ago
Domain names with curse words in them are a big turn off for me. I think that's more of an issue with yourself than it is with the domain name. I would venture to guess that most people on HN are not offended by arbitrary words and would be fine sharing this with their friends. There's no problem with being offended by swear words, but it's not a problem with the app either.
- waterlesscloud 15y ago
  It's going to limit its spread. I personally don't have a problem with it (though I think it's somewhat immature in this context), but I'm also not going to share it on social networks as I might have otherwise done.
  - gnaritas 15y ago
    Then perhaps you aren't the target audience. I wouldn't ever let a curse word stop me from sharing something, it may even encourage it!
- synnik 15y ago
  But who are you targeting as your audience? Just HN? Really?? The comments clearly show that even a portion of HN is offended. And doesn't every single startup want the largest audience possible? It seems horribly short-sighted to make decisions based on what HN thinks.
  - mtogo 15y ago
    But who are you targeting as your audience? Just HN? Really?? This isn't my project, i hadn't even heard of it until it was posted today. The comments clearly show that even a portion of HN is offended. And doesn't every single startup want the largest audience possible? A portion of people are going to be offended at everything. Frankly, if i was starting a company it'd be nice to get rid of the easily offended people right off the bat, as they're the biggest complainers. And no, you don't want the largest audience. A smaller but loyal audience is going to do a company more good in the long run, and the word 'fuck' helps weed out the non-loyal, easily offended people that aren't going to do a startup any good. Finally, i used HN as an example. You can use all the people in the first world if you'd like, and i'd still make an educated guess that a tiny portion of them have so thin a skin as to be offended by a word in a domain name.
mikhael 15y ago
The problem is that the "fuck" here really has nothing to do with the app. It would add some amount of shock and emphasis to the question ("where is this?") but there is nothing shocking or surprising about the images, so it's just oddly out of place.
- RobAtticus 15y ago
  I think it's to convey exasperation. Like somebody has been looking all over for info but cant find it, so they finally get fed up and decide to crowd source the answer.
rdl 15y ago
I don't generally (fucking :) care about curse words, but I agree it could limit adoption. They should at least have a secondary url like "wheretfisthis.com" (available; almost grabbed it for them) or wherethefsckisthis.com and censor the titles; same userbase, same pics, just a different presentation. Also probably would help if they want to do an iOS app. Edgy is useful too, so they should keep the current branding too.
- rkalla 15y ago
  I registered "upmyownass.com" years ago for a comedy writing site. Everyone I told about it assumed it was hardcore gay porn. Mom: "What... what kinds of things do you put on that site?" Me: "Funny stuff" Mom: "Oh... like gross-funny?" Me: "Oh god, no no... funny articles, I write sarcastic articles." Mom: "We love you no matter what" Me: <appropriate meme-face here>
  - albertzeyer 15y ago
    'Where the fuck is this' cannot really be misunderstood in such a way, though. :)
- Finbarr 15y ago
  Really like the concept, but I think the name will definitely hinder growth. There are plenty of .coms available that perfectly describe the purpose of the app without profanity.
MostAwesomeDude 15y ago
As somebody that routinely carries around a netbook with a big "FREE SOFTWARE FUCK YEAH" sticker on it, I feel obligated to say: I completely and totally understand your sentiment but must respectfully disagree with your opinion in an explicit but reasonable fashion.
gnoupi 15y ago
Besides, my company for example filters such words in URLs (and logs any such attempt), so I wouldn't be able to see this site from there with such a name.

breckinloggins 15y ago

Agreed, though I like the humor. How about having a domain alias that's a bit more polite and, when the site detects that you've come via that domain, tones down the language on the site? Also, could it use something like TinEye to try and find probable matches with geotags?

18pfsmt 15y ago

Being offended by words deemed arbitrarily offensive by society doesn't seem logical to me. I realize that within professional circles this might be an issue, but I can't find a reason within personal circles unless we are talking about when interacting with children. I apologize, but your comment comes off as quite prudish, and I think getting hung up on a name is shortsighted.

shin_lao 15y ago
I also dislike the use of curse words in some contexts, and that is a context where I find it inappropriate. Sorry if it sounds illogical to you, but you must accept people's sensitivity might be different from yours.
- 18pfsmt 15y ago
  I guess my point was that the response appears emotional (as can be seen from the mentioning of sensitivity; sensitivity is emotional in nature by definition, I believe). and not logical. When I was about 11 years old in the 80s, my brother and I invented words to use as our own 'bad' words with similar phonetics to popular 'bad' words because our father had such an issue with our usage of such vocabulary. While nostalgic at this point, it seems like a waste of time to spend any effort on such a thing in retrospect. Edit: Grammar and clarity.
Aloisius 15y ago
I'm not offended, but I do find it crude and unprofessional. And it really doesn't matter if it is logical. It is reality and if you want users, you have to work the existing system.
yock 15y ago
There are generally legitimate reasons for various words to be regarded as crude or offensive. Often enough that is the very intention behind a word. Not being offended by them, or at least claiming so, is not a mark of enlightenment. Nor is being offended by them something for which to be shamed. I'm with the OP, domains with foul language don't hit my sharing feeds and I'm not likely to make it a habit of frequenting the site.
- 18pfsmt 15y ago
  I'm with the OP, domains with foul language don't hit my sharing feeds and I'm not likely to make it a habit of frequenting the site. While that may be true for you, my point is that I believe that to be a shortsighted view. It will almost certainly reduce your chances of finding some interesting material. Maybe the trade-off doesn't matter to you, and I certainly can appreciate that, but a trade-off is being made.
xiaoma 15y ago
From a logical standpoint it still doesn't make any sense. Do the pictures have anything to do with fucking? No, they don't. Is there anything particularly curse-worthy or even startling about them? Nope. They're a bunch of random boring places. Putting "fuck" in the domain name adds nothing and it makes me less likely to share links with some people who's sensibilities matter to me. My grandmother is one such person. She's one of the few people I'm close to that would really appreciate the functionality of this site, but it's just not the kind of domain name she'd be comfortable going to.
- gnaritas 15y ago
  The word fuck doesn't always refer to fucking, it's a generic adjective that adds emphasis to anything and is common language for a huge part of the population. Most people don't even realize when they curse because words are words. You're being prude!
  - gojomo 15y ago
    You're being prude! You're being obtuse. The taboo around certain words in certain contexts is a consensus that serves a purpose. You can use them and receive certain extra attention, but also lose other people to distraction. Like others, I have no problem with using this myself, but wouldn't pass it on to a general audience. If I were to do so, I would signal that I am careless and casual with the use of the word 'fuck', when it is too important of a word to devalue so. If the creator's goal is to limit adoption to a certain audience, the use of 'fuck' is a good idea. If they want wider adoption, it isn't. Both are valid choices.
    - gnaritas 15y ago
      > The taboo around certain words in certain contexts is a consensus that serves a purpose. You can use them and receive certain extra attention, but also lose other people to distraction. Sure, and in this case, good riddance to them. Anyone who avoids sharing this app because of the word fuck has zero sense of humor and isn't the target audience. Anyone who critiques it for the word fuck, isn't the fucking target audience. There is nothing wrong with the word fuck in non fucking formal circumstances, even to a general audience. There are times not to use the word fuck; this isn't fucking one of them.
lpolovets 15y ago
My comment does say something about me, but part of the problem is not just what I think, but what I predict my friends would think. I would not share something on Facebook if I expected it to offend 20-30% of my friends. There are plenty of uses of the f-word that I find funny, witty, or appropriate, but this is simply not one of them. (NSFW humor: http://justin.justnet.com.au/rudestuff/uses-of-the-word-fuck.html http://justin.justnet.com.au/rudestuff/uses-of-the-word-fuck...)
- 18pfsmt 15y ago
  So, your point is that your decisions are driven by what your friends might think, rather than what _you_ think?
  - lpolovets 15y ago
    When it comes to sharing things with my friends en masse? Definitely.
  - waterlesscloud 15y ago
    Yes, since the entire point of sharing something with them would be that I think it's something they might enjoy. It would be completely valid in this case to consider what they might think.
    - 18pfsmt 15y ago
      Interesting. My perspective is that I share things my friends and family might find useful, but potential for enjoyment is not a factor.
scott_s 15y ago
Logic has nothing to do with it. People have emotional responses to certain words. Arguing that it's not a "logical" reaction misses the point.

mtogo 15y ago

Domain names with curse words in them are a big turn off for me. I think that's more of an issue with yourself than it is with the domain name. I would venture to guess that most people on HN are not offended by arbitrary words and would be fine sharing this with their friends. There's no problem with being offended by swear words, but it's not a problem with the app either.

waterlesscloud 15y ago
It's going to limit its spread. I personally don't have a problem with it (though I think it's somewhat immature in this context), but I'm also not going to share it on social networks as I might have otherwise done.
- gnaritas 15y ago
  Then perhaps you aren't the target audience. I wouldn't ever let a curse word stop me from sharing something, it may even encourage it!
synnik 15y ago
But who are you targeting as your audience? Just HN? Really?? The comments clearly show that even a portion of HN is offended. And doesn't every single startup want the largest audience possible? It seems horribly short-sighted to make decisions based on what HN thinks.
- mtogo 15y ago
  But who are you targeting as your audience? Just HN? Really?? This isn't my project, i hadn't even heard of it until it was posted today. The comments clearly show that even a portion of HN is offended. And doesn't every single startup want the largest audience possible? A portion of people are going to be offended at everything. Frankly, if i was starting a company it'd be nice to get rid of the easily offended people right off the bat, as they're the biggest complainers. And no, you don't want the largest audience. A smaller but loyal audience is going to do a company more good in the long run, and the word 'fuck' helps weed out the non-loyal, easily offended people that aren't going to do a startup any good. Finally, i used HN as an example. You can use all the people in the first world if you'd like, and i'd still make an educated guess that a tiny portion of them have so thin a skin as to be offended by a word in a domain name.

mikhael 15y ago

The problem is that the "fuck" here really has nothing to do with the app. It would add some amount of shock and emphasis to the question ("where is this?") but there is nothing shocking or surprising about the images, so it's just oddly out of place.

RobAtticus 15y ago
I think it's to convey exasperation. Like somebody has been looking all over for info but cant find it, so they finally get fed up and decide to crowd source the answer.

rdl 15y ago

I don't generally (fucking :) care about curse words, but I agree it could limit adoption. They should at least have a secondary url like "wheretfisthis.com" (available; almost grabbed it for them) or wherethefsckisthis.com and censor the titles; same userbase, same pics, just a different presentation. Also probably would help if they want to do an iOS app. Edgy is useful too, so they should keep the current branding too.

rkalla 15y ago
I registered "upmyownass.com" years ago for a comedy writing site. Everyone I told about it assumed it was hardcore gay porn. Mom: "What... what kinds of things do you put on that site?" Me: "Funny stuff" Mom: "Oh... like gross-funny?" Me: "Oh god, no no... funny articles, I write sarcastic articles." Mom: "We love you no matter what" Me: <appropriate meme-face here>
- albertzeyer 15y ago
  'Where the fuck is this' cannot really be misunderstood in such a way, though. :)
Finbarr 15y ago
Really like the concept, but I think the name will definitely hinder growth. There are plenty of .coms available that perfectly describe the purpose of the app without profanity.

MostAwesomeDude 15y ago

As somebody that routinely carries around a netbook with a big "FREE SOFTWARE FUCK YEAH" sticker on it, I feel obligated to say: I completely and totally understand your sentiment but must respectfully disagree with your opinion in an explicit but reasonable fashion.

gnoupi 15y ago

Besides, my company for example filters such words in URLs (and logs any such attempt), so I wouldn't be able to see this site from there with such a name.