5 ms·

This question is sort of the same as asking why the universal translator wasn't able to translate the metaphor language of the Star Trek episode Darmok. Surely

This question is sort of the same as asking why the universal translator wasn't able to translate the metaphor language of the Star Trek episode Darmok. Surely if the metaphor has become the first order meaning then there's no litteral meaning anymore.

qingcharles 1y ago
I guess, so far, the people inventing the words have left the meaning clear with things like "un-alive" which is readable even to someone coming across it for the first time. Your point stands when we start replacing the banned words with things like "suicide" for "donkeyrhubarb" and then the walls really will fall.
- userbinator 1y ago
  This form of obfuscation has actually already occurred over a century ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockney_rhyming_slang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockney_rhyming_slang
  - t-3 1y ago
    Rhyming slang rhymes tho. The recipient can understand what's meant by de-obfuscating in-context. Random strings substituted for $proscribed_word don't work in the same way.
    - waterproof 1y ago
      In Cockney rhyming slang, the rhyming word (which would be easy to reverse engineer) is omitted. So if "stairs" is rhyme-paired with "apples and pears" and then people just use the word "apples" in place of "stairs". "Pears" is omitted in common use so you can't just reverse the rhyme. The example photo on Wikipedia includes the rhyming words but that's not how it would be used IRL.
  - zimpenfish 1y ago
    See also Polari[0] and the Grass Mud Horse Lexicon[1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari [1] https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=6538 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=6538 (CDT links broken, use [2]) [2] https://chinadigitaltimes.net/space/Grass-Mud_Horse_Lexicon_old_introduction https://chinadigitaltimes.net/space/Grass-Mud_Horse_Lexicon_...
  - qingcharles 1y ago
    Shaka!
- mananaysiempre 1y ago
  Aquatic product[1]? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemisms_for_Internet_censorship_in_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemisms_for_Internet_censor...
  - immibis 1y ago
    An English equivalent is "sewer slide".
- marcus_holmes 1y ago
  I've heard "pr0n" used in actual real-world conversation, only slightly ironically.
tjwebbnorfolk 1y ago
The only reason kids started using "unalive" is to get around Youtube filters that disallow the use of the word "kill"
- mattigames 1y ago
  Pretty sure TikTok filters do the same and was also a major influence in using that term
  - qingcharles 1y ago
    They do. I made a joke about cocaine in old Coca-Cola in a text caption† on a video, and while TikTok didn't ban the post per se it refused to allow it on the FYP. † proving that TikTok's system actually analyzes every frame of an uploaded video with OCR of some sort to see what's on there.

qingcharles 1y ago

I guess, so far, the people inventing the words have left the meaning clear with things like "un-alive" which is readable even to someone coming across it for the first time. Your point stands when we start replacing the banned words with things like "suicide" for "donkeyrhubarb" and then the walls really will fall.

userbinator 1y ago
This form of obfuscation has actually already occurred over a century ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockney_rhyming_slang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockney_rhyming_slang
- t-3 1y ago
  Rhyming slang rhymes tho. The recipient can understand what's meant by de-obfuscating in-context. Random strings substituted for $proscribed_word don't work in the same way.
  - waterproof 1y ago
    In Cockney rhyming slang, the rhyming word (which would be easy to reverse engineer) is omitted. So if "stairs" is rhyme-paired with "apples and pears" and then people just use the word "apples" in place of "stairs". "Pears" is omitted in common use so you can't just reverse the rhyme. The example photo on Wikipedia includes the rhyming words but that's not how it would be used IRL.
- zimpenfish 1y ago
  See also Polari[0] and the Grass Mud Horse Lexicon[1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari [1] https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=6538 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=6538 (CDT links broken, use [2]) [2] https://chinadigitaltimes.net/space/Grass-Mud_Horse_Lexicon_old_introduction https://chinadigitaltimes.net/space/Grass-Mud_Horse_Lexicon_...
- qingcharles 1y ago
  Shaka!
mananaysiempre 1y ago
Aquatic product[1]? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemisms_for_Internet_censorship_in_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemisms_for_Internet_censor...
- immibis 1y ago
  An English equivalent is "sewer slide".
marcus_holmes 1y ago
I've heard "pr0n" used in actual real-world conversation, only slightly ironically.

tjwebbnorfolk 1y ago

The only reason kids started using "unalive" is to get around Youtube filters that disallow the use of the word "kill"

mattigames 1y ago
Pretty sure TikTok filters do the same and was also a major influence in using that term
- qingcharles 1y ago
  They do. I made a joke about cocaine in old Coca-Cola in a text caption† on a video, and while TikTok didn't ban the post per se it refused to allow it on the FYP. † proving that TikTok's system actually analyzes every frame of an uploaded video with OCR of some sort to see what's on there.