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>In this context it doesn’t literally mean banned, it means the book wasn’t allowed somewhere. and what is a good word to use when something isn't allowed some
by john_strinlai 4mo ago
>In this context it doesn’t literally mean banned, it means the book wasn’t allowed somewhere.
and what is a good word to use when something isn't allowed somewhere? perhaps... "banned"?
i dont understand why people think something needs be unavailable globally to be considered "banned".
there's a million examples of the word "banned" being used when X isn't allowed in Y context. people only get touchy about it when it comes to books for some reason.
dang bans people from HN, no one gets upset about the use of the word "ban" there, despite it being a context-specific ban.
- Aurornis 4mo agoThe confusion is because some books were literally banned somewhere, while others were just deemed not to be age-appropriate for young children in a school environment. We don’t call R-rated movies “banned” because we’ve decided not to show it at schools to kids. That’s why it’s confusing when we switch to books and the word “banned” means somebody, somewhere, decided it wasn’t appropriate for kids in their school or something like that.
- john_strinlai 4mo agothe confusion is fake. books are the only time people get fussy about the word. (despite the same conversation occurring every month or two here) dang bans someone from HN? no confusion. alcohol banned in public? no confusion. weapons banned from schools? no confusion. books? oh my god, they aren't banned they just aren't allowed
- Aurornis 4mo ago> dang bans someone from HN? no confusion. alcohol banned in public? no confusion. weapons banned from schools? no confusion. Notice how all of those bans include a specific context? From HN, in schools, in public. No confusion. Notice how the only context in the headline is “in Portugal” but the books are not banned in Portugal? Confusion. It’s really not hard.
- john_strinlai 4mo agolike every post on HN, if you want the context, you should read more than just the headline. its really not hard.
- account42 4mo agoIf someone opened a banned speech museum and then it turns out most of the display is just spam comments from HN it would be pretty silly and rightly criticized.
- wonderwonder 4mo agoIn your opinion is Hustler magazine a banned book becuase its not allowed in schools?
- john_strinlai 4mo agoif i said "hustler is banned from my school", and someone came along and said "it's not banned, it's just not allowed", i would laugh. the word "banned", specifically and only in the context of books, is one of the fucking strangest quirks of HN.
- wonderwonder 4mo agoits not strange. Books represent knowledge and ideas. Ways of thinking. An attempt to ban a book is an attempt to restrict freedom of thought and the exchange of ideas. It has a historical context and a ban is generally considered on a societal level, not building specific. Some books are not allowed in school buildings, they are not banned. Banning books for example has a very different context than banning cocaine. Cocaine use in the United States is banned, Hustler magazine is not. I can swing by the store tomorrow and pick one up legally, I can't get cocaine legally. Restricting Hustler from a school full of kids is not banning it. Thus the quirk. If I don't allow Green Eggs and Ham in my house does it belong in a museam of banned books?
- john_strinlai 4mo ago>a ban is generally considered on a societal level no, its not. >Restricting Hustler from a school full of kids is not banning it. only if you are making up your own definition of "ban". by any dictionary definition, it is completely appropriate to say hustler is banned from the school.
- wonderwonder 4mo agoIf I don't allow Green Eggs and Ham in my house does it belong in a museam of banned books?