----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Baker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Brin-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, April 01, 2002 9:57 AM Subject: Re: Civility request
> John Giorgis said: > > > In the meantime, the Etiquette Guidelines are the Guidelines for the > > List. > > I've just been thinking about an interesting discussion with my friend > Kate, who is American. She told me that I'd been swearing a lot recently > and I became very puzzled because I swear only very, very rarely. > Eventually it emerged that she considered the word "damn" to be a > profanity and that this classification would be generally accepted in > the US (or at least among her peers and family). I very much doubt that > "damn" would be considered swearing by most people in the UK, and I was > quite surprised by this cultural variation. > > Would saying "damn" be acceptable on Brin-L? Where is the boundary? > > Rich, who is, for once, not being facetious. > Damn is pretty much accepted and Piss wont raise too many eyebrows. I think the line falls somewhere just before Sh!t which is currently just behind F^ck for most of the list. Of course an exceptionally creative use of Sh!t or F^ck might be perfectly acceptable if enough people are suitably impressed. (Except John of course, who will object no matter what). :-) Its a funny thing. Belief in "bad" words is something very much like voodoo, it only works if your belief gives it power. On the other hand.........use of profanity to magnify or intensify a statement is a sign that one has a poor grip on ones vocabulary or talks faster than one can think. xponent Copulating And Defacating Words As No Nos Maru rob
