The first word in the title of a thread on a current "NEWS" posting is a VERY common and totally non-offensive expression in Australia, i.e.. "PI*SED". It appears regularly in newspaper articles in the MOST conservative broadsheets here. It may it seems have a different meaning in Paducah, or Wheeling W.Va. But fanny and rooting and dozens of other words have entirely different meanings here, in NZ, and in the UK, to what they do it the USA.

Without in any way trying to poke fun at our host here, his first name as James and others not resident in the USA will doubtless confirm, has a TOTALLY different meaning and connotation in the rest of the English speaking world.

The number of males christened in Australia during the past 20 years with the first name RANDY would be nil is my best guess. That kid would spend the rest of his life here fending off terrible jokes and far worse.

The English language changes substantially across the globe. There are words in ALL English speaking countries that are highly inappropriate on a board like this, and I for one trust we never see them here. I cannot imagine "The Times" using the word cr*p and ar*se, but both are fine by UBB on this board.

The latter word was used without ANY comment by a well known board regular in the last week, to my VERY great surprise. Even more surprising was it was used in a thread started by Catman on Sept 1st, and Catman posted soon after it, and he himself made no comment, so it seems cr*p typed in full is far less offensive than pis*ed?

I would never personally use "Pis*ed" in a thread title, but it did not/does not particularly offend me. Now it has been raised it may offend some, I would not use it in a thread body. But I most strongly disagree with Catman that this word could ever in the year 2000 be regarded as "profanity"!

I suspect it can't be terribly offensive in common useage in the USA, as Whoopi Goldberg used in on prime time network TV in Feb, at the Academy Awards. "The Age" is about as radical as the New York Times! This is a direct and exact quote:


"Naomi: a ..... of a role model
WHOOPI GOLDBERG said it best while hosting an Academy Awards ceremony: ``What is it about supermodels? Ten
thousand an hour and they still look pissed off." And if there is ever an Oscar presented for the Most Pissed Off
Supermodel, Whoopi won't even ...
The Age, Feb 2000"


Despite someone asserting something to the contrary a few days ago, I defy ANYONE to post here one widely recognised offensive word used by me in a post on these boards. I have many times asked posters to consider editing cr*p and ar*e etc and other similar words from their posts.

I again do not feel they are overly offensive, but there are other ways to tell the story without them. Not everyone may agree with what I say, or how I say it, or to whom on these boards (ain't that the truth!) but you will NOT ever see me using gutter language to do it.

The UA board affectionately refers to their budget priced carrier as the UA Sh!ttle or Sh*ttle. I have never seen anyone object to this use. Does anyone here?

The Whoopi Goldberg Academy Award word may bother Catman, and as he says, it is his personal view only and like Voltaire, I will fight for his right to express it and hold it, whilst not agreeing with him. Censorship of the written word bothers me if taken to any extreme, but commonly accepted offensive words should of course be avoided on a civilised board like FlyerTalk and edited out of courtesy if objected to by a core of those on any thread. (IMHO of course!)

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~ Glen ~




[This message has been edited by ozstamps (edited 09-05-2000).]