h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thought I'd drop by here and speak to you regarding the language you used on Gizmo's page. Was all that profanity really necessary? Please bear in mind, you actually have no idea of Gizmo's age. Nor the age(s) of others that you weren't talking to that drop in and end up reading it as well. Besides swearing is a sad crutch people use when they lack sufficient ability to use more descriptive terms when discussing something. I'm not trying to infringe on your freedom of speech, but show some common sense, would you talk that way to your own kids?
~S

Sorry I took so long to get get back to you on this, but I was at work; which actually serves as an illustration of this very subject. So.
Sorry if I offended you or anyone else; my intention was to discuss certain Anglo-Saxon colloquiallisms which are, in fact , in common usage globally.
I write songs. I play word games.
The language you find offensive is VERY much used down the mill, where I work...
No, I don't talk to my kids the same way I talk to the boys at work!
What's interesting here is that these folks come from diverse backgrounds: Portugese, Russian, Indian, Italian....
That's one of the benefits of being Canadian: we're ALL Canadian, work together, etc.; the Common Language is very Common indeed.
A "crutch", as you called it, is a very apt euphemism, but yet a very important tool. Failure to communicate can get someone killed.
ANY form of communication between seven people who's "first language" are seven different languages is valuable and necessary!
(Look, man, if I said, "Get the act of procreation out of there; that conveyor's still energized; you could get yourself kil..!" OH FECES TOO LATE! See my point?)

However, we manage to communicate (rudely) and (hopefully) no one gets hurt.
At Gizmo's page, WE were discussing the vernacular AS SHE IS SPOKE;
It ain't beautiful; but it sure is ugly. It's also real.
If you wanna talk profanity, let's!
We could begin with the phrase, "Ethnic Cleansing", eh?
That is obscene, my freind.
The thing is, I don't curse just for practice; we were talking ABOUT cursing; you can't have a subject without naming it.
Typing F--K isn't a substantive change from typing the entire word, as you know the reader will infer which word you meant, anyhow, no?
Check any other postings I've left, and you'll find the "tone", if you will, is appropriate to the subject and topic at hand...I realise there are scary people out there; I worry too; but c'mon, I'm not one of them.
Again, sorry; my mistake. Let's be friends, please?
PLT, Mick.

No worries, I'm not angry, nor did I take offense by it. I'm no saint nor holier than thou bible thumper, but I do make an effort to keep my postings readable to everyone, expecially since I found out there are so many young people involved with H2G2. My point was in regards to the anonymity of the world wide web and that you may have in fact been dealing with a kid and not another adult. Hence the "Would you talk to your own kids that way?" comment.

However, in regards to (Look, man, if I said, "Get the act of procreation out of there; that conveyor's still energized; you could get yourself kil..!" OH FECES TOO LATE! See my point?) Why waste valuable time injecting curse words at all if someone's life hangs in the balance?

Having worked in Law Enforcement on the Federal level in the US, I and all the officers I've worked with never felt compelled to yell, "Sh*t! Look the f*ck out! He's got an f*cking gun!" We simply yelled, "GUN!" then took the appropriate responce from there. We didn't scream, "Freeze you stupid sh*thead or I'll blow a f*cking hole in your a$$ big enough to d*mn well step through." We yelled, "FREEZE!" "On the ground!" "Hands on your head!" Simple one to four word commands in responce to dangerous situations. So, no I do not see your point. There's just no way you can say that swearing is a necessity.

Lastly, you were commenting on a bookstore that belonged to your great-grandfather, your musical skills and your instruments in responce to what Gizmo had posted on his page. It was not in any way, shape or form a discussion about Anglo Saxon colloquialisms. At least have the courage to stand up and admitt the truth, rather than trying to palm off a not only lame, but completely transparent lie.
~S

OK; really we're just a bunch of ill-educated, uncouth, foul-mouthed mill-pigs! Oh well, facts is facts.
PLT, Mick.

Excuse me butting in on your (albeit very healthy) argument. There are quite a few misunderstandings around on this site, partly due to Transatlantic misinterpretations and partly due to people writing things in a hurry, and partly due to people genuinely just using words differently for whatever reason.

You all sound nice guys, so I wish you more fun with each other on another forum on another subject.

And if both had the same opinion on everything, as W Churchill said, one of you would be superfluous.