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

<>

Aaaah - like a word that isn't actually a word but if someone pronounces it a certain way it sounds a bit like a phrase in common useage but if it's pronounced another way it sounds like a name?

Yup, moderation is so-ooo much clearer now

"Master B, the internet should reflect real life"

Should it? My experience is that the two are very different. If I thought the internet reflected real life, I'd go looking for that 'Jenny from Worcester' who keeps messaging me and asking if I wanted a blow job.

Besides, I hear rude words a lot more in real life than I do on the Internet.

B

Yeah but oyu are a teacher and work with the same kids we have to protect from swearing!

FB

Tsk. The state of schools nowadays...

I must share with you something a friend said yesterday. She works for a Housing Assoiciation near Glasgow and is involved with an urban regeneration scheme which includes allotments and chickens.

'It's like River Cottage with swearing.'

"Yup, moderation is so-ooo much clearer now"

The thing is you can have either black-and-white moderation or context sensitive moderation. You don't get to have both.

Sho asked me something about 40 posts back, and having read all that has occurred since she wrote - has the question been answered already?

"ie are we allowed to discuss things?" Hey this is h2g2, we're not going to ever stop discussing things.

I can see a compromise, though, Mr D. There can be a 'Presumption of Taboo' (or of Mildness). Something like the N-word might be presumed always to be taboo....although anyone with an imagination can think of examples where it could be argued to be OK in context. However...you'd probably want an automated warning system.

A neutral world like 'Flange' might be considered to almost always be OK. Someone might have a merry old time with it, but the chances are so remote that the Mods needn't worry.

What I'm suggesting is that no kittens will die if the illegitimate word is moved from the taboo list and edged towards OK.

I just wanted to check, Lanza, if asking Ed to mail was an official position/policy on this kind of question rather than throwing the floor open to h2g2er.

I see I thought it was because Ed had a particular word stuck in the auto-fail. It appears not, in hindsight. I wanted to know what the word was, at the time as I thought he was not being allowed to post it here.

I mean, on noesis, we weren't allowed to pussy-foot around or say Ho! Ho! Ho! they all came out ~censored~ which to my mind made everything sound a lot worse than it could possibly have been. You had no warning, as we do - just straight into the auto-correct. I thought that was a lot worse than the h2g2 system.

I was once on a site that changed 'crap' to poo. And missed off a space at the end, so you might end up with a pooday instead of a crap day. I mean, who can crap offend?

The wod was bastard. It failed then. Don't know why it isn't now.


Ooh! Might someone be listening?

Is it wrong that I'm still laughing at the word 'flange'?

B

When you say "it failed" do you mean it was hidden or that you simply couldn't post it? There's an important difference there.

"Is it wrong that I'm still laughing at the word 'flange'"

Depends, if he's trying to use a metric flange on an imperial fitting it is probably worth laughing at.

Couldn't post, Mr D.

Ah, okay then... carry on.

Why would 'crap' be moderated? Someone objects to gambling?

Mine went through with no problem. Maybe I spelt it wrong?