It’s been a rough few days. Emotions are high, people have spent lots of time on the site, and some of us have gotten on each others nerves a bit.
Perhaps as a result, the language standards have dropped significantly. Plenty of disguised curses, and even some spelled completely.
I don’t know what the BMG language standard is, but I do know that in the past the site has been quite family friendly. Please reflect on your own posting style, and if you can omit that four letter nasty, consider doing so.
Please share widely!
…that you only say that because you supported Deval in the primary. If you were for Gabrieli or Reilly — or are anything less than enamored with Deval right now — you learned long ago what can be said round these parts.
over time around here, no question about that. I just happened to notice multiple potty words in a short span yesterday, and when I looked further, found some more.
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This is not to say I don’t curse — I do all the time, far too often. But, when you write you have a bit more control, and so exercising that control is something I hope we try to do around here.
I give most everyone a pass yesterday — that’s why I didnt write anything. If my right to marry were being beaten back with a combination of bigotry and sneaky parliamentary tactics, I’d be slingin’ around the profanity, too. To start with. So no harm there.
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I just hope passions have cooled, and that nobody was driven into the arms of the other side by said attitude.
I had one fellow comment poster dancing on the tables a little early, and warned her – Abuse of process will happen to YOU someday. The second vote began right in the middle of her nyah-nyah. After that, she used a few explatives, but I really didn’t blame her.
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By and large, BMG is the most civil and intelligent forum around. Even when Dan Kennedy gets mad! ;~)
on that one. There are some mother-in-law qualities about him that got under my skin. Still no excuse. I think people should get a pass over the past few days though.
I apologize if I went too, well, “blue,” as it were. I had, if not a good night’s sleep, at least some sleep, and feel a lot more able to try to use my good words, rather than my bad ones.
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Um, stomv, does “Suck an egg” count as a dropped standard? đŸ˜‰
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And the answer is no. At least, that’s my answer.
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It is, however, the response that prompted me to make this posting. I, however, did delete what I initially wrote, which was chock full of ugly words.
No personal attacks; we encourage everyone to use their real names. See our Rules of the Road for a more detailed statement.
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Onward and upward.
Now grow up
I dislike bad grammar much more than I dislike reading f-bombs, but worse still, I think, are dismissive comments. Dismissive comments consistently lower the level of discourse.
one man’s f-bomb is another man’s f-bomb. One man’s dismissive comment is another man’s insightful claim.
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It’s easy to use a thesaurus.
but those coital words just do not have the same congressional flavor an actual f-bomb does. Using the thesaurus to replace words from American English’s colorful and rhythmic vernacular reminds me of those people who don’t cook so well, who believe the secret to cooking well lies in adding the right spices.
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Of course the Rude Pundit has a remarkable style I wouldn’t want to imitate — or read daily, but the style of Duncan Black (aka Atrios) at Eschaton has an appealing and insightful directness to it. I’ve learned a lot from him. We could use more writers with his insight and quick wit. Key to that style is a comfort with four letter words you’d find abhorrent.
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Me? I most often write in a reflective style, but I wouldn’t want to read that all day. Yawn!
how was that for dismissive? đŸ˜‰ i tend to agree with you. dismissive comments undermine the whole agreement to discourse. potty mouth just adds flavor, sometimes putrid, but still the conversation continues.
with a well made point, than language that would be up to “standard” (whatever the hell that means) that makes no point whatsoever.
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BTW – have you met many of the LeftyBloggers in-person? I’ve not met any that used “disguised curses”, indeed they just come right out with it. Not a huge deal. We all have our way of expressing ourselves. That makes people interesting.
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I would not like to see people censor themselves here to come up to someone’s arbitrary “standard.” Those who are offended so easily are free to disregard the comment, or the commentor.
particularly with writing, “salty” language can be avoided with precisely the same point made nearly all of the time.
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In fact, BMG is a good example of that. Before the ConCon explosion, the quality of dialog was high and the so-called saltiness low. In the past week, the language got much worse — but did the content get better? I think not, but you are free to judge for yourself.
and that is why you hadn’t noticed this sort of language before. or, perhaps you weren’t part of previous angry discussions. i think as we move on together (and i see no divisive issues on the near horizon) to tackle the next set of problems and deadlines, this issue will take care of itself. as you say, the level of discourse here is high. i take that to be the ‘norm’ to which people will return.
but as Lewis Black said “There are no bad words. There are words used by adults to express anger, outrage and frustration so they don’t pick up a tire iron and beat somebody to death.” And after this week’s ConCon there have definitely been moments when cursing has beaten (no pun intended) Black’s stated alternative.
I don’t personally have nearly as much of a problem with bad language as I do with bad grammar or spelling or bad writing in general. I’d imagine that has an awful lot to do with my style of blogging and other non-professional writing I do…
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So if I offended anyone in the heated debates of the last few days, (I know I dropped some MF’in F-bombs) I apologize.