Comment by nawitus | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nawitus | Hacker News Reader

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This is what I hate most about American websites. They all have this neoconservative(?) idea that curse words are fucking horrible. We're all adults here (well, 99% of us), nobody is going to die from seeing a few curse words here and there.

The problem is that this American morality is enforced to everyone internationally, as such a high portion of high-traffic websites are American. And it's not just about cursewords, it's this sick censorship of women's breasts, nudity and sex in general.

Communication on the internet is switching to a small number of mostly American social media websites like Facebook. If Facebook bans certain expression of thought or certain types of media/pictures, then that decision has pretty widespread effects. Even worse, when exposed to this kind of thinking, other countries will slowly start to adopt it.

On the other hand, other countries would enforce a different kind of morals more (like censorship related to racism and religion).

I love it when some sites make exceptions, like Tumblr (or Reddit in the past).

I'd say neopuritan, not neoconservative. Neoconservative generally refers to the right-wing movement that advocates military interference overseas (i.e. Afghanistan, Iraq).

Hey look, it's an anti-american screed!

Anyway, a lot of people object to the overuse of the word "fucking" simply because they've grown out of it. I'm all for artfully dropping it in from time to time for well-placed effect, but it can easily become a crutch used by those too lazy to consult their inner thesaurus. It's sort of shorthand for "I really mean it, which makes it more true!" Although it's arguably true that this particular tool takes it around the bend enough that it starts becoming funny again. Wait, I mean it's FUCKING true. :-)

sometimes people sprinkle 'fucking' or 'shit' or other words as if its salt. then fuckers shit fucking dia-motherfucking-tribes ass if fuckers fucking make fucking money and bitches from fucking using fucking fuck words, and suddenly discourse breaks down.

It's not that the words are bad, but some people take it too far. Especially on the internet, where some people erroneously believe in the anonymity of pseudonyms

I agree with your sentiment, as curse words should be used sparingly. However, a better solution is "bottom-up" moderation, not a top-down site-wide ban on something. This is essentially important in social media websites where subcommunities exist. Different subcommunities should be able to have different rules about these things. (This doesn't apply to YCombinator, though).

For HN, I just assumed it was because it sets the tone for the discussion. By moderating profanity, it helps keep it out of the discussions and so you get more civil debate on HN than on other sites.

Oh, I also can say and hear "fuck" all day long without blinking, because, like you, I am not American and English is not my native language. However, there are words in Polish which could make me cringe, especially when heard unexpectedly. Profanity is like poetry: it only works in your mother tongue.

I learned the word kurwa from Polish Quake players :).

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