Is the "Keep it Clean" rule still in effect?

[w_earle_wheeler]

I've made two reports over the past month regarding off-color (ie, non ENG safe) language in posts. The "offending" words were "bitching" and "pissing."

Nothing was done about either post as far as I could tell. However, one was written by a fairly prolific poster, and another was written by a moderator.

Are popular posters and moderators immune to the enforcement of this rule, or is enforcement of this rule currently out-of-favor with the moderators?

Personally, I don't care if the rule stays or goes. It is nice that certain rules are in place on EN World to keep discussions more civil and focused, but I'm certainly no stranger to foul language.

 

[Mouseferatu]

My (unofficial) guess is that the rule is still in effect, but neither "bitching" nor "pissing" qualify as sufficiently filthy language to qualify.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Did you report the posts? I know the rules are still in effect, but if they weren't reported, the odds are low anything will happen.

My own worthless opinion is that the first word is right on the edge and probably should be avoided. The second is definitely more of a grey area, its crude, but not profane. I believe it also has different meanings depending upon where you are from. My recollection is that Morrus and others might wonder why people would be offended by a word meaning drinking heavily.

 

[Pielorinho]

I believe our ruling is that neither word is naughty enough to cause problems, but I'll make sure the other mods get a chance to look in here and decide as well.

More generally, we do not make exceptions to the rules for any posters, although we sometimes do handle moderation behind the scenes. If you don't see moderation happen, that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

If a post with a questionable word in it is brought to our attention, if we decide the word shouldn't appear on the site, we'll add it to the content filter.

Daniel

 

[Umbran]

I don't know the particular posts, so I can't speak to their context. However, failure to act on a particular use of a particular word in no way implies the rule is out of favor, in general.

By now, I think all the common words that have no legitimate use are probably in the language filters. Anything left over would depend upon context. I don't think anyone has ever been disciplined for saying someone was "bitching about something"...

 

[Pielorinho]

Okay, a little research later. There are a couple of other possibilities out there:

1) Sometimes we don't moderate in a thread if a problem seems to have sorted itself out by the time we get there, and the problem seems minor.
2) Sometimes people jokingly report moderator posts as a way of teasing us. If someone clearly is not joking, we'll take it seriously, but earle, one of your reports came along with some clear jokes, and I think we all took it as a joke.
3) Sometimes the reason for having a thread reported is unclear. If cursing happens as part of an insult, we might pay attention to the insult more than to the language.

As I said, I'm pretty sure we allow both words (although that doesn't mean we allow them in all contexts, of course--think of the contexts in which you'd get in trouble for using the word "whining," for example). But I'll run it by the others.

Daniel

 

[w_earle_wheeler]

Hey guys, thanks for the answers.

 

[Piratecat]

Hey, guys! I just wanted to confirm the above. For general conversation that doesn't involve insults, both of those words are generally not a problem.

It's also worth noting that while we never want to offend our official grandma, she traditionally doesn't really clue into innuendo. Some otherwise suspicious jokes might sneak past as a result.

 

[BOZ]

i'd say both of those words would have to depend on the context in which they are used. when describing something general, they're not considered particularly offensive these days, but when aimed at another poster i could see how they could quickly become derogatory.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

never want to offend our official grandma, she traditionally doesn't really clue into innuendo. Some otherwise suspicious jokes might sneak past as a result.

Heck, an *entire moderator* slipped by without her noticing the innuendo!

I will confess that having used those particular terms without regard for the 'grandma' rule -- they just fall below the threshold of what most of my peers consider profanity. But if they're problematic, say the word and I won't bit....complain about it.