Bad Words on Blogs

U.S. News & World Report ^ | March 6, 2007 | Michael Barone

[loboinok]

I see Stop the ACLU has 40. I'm going to have to tighten it up over there.

[CFC__VRWC]

And I'll bet a lot of these words on the conservative sites came from cut-and-pastes of stuff found on the leftist sites.

[Billy Jacks blog]

Of course not all conversations are debates. However, the context of our discussion was the language used on blogs. By their very nature, most of those comments are arguments for the purpose of advancing a person's perception of the truth in an area of controversy.

You make a great point relative to realism. Coarse language is necessary in some settings to give a genuine depiction of what happens from time to time. You also have a good point relative to injecting humor into a conversation through coarse language. I used to laugh my head off at George Carlin and Richard Pryor when I was growing up. Vulgar language was certainly a big part of the things they said.

My objection surrounds the use of such words for the purpose of degrading or cutting down the person to whom you are speaking. There is never a place for that in the arena of exchanging ideas. But, you have certainly mentioned other occasions when coarse language served in small and well placed doses can be very effective.
Billy Jack billyjacksblog.com

[jiggyboy]

Note that a follow-up to the original post shows that the DUmp has close to (cue Doctor Evil) one million pages containing obscenities.

Other follow-up posts indeed show that a significant percentage of putative obscenities on "right-wing blogs" are in fact cut-and-pastes of crap from the DUmp, etc.

I wonder how he decided that scrappleface is a "right wing blog".

[Joe 6-pack]

"However, the context of our discussion was the language used on blogs."

Was it? You were responding to my post where all I said was, "When used judiciously and where appropriate, they can add to the piquancy of a written or oral communication."

The thread topic is blog language and I was making a nonspecific remark on coarse language in general. For the most part I agree with you, and can not think of an example of where I'd use foul language in a true, one-on-one "exchange of ideas." In a public debate; however, as are most blogs and discussion boards, I would most certainly use it if it could be used to illustrate the absurdity and intractability of an opponent's position for all to see (provided the board moderator permitted such things.)

Profanity is like a jackhammer...for the most part, it's an unpleasant, cacophonous annoyance, but sometimes you simply need the right tool to shatter concrete.