OT Fairytale of New York

[swaledale]

Who is it being "offended". The youth of today? A generation who cuss and swear more than we did. Whose music also contains profane language and some genres with extremely violent undertones in rap and drillrap. They seem to have learned double standards quite well.......

You clearly associate with a different yoof then I encounter and I'm not sure the current generation do swear more than others, more that swearing has become less taboo since the days when the BBC wouldn't broadcast words like "bugger" "Damn" and "bloody", indeed most sear words are allowed at certain times.

Would you say that the majority listen to rap music? The more earthy versions are pretty specialised and I'm no expert (Rap = crap as far my musical tastes go) but the context for the songs is important. My admittedly limited expereince of yoof music is that it isn't largely full of profane language.

I have hardly listened to radio 1 for decades so wouldn't know the tone and content of the music on there, but is there really a whole lot of airtime given over to this music?

I wasn't suggested anyone was being offended, its not about offence as such but that the use of certain words in society has changed - mnd you the BBC used to censor the Stones "lets Spend the Night Together" so plus ca change!

[swaledale]

Different generations, different music, times change. But I'm not sure that words like **** and faggot would really offend generations brought up on rap music with its shall we say seriously offensive lyrics (see link, warning: not for the faint hearted) dealing with / glorifying murder, rape, child *** etc etc

I don't know if any of these songs got radio airplay on radio 1 ( I doubt it) but the artists involved certainly have featured on it - Eminem, Nicki Minaj, Notorious BIG etc, icons of generations younger than me. And these generations would be offended by the lyrics of Fairytale.... really, just really?

https://www.complex.com/music/2013/0...st-rap-lyrics/

The point I made was not that anyone would be offended, but that the use of words and their meanings within society changes.

[Geoff Parkstone]

Lol...very fair point...slightly surreal anyway having a ‘debate’ about censorship on a, largely adult, forum that won’t allow mention of such naughty words as ‘sl-ut’ and ‘s-ex’, not to mention ‘te-en’ and ‘pe-adophile’.

There was a day in the not too distant past when you would have been yellow carded for swear filter avoidance for this rA. The board may still have some way to go in terms of enhancement, but its far more user accommodating now than in the Bloomer/Rats/other bloke era (assuming of course that Andy isn't going to card you!!)

[Geoff Parkstone]

The point I made was not that anyone would be offended, but that the use of words and their meanings within society changes.

OK, so since 1987, which of these words has changed its meaning (assuming this to be the offending verse?

You're a bum, you're a punk
You're an old **** on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap, lousy faggot
Happy Christmas, your arse
I pray God it's our last

I dont think any of them have? A faggot was a derogatory word for a gay person back then and still is today. **** hasnt changed - it was soft derogatory then and is now. Arse, bum? Still slang terms with same useage

[ramAnag]

There was a day in the not too distant past when you would have been yellow carded for swear filter avoidance for this rA. The board may still have some way to go in terms of enhancement, but its far more user accommodating now than in the Bloomer/Rats/other bloke era (assuming of course that Andy isn't going to card you!!)

Except that not one of those words is a swear word. ‘Sl-ut’ is obviously a derogatory term but not a swear word...the others - are completely acceptable words which those who control the forum, not Andy, have deemed inappropriate. It’s as random as it is infantile imo...in the same way as they chose to ban ‘vi-tal’ but peculiarly, and ironically in these circumstances, allow ‘faggot’. Just bizarre!

[Geoff Parkstone]

Speaking as someone who was red carded for using the word *****, the point is that it doesn't matter if the word is a swear word, its whether its on the swear filter blacklist

[ramAnag]

Speaking as someone who was red carded for using the word *****, the point is that it doesn't matter if the word is a swear word, its whether its on the swear filter blacklist

Lol...but we’ll never know what your ‘crime’ was as no one knows what ‘*****’ means...and surely the point is, not that a word contravenes some random ‘swear filter blacklist’ but whether certain words should be blacklisted at all. In short it’s not always words that need to be ‘blacklisted’ it’s the sentiments.
Without wishing to offend, it is as easy to imagine an extraordinarily offensive sentence containing the words ‘te-en’, ‘s-ex’ and ‘sl-ut’ as it is to imagine a sentence containing the same words being both moral and highly responsible.
Clearly actual swear words are different and a forum dominated by people calling each other ‘f*ing t’s and c’s’ etc would be undesirable and counter productive as most of us would just leave, but sometimes people on here have managed to be thoroughly offensive without resorting to bad language and that too needs to be checked.
Sorry...only continuing this because I’m bored. Things to do tomorrow and Thursday...this morning is a bit of a black hole.

[Geoff Parkstone]

I'm surprised you are able to say "black hole" - surely its both racist and ***ual in content, as well as revelling in imperial India at its peak

Oh yeah and a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape from it.

Words can be anything you care to read into them

[ramAnag]

I'm surprised you are able to say "black hole" - surely its both racist and ***ual in content.

Only in your head. ‘To the pure all things are pure’.

[swaledale]

OK, so since 1987, which of these words has changed its meaning (assuming this to be the offending verse?

You're a bum, you're a punk
You're an old **** on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap, lousy faggot
Happy Christmas, your arse
I pray God it's our last

I dont think any of them have? A faggot was a derogatory word for a gay person back then and still is today. **** hasnt changed - it was soft derogatory then and is now. Arse, bum? Still slang terms with same useage

I can't recall which exact words are being replaced, except faggot - that one is crystal clear, it was once in common usage, today its not and is considered unacceptable. Anyway as I said in my post much ado about **** all. It doesn't matter, songs have had words censored since radio 1 began, its less prevalent today, but is hardly a "news" story or worthy of much gnashing of teeth!