Please, a Favor

I know I dropped the "c bomb" last week, but that was something I don't do very often, and on top of that, I had no advertisers then.

I'm trying to get some advertisers -- with the lone exception of a Killing Time ad from blog-friend Pegu, I haven't made a dime this whole month -- and so I'd appreciate if people calmed down a bit with the language.

Yes, I know I did it. I am not assigning moral fault or anything. It was my bad.

But I would appreciate it if commenters cooled it on unnecessarily obscene language and statements that might, as they say, scare the horses.

Pajamas Media had an amazingly loose policy on what I (and you) could say here. As in, it was never even discussed. But I doubt that all advertisers will be so open-minded.

So please, please, please: The occasional profanity is fine, especially if it's humorous, but watch out for the really tough ones, especially if it's just for the purpose of a bit of angry venting which could easily be achieved with other words.

Kinda... just don't try to trump me as far as content and language. Let me be the guy who goes the furthest. I can always quickly delete something if I realize I've crossed a line; it's harder, though, to go through lots of comments finding stuff that might raise flags.

Sorry about this and all, but there are, you know, market forces at work.

A lot of obscenity... like f-bombs and "bullshit" is barely even obscene anymore, so ubitquitous is it on the internet. The ones to watch out for are the male and female versions of the c-bomb, tossing out "bitch" unnecessarily, angry gay baiting, talk of shooting and hanging people even in jest, etc. Some political correctness there, yeah, but consider that Netflix, for example, may not want an ad running next to a post with a lot of such sentiments.

I'm not saying write like angels. I'm just asking to tone it down a little, especially when it's just for the sake of angry venting.

Guidance: If you don't know what I mean, just skim the comments for my posts.

Look, "douchebag," "fuckweasel," "cockholster," "pooter"... all that stuff is fine. Fuck is fine... just be judicious about it. (As in -- if it's merely a random intensifier with no more meaning than "damn" or "golly!," why use it?)

The ones to look out for are the c-word, "bitch," especially as applied to a woman, and the other c-word, especially as applied to a gay dude.

If it's funny, it's fine. But if it's unnecessary and angry, and not funny, why use it?

As I said in the comments: If you want to say Nancy Pelosi is a rotten lying hag, then do so; calling her the c-word is doubly disadvantaged: On one hand, it's just generic vulgarity, and so it actually isn't as insulting and descriptive as "rotten lying hag."

On the other hand, it's a red-flag vulgarity, so even as it's less effective than "rotten lying hag," it's more offensive to more people. It's less offensive to her, but more offensive to readers (especially women) and advertisers.

So it's lose-lose.

I am just asking for a step to be inserted in the commenting process before hitting "post:" Ask if the all the profanity, especially the still-taboo profanity, is necessary or adds anything.

If it does, fine. If not, just take it out. "Save it up" for when it can be used to greater effect.

I trust you guys. I know that 90% of you will use good judgment and, if anything, you'll probably skew too clean.

You don't have to be clean. And certainly not too clean. Just 20% cleaner will do.

posted by Ace at 03:24 PM

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