Removed as it may be, the "F" word still has deep rooted associations as an "offensive" word. From the OED:

Used profanely in imprecations and exclamations as the coarsest equivalent of "Damn"

and since a lot of people (especially Americans, ahem ) seem to think "damn" is pretty offensive, then surely a profane, coarse equivalent of it is even more offensive? And what does "damn" mean?

Used profanely (chiefly in optative, and often with no subject expressed) in imprecations and exclamations, expressing emphatic objurgation or reprehension of a person or thing, or sometimes merely an outburst of irritation or impatience

So "the F word" is just a profane version of a profane version of "Gee, that's irritating!"

Ergo, "WTF" could just as easily be served by the phrase "Really, Really Irritating!" But then, that would involve actually typing hings out, and of course, we know that Internet users can't possibly write a full expression out when an abbreviation will do

So what sound does WTF make?

not if I'm telling a story about when I WTF (went to Footlocker).

What's The Frequency?

White Thong Frolics

So THAT'S what it means. Not World Trade Foundation

<b>Kenneth</b>

Just use the abbreviation RRI, itl catch on



Thanks for addressing this, I was starting to bother me as well.

Let's just let this go and chalk up one more to the PC police.

You took the words right out of my mouth ...

IMO, WTF is SOP in the OF. BFD.

Nobody here seems to be suggesting that the use of WTF in a post should be banned, just WTF in the thread title. Not a big deal to me, although somtimes WTF in the title is used rather humerously. Most times, however, it's just superfluous.

Really?

This <i>is</i> supposed to be a relatively family-oriented site, <b>Lurker1999</b>.

- David Stein

How do you figure that?

This has been discussed before, and I thought it was common knowledge. Admittedly, I can't find mention of it in either the user agreement or any of <b>gkleinman</b>'s recent posts.

Mods, can you tell me whether I'm remembering correctly or I've just completely lost my mind? Thanks.

The reasons given in the past for why this is a family-oriented site are 1) there's no age restriction in the signup form and Geoff is loath to put a "You must be over 18 to enter this site" warning up anywhere, and 2) Geoff doesn't want it adult-oriented (and neither do many of its members.)

The effects of the policy are noted in the clear prohibition on profanity and posting of nude photos, both of which <i>are</i>, of course, in the user agreement.

- David Stein

As I understand it, this site is not 'family oriented' per se, but it is designed to be appropriate for all audiences. As such, there are certain limitations we put in place to moderate the language. The strictest limits apply to thread titles because they are right out there in front of everyone. Use of language is looser within threads, but not all that much.

The age thing is one reason, but there was always the policy of keeping the forums presentable, specially to those in work places or around family. In other words, we do not want the user to be embarrassed because they have a browser open to DVDtalk.

If the forum is littered with a lot of profanity and such in the thread titles, the forum appears a lot less presentable. Regardless of morals or whatever, Geoff has indicated he does not want the appearance of his forums to suffer to that extent.

In the past, our moderating standards were that all swear words were against forum rules. We have relaxed that standard. Obviously there are some words that are censored by the software, and sometimes people type all kinds of odd sh!t to work around them. In most cases, that is not a big deal....I think we all recognize that most people are getting used to these kinds of words...and they are losing impact as far as offensiveness IMO. Moderators will still use our judgement though if the content is out there or littered with cursing.

The policy is that we do not allow swear words in subject titles. We also do not allow those same words in altered or censored form in thread titles. For example, do not type M*th*rF***** in a thread title.

The question raised by this thread is WTF representative of a swear word? I guess technically it is, though it could be used in different ways, we all know what it means. Is it morphing into it's own word instead of an acronym? Maybe.

Is it really offensive? Perhaps to some. Frankly, I never thought it was to me...and until reading this post, did not consider it in the same league..for whatever reason.

i didn't realize people here supported suppressing freedom of expression!

We don't. we support a set of rules to maximize the experience for the most users at this private site. I encourage you to say whatever you wish in a public area. I support your freedom and would fight to protect it.

i understand. It is also good that we question our rules and boundries. It is hard dealing with this subject since slippery slopes are right around every turn.

The "slippery slope" is always a weak argument. Usually a clear line of demarcation exists; here it's between "serious cursing" (going by TV rules, maybe.) Even where a line doesn't exist, you can leave some things up to judgment without running the risk of going to extremes.

If we censor "WTF" today, it's not likely we'll be censoring "oh my g**dness" and "g*sh" won't be censored tomorrow.

- David Stein

[Edited by randyc on 05-08-01 at 03:03 PM]

i didn't mean that that outlawing "wtf" is a slippery slope, but that when censuring what poeple are allowed to say you should realize that this might come up in the future again with a more dramatic request.

Such as?

my statement was rhetorical if i sit here and and spout off more items it will just bring up a whole new can of worms.

David, I'm not so sure that the slope isn't slippery. Remember Benjamen Buttocks?