Timeline for Offensive Language for sorta-sound-similar words?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Aug 25, 2020 at 1:53 | comment | added | Malisbad | The one danger you get in to with similar sounding words is that they can easily become code for derogatory statements towards people. This is especially true when you put the wrong emPHAsis on a certain SYLlaBLE. I think we all consider ourselves to be reasonable mature people, but let's be honest, we're unlikely to be the median. So, I wouldn't change it, and I wouldn't apologize for it, but I would be more careful moving forward. Social conditions change the words we should use, and right now those conditions aren't friendly to similar sounding words. | |
| Jul 29, 2020 at 14:19 | comment | added | user91988 | @Glorfindel "if somebody claims to be offended by it and it doesn't change the meaning of the post, why not approve it" Because we shouldn't change our language just because one person claims to be offended by it. That's called a slippery slope. No other reason is necessary. I'm honestly shocked you're framing it this way. It's OK for a person to be offended. Really, it is. Life will go on. Being offended is their prerogative. Changing words others use is not. | |
| Jul 20, 2020 at 20:38 | comment | added | Old_Lamplighter | English is a very precise and subtle language. I usually have to tone down my vocabulary for this site. I think enderland once had to put a link to a definition of a word I used because it's not to common in usage. The use of the word niggling is usually to say that something is petty, frivolous and annoying. English is also rife with homophones, and homonyms, just to make things more confusing. Such as "bass" the fish, and "bass" as in "bass guitar". I've always said that English is a cruel joke played upon non native speakers. | |
| Jul 16, 2020 at 15:16 | comment | added | Neo Mod | Agreed, the edit is not necessary. Perhaps not the best word, but we are dangerously close to a slippery slope. | |
| Jul 16, 2020 at 15:16 | comment | added | DarkCygnus Mod | @Glorfindel neither am I a native speaker, and the results I found googling didn't sound negative; it's just a word that denotes annoyance or discomfort, it's very likely it won't be used in a happy and merry sentence or context. As OP mentioned, it seems to convey a slightly different, but nonetheless distinctive and relevant, meaning... Anyways, it's not a life or death situation, I just find the edit a bit of a stretch. Sorry if I implied you didn't take the time. I am sure you did, as you frequently contribute very helpful content throughout the SE network :) cheers | |
| Jul 16, 2020 at 13:14 | comment | added | Kevin | @Glorfindel. Imagine 'frivolous' was a paint color. 'Niggling' is basically that shade with a heavy undertone of 'irritation/annoyance'. In the context of my answer, I was basically saying to the OP, "You enforcing the standards won't be seen as a pointless irritation." You're right - the word itself does have a negative context due to that undertone... but I don't think that means it's automatically offensive. Don't get me wrong: Frivolous works relatively well in its place - it's not like missing the additional 'irritation' subtone makes the meaning unclear. | |
| Jul 16, 2020 at 9:19 | comment | added | Mast | @Glorfindel Where 'new' is arguable (see Shakespeare), hence a lot of people defaulting to "leave it be". | |
| Jul 16, 2020 at 4:41 | comment | added | Glorfindel | Hold on, I did spend attention and looked up the words in several dictionaries (I'm not a native speaker). Niggling was used more often in a negative context, so I thought if somebody claims to be offended by it and it doesn't change the meaning of the post, why not approve it? It most certainly does not mean I assumed the OP had bad intentions with it, just like many of my old posts across the network use 'he/she' instead of the new default singular they. | |
| Jul 16, 2020 at 1:07 | history | answered | DarkCygnusMod | CC BY-SA 4.0 |