Words that have lost their meaning

[Baal Hadad]

Okay, this is my first real new thread (not counting my introductory thread).  I don't know exactly how to go about doing that here, but I figure there's no point in not taking the risk--I didn't see any thread like this already, but if there is, my apologies and I hope I will be directed to it.

Anyway, this thread is about words that have lost their original meaning, and if the mods permit, the first words I'm going to mention in this category are the politically charged words of "liberal" and "conservative," which I believe no longer mean what they're supposed to.

"Liberal" is related to the word "liberation," and therefore people calling themselves "liberal" should be all about liberties, and freedoms, and about people having the right to do and say what they want (this only ending where another person's liberties begin).  However, in practice it seems to me that, all too often, people who call themselves "liberal" are not about liberty at all, but about political correctness which is both a form of censorship (antithetical to liberation) and a form of deception done out of fear of being perceived a certain way.  In other words, what matters is appearances--that you appear to be tolerant, accepting, and not prejudiced, bigoted, or discriminatory in any way.  But as I said before, this is anything but liberating and therefore antithetical to what "liberal" should mean.

Likewise, "conservative" is related to the word "conservation," and so people calling themselves "conservative" should be all about conserving things--in particular, the word "conservation" is often linked to the environment, so you'd think that conservatives would be the pro-environment people.  In addition, you'd think they would be about preserving life in all its forms, and conserving our resources, and fiscal responsibility, and conservation of other important things.  And yet in practice it seems that, all too often, people who call themselves "conservative" are not about conservation at all--at least, not conservation of things that should be conserved.  Very often people who call themselves thus are anti-environment, support the military and the death penalty (only "pro-life" when it comes to abortion, thus only with respect to the unborn), and waste resources and money (although they claim to be against high taxes, which only conserves the money that the already rich have, thus the financial inequality that exists).  What many so-called "conservatives" want to conserve are things like Christian values (which, while fine on an individual level, go against First Amendment separation of church and state), the gap between the rich and poor, and in general the status quo which many would agree needs to be changed.

Note that this observation is not meant to be critical of all liberals or all conservatives--nor am I trying to insult anyone here, so my apologies if it did offend anyone.  There certainly are people calling themselves "liberal" and "conservative" who do deserve the labels.  My point, however, is that a lot of the time (especially when referring to political "buzz" words), words tend to lose their meaning.  Worst of all, both sides can exploit this in their attempt to demonize the "enemy"--"liberals" can use the word "conservative" to mean intolerant, stupid rich racists, while "conservatives" can use the word "liberal" to mean elite, weak, soft, politically correct snobs.  And the fact that a lot of "liberals" and "conservatives" do fit these descriptions adds to the problem.

Anyway, that's my observation, feel free to add your own opinions to the discussion, or to bring up more words that have lost their original meaning (preferably not obscene words, though).

[Brunhidden]

i just dislike that so many people think those are the only two sides you can take, there is no grey area nor independent positions. we have freedoms of choice, thus we should be given choices other then Mahatma Gandhi and Joseph Stalin

words are just another tool, another weapon, for some of these people. its like when they say you are pro choice or pro life. correct me if im wrong but i think EVERYONE here is both pro choice and pro life, as in you like the freedom to choose things and you rather enjoy being alive,  however an issue like abortion has hundreds of different opinions yet you are swept into the bin labeled liberal or conservative

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

There are too many to even count, and a lot of them are quite irrelevant to modern life anyway. Such as the phrase "Heads up". Everyone whose played dodgeball in gym class knows that it means to duck, but originally it meant exactly what it said, an exhortation to keep the head up. It started in the mid eighteenth century (at least as far back as I can trace) as an exhortation to soldiers to keep formation in the face of artillery fire. Later on, as artillery fire became deadlier, it became worse to keep in ranks to face the artillery than to scatter and leave yourself vulnerable to their infantry........ The phrase stayed the same though.

Or in a question of tone. If you look at Elizabethan english, there is a formal and casual tone like you see in many other languages. Ye/you was used for formal situations or to social superiors, and thee or thou used for informal gatherings. Well, about 95% of the population were lower class people, who called everyone you, since they didn't have people to look down on. The wealthy and titled kept thee and thou, because they had more of a use for it. As time passed, the phrase of thou became almost exclusively something that overeducated, superformal people spoke, and became an archiasm. It's only realistically used when trying to speak as an elizabethan (almost invariably incorrectly) or when someone is trying to put on a huge air of formality.

[Baal Hadad]

i just dislike that so many people think those are the only two sides you can take, there is no grey area nor independent positions. we have freedoms of choice, thus we should be given choices other then Mahatma Gandhi and Joseph Stalin

words are just another tool, another weapon, for some of these people. its like when they say you are pro choice or pro life. correct me if im wrong but i think EVERYONE here is both pro choice and pro life, as in you like the freedom to choose things and you rather enjoy being alive,  however an issue like abortion has hundreds of different opinions yet you are swept into the bin labeled liberal or conservative

Exactly--language is a poor enough means of communication anyway, and since through overuse we tend to take certain labels for granted, we forget where they came from and therefore we don't question them.  Consequently it's hard to take The Lord of the Rings seriously whenever we read the word "(I am not smart enough to use polite words)" which came up a number of times (it's used in its original sense, to mean a bundle of sticks, but who in the present day doesn't at least have a completely different concept in mind when they come across that word?).

And yes, it's too easy to get into black and white mentalities about the world, the "with us or against us" paradigm.  I consider myself fortunate in that I'm coming to learn little by little that there are few if any absolutes at all, really.  That's why I'm proud of myself when I can come up with original thoughts that no one prompted me to think (which admittedly only happens rarely).

There are too many to even count, and a lot of them are quite irrelevant to modern life anyway. Such as the phrase "Heads up". Everyone whose played dodgeball in gym class knows that it means to duck, but originally it meant exactly what it said, an exhortation to keep the head up. It started in the mid eighteenth century (at least as far back as I can trace) as an exhortation to soldiers to keep formation in the face of artillery fire. Later on, as artillery fire became deadlier, it became worse to keep in ranks to face the artillery than to scatter and leave yourself vulnerable to their infantry........ The phrase stayed the same though.

Or in a question of tone. If you look at Elizabethan english, there is a formal and casual tone like you see in many other languages. Ye/you was used for formal situations or to social superiors, and thee or thou used for informal gatherings. Well, about 95% of the population were lower class people, who called everyone you, since they didn't have people to look down on. The wealthy and titled kept thee and thou, because they had more of a use for it. As time passed, the phrase of thou became almost exclusively something that overeducated, superformal people spoke, and became an archiasm. It's only realistically used when trying to speak as an elizabethan (almost invariably incorrectly) or when someone is trying to put on a huge air of formality.

Thank you very much for the info on the histories of words and phrases and their uses!    This is precisely what I was hoping for with this thread.  And I didn't actually know the origin of the phrase "heads up" and wondered at the oddity of it.  As for "thee" and "thou," that I knew but I didn't quite realize why they went out of fashion (although what you say makes perfect sense).  Thanks again!



EDIT: Another word that has lost its meaning and become a political "buzz" word is freedom.  I find it laughably ironic that we're programmed to think freedom is by nature a good thing, yet our very way of life runs counter to the concept.  True freedom would be the equivalent of living in nature (I define freedom as "freedom to" rather than "freedom from," which is what I consider "security"), and who wants to live in nature?  What we really want--and I'm not faulting us for this as I think we're biologically programmed this way, as are all animals--is for things to go our way.  For us to live a long time, find romantic/sexual partners, have children, and generally live happy lives.

The problem is that those things are luxuries, and they come at a cost--they have to come from somewhere, and you getting luxury means someone else is not.  But we so crave these things that we claim they are not privileges but "rights"--that somehow by virtue of simply being alive, we "deserve" them.  Seriously, given a choice between home, family, technology, and security on the one hand (which require dependence on others for that way of life), and total freedom on the other hand (which would be like living in nature), which would you pick--honestly?

In addition to which, as social animals we're programmed to want to fit in with the group, meaning that total freedom is overwhelming and frightening.  Besides, if you have total freedom, so can everyone else, which means they can do what they want to you just as much as you can do what you want to them.

So to sum up, I think the problem is not so much that we're not a free society as it is that we pretend we are--in other words, that we're being hypocrites.  We're not a society based on freedom, but the least we can do is admit it.

Anyway, so that's my next "word on trial"--any thoughts?

[Brunhidden]

as they say, freedom is just another word for nothing left to do

or, if you have read the book "world war z" you would know a bit more gory example of having choice, and how horrible freedom can be



i do however find it ironic that the term 'cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey' has remained the same in both wordage and usage despite two hundred years drift and nobody knowing what a brass monkey is anymore (triangular device for the stacking of cannonballs) despite other phrases losing the point of their creation within as little as 20 years or less

[Baal Hadad]

as they say, freedom is just another word for nothing left to do

or, if you have read the book "world war z" you would know a bit more gory example of having choice, and how horrible freedom can be



i do however find it ironic that the term 'cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey' has remained the same in both wordage and usage despite two hundred years drift and nobody knowing what a brass monkey is anymore (triangular device for the stacking of cannonballs) despite other phrases losing the point of their creation within as little as 20 years or less

I haven't read that book, but you've gotten my attention with that short but blunt description of it.  Maybe I'll have to look into it....

And that is surprising--you never know what'll stay and what'll go, will you?  I wonder what the oldest surviving phrase in the language is, and if lay people know anything at all about where it comes from....

By the way, on the topic of words, I like to say that a "lord" is the night watchman at a bakery.  Look up the etymology of the word "lord" and you'll know what I'm talking about....

[Brunhidden]

And that is surprising--you never know what'll stay and what'll go, will you?  I wonder what the oldest surviving phrase in the language is, and if lay people know anything at all about where it comes from....

By the way, on the topic of words, I like to say that a "lord" is the night watchman at a bakery.  Look up the etymology of the word "lord" and you'll know what I'm talking about....

i know the worlds oldest joke is about four thousand years old, archeologists not long ago translated an Egyptian inscription which was a crude joke about catching the Pharaohs attention by having women wearing fishnets..... yes, ive completely forgotten the punchline, but its better then the second oldest known joke from Mesopotamia, which seems to be about women who fart in their husbands lap



if you like the etymology of words, and you have stated you like literature, i wonder if you are familiar with the discussion of the word 'cop'. cop came from the term 'copper' for policemen, which many of the police thought was because their badge was made of copper, but it was a freakishly old word 'cappere' which meant 'to capture'. the true word for them was policeman, which directly translates to 'man of the city', other words we no longer remember as having similar meaning exist, such as 'polite' which means the proper way to behave in a city. however this does raise the question of the precise purpose of a politician.....

[Baal Hadad]

i know the worlds oldest joke is about four thousand years old, archeologists not long ago translated an Egyptian inscription which was a crude joke about catching the Pharaohs attention by having women wearing fishnets..... yes, ive completely forgotten the punchline, but its better then the second oldest known joke from Mesopotamia, which seems to be about women who fart in their husbands lap



if you like the etymology of words, and you have stated you like literature, i wonder if you are familiar with the discussion of the word 'cop'. cop came from the term 'copper' for policemen, which many of the police thought was because their badge was made of copper, but it was a freakishly old word 'cappere' which meant 'to capture'. the true word for them was policeman, which directly translates to 'man of the city', other words we no longer remember as having similar meaning exist, such as 'polite' which means the proper way to behave in a city. however this does raise the question of the precise purpose of a politician.....

That's interesting, and I didn't know that was the origin of the word "cop."  The origin of "police" makes sense though, as it appears to derive from the Greek "polis," meaning "city."

Your mention of "polite" made me laugh, though, as that's another word that's lost its meaning for me, and I'm even talking about the more recent English language meaning (in other words, not even necessarily referring to a city as such).  It's one thing to be nice and treat other people fairly and not to be mean, and all that, but too often in practice, "polite" seems to be a euphemism for "hypocritical."  In other words, people are "polite" not out of a desire to be kind, but out of a desire to fool people into thinking you're a better person than you really are, lest they find you out for all your very real flaws.  I mean, how many times have you heard someone say "I was just being polite" to mean, "I really didn't mean what I said at all but didn't want you to know I'm mean"?

[Lysander]

Words are interesting things. I know people who find foreign languages confusing when the way a word is pronounced changes the meaning, but English has the same issues with some things even though the definitions aren't written. For example, "what?" could mean you don't understand, you want someone repeated, a rhetorical question said with exclamation and/or anger, and sometimes the word isn't even a question but a response.

Some phrases we use today mean the complete opposite than they did in ancient times, similar to Liberal and Conservative but not as important as people make those words out to be. "By and by" means to be executed some time in the future, "I will do this by and by," but long ago the same phrase meant to execute an action immediately. Then there are phrases that don't have any relation from past meaning to present. One in particular I'd love to hear someone use correctly would be "fetch a compass to" which translates to "go roundabout."

I also learned recently what "upper case" and "lower case" letters really are: Upper case, or capitol letters, were named such because in a printing press a century ago they were contained in the upper case of storage for letters, conversely lower case are found in the lower case of letters.   

[LionHeart]

How about the word "Samaritan"?

There's a word that has lost its original meaning entirely, to the point of being almost the opposite of its original intent.

[EDIT: Better reference.]

[techmaster-glitch]

Heh, if you want words who's meaning have changed over time...

Get Thee To A Nunnery
Have A Gay Old Time



(Note: this stuff is text only with nothing genuinely explicit, but all the same, you might not anyone taking a close look at these...so, possible NSFW)

[Darkdragon]

I find curious example in the everyday words "let" and "neck".

"Let" is what I would call an auto-antonym - it contradicts itself. One definition is "to proceed or to allow" (Let the kid sleep in.) However, the other meaning is "an obstacle or to forbid" which is a rather archaic use today. (This is the reason why invalid strokes in tennis are called "let"). Although the first definition is more common today, the second definition was more common in Elizabethan English and before.

"Neck" is curious because it used to mean "the back of the neck" and the front was called the "hals". After Middle English when "neck" was changed to mean both the front and the back of your neck, they had to import the word "nape" to mean the back of the neck.

[Baal Hadad]

How about the word "Samaritan"?

There's a word that has lost its original meaning entirely, to the point of being almost the opposite of its original intent.

[EDIT: Better reference.]

Yes, exactly.  In the day of that parable, Jews and Samaritans hated each other, hence the need for the qualifier "good," which implies that Samaritans are assumed to be bad.  It'd be sort of like saying "The Good Nazi" in this day and age (okay, maybe not exactly, but something along those lines....).

Heh, if you want words who's meaning have changed over time...

Get Thee To A Nunnery
Have A Gay Old Time



(Note: this stuff is text only with nothing genuinely explicit, but all the same, you might not anyone taking a close look at these...so, possible NSFW)

Ha!  That latter trope makes me think of The Lord of the Rings, which makes repeated use of the word "[insert word beginning with f and used as a disparaging term for someone who's gay here]" in its original sense as "bundle of sticks."  However, with all the weird speculation about Frodo and Sam being gay, I can't help wondering how many people noticed the use of that word and thought it meant something else....

EDIT:

@Darkdragon: what about the word "light"?  It took me a long time to learn the meaning "land" (or "take off," which would make that another auto-antonym), even though I saw that use in The Cat in the Hat, of all things.  There's a phrase in that book "said the fish as he lit," and I never knew what that meant.

EDIT again: My apologies for the use of that word....  I've gone back and gotten rid of it....

[rabid_fox]

Wanky
Balljew
Thitherslut
Knobbyelder
Prolapse

[Alondro]

True freedom would be even free from nature itself.  No instincts, no genetically programmed actions, no hormonal urges.

It would be pure thought.

Soon I shall attain this... and all the blatherscyte shall be mine!

*believes 'blatherscyte' is some sort of super-power after having watched the latter seasons of "Duck Tales"*

[Valynth]

I've got one!

New Orleans!...

Too soon?

[Baal Hadad]

True freedom would be even free from nature itself.  No instincts, no genetically programmed actions, no hormonal urges.

It would be pure thought.

Soon I shall attain this... and all the blatherscyte shall be mine!

*believes 'blatherscyte' is some sort of super-power after having watched the latter seasons of "Duck Tales"*

Well, that's true--although I was mostly referring to the kind of freedom that would be most practical for humans, who do indeed have animal instincts, genetically programmed actions, and hormonal urges.  But my point was that we're more or less programmed to desire things the way they'll never be for us because we can't all have things that way at the same time.

[Lisky]

Another good word that has begun to drive me insane is 'Ghetto' i hate to brake it to anyone who lives in a poorer, rundown urban area, but that isn't a ghetto, where's the guards, the walls, the random beatings by the secrete police...
A ghetto was were first the Russians (and yes, the Russia actually started ghettos first) then the Nazis, would go and build a wall around a community, and force the jewish population to live in those areas... because the people were being persecuted they tended to be low end neighborhoods, and the people in the ghettos were generally treated with disdain by the patrolling law enforcement officials...

A few others that need to be re-evaluated are Activist and feminism, i'll explain activist in a second....

the word Activist tends to bring to mind something like the extreme members of PETA, which basically ruined the entire group for the more sane individuals involved who just want to see something done for the greater good... or if someone bombs an abortion clinic, it's been done by a "pro-life activist" the word activist seems to have replaced extremist, and extremist seems to have replaced the word fundamentalist... and fundamentalist is now left with like seven contradicting definitions by modern standards...

I mention Feminists because the overlying image today is not equal womens rights anymore(which i agree with) but now, going beyond that, that women are the superior gender... i support equality, but anything beyond that is bigotry, and ego on the part of anyone who claims to be superior to another group based on traits that are inherent in said group (for example, the 'bits and pieces', or skin color) IMHO...

[Baal Hadad]

Another good word that has begun to drive me insane is 'Ghetto' i hate to brake it to anyone who lives in a poorer, rundown urban area, but that isn't a ghetto, where's the guards, the walls, the random beatings by the secrete police...
A ghetto was were first the Russians (and yes, the Russia actually started ghettos first) then the Nazis, would go and build a wall around a community, and force the jewish population to live in those areas... because the people were being persecuted they tended to be low end neighborhoods, and the people in the ghettos were generally treated with disdain by the patrolling law enforcement officials...

A few others that need to be re-evaluated are Activist and feminism, i'll explain activist in a second....

the word Activist tends to bring to mind something like the extreme members of PETA, which basically ruined the entire group for the more sane individuals involved who just want to see something done for the greater good... or if someone bombs an abortion clinic, it's been done by a "pro-life activist" the word activist seems to have replaced extremist, and extremist seems to have replaced the word fundamentalist... and fundamentalist is now left with like seven contradicting definitions by modern standards...

I mention Feminists because the overlying image today is not equal womens rights anymore(which i agree with) but now, going beyond that, that women are the superior gender... i support equality, but anything beyond that is bigotry, and ego on the part of anyone who claims to be superior to another group based on traits that are inherent in said group (for example, the 'bits and pieces', or skin color) IMHO...

Yeah, your activist rant seems to me to express the whole problem, which is that of renaming things--relabeling them.  That doesn't work, especially when the new word means the same as the old one used to.  And that plays into your feminist rant because I've heard of some people who, noting that feminism has gone beyond "mere" equal rights for women, have turned to using the word "womanism."  Why should "womanist" remain a pure word that never goes beyond equal rights for women where "feminist" didn't?  What makes anyone think that "womanism" won't end up going the way of "feminism"?

Language is a crazy thing--and dangerous, since it shapes thought.

[Kasarn]

Remember when people used demagogue?
Oh wait, nobody ever used demagogue.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

@Darkdragon: what about the word "light"?  It took me a long time to learn the meaning "land" (or "take off," which would make that another auto-antonym), even though I saw that use in The Cat in the Hat, of all things.  There's a phrase in that book "said the fish as he lit," and I never knew what that meant.

I believe you mean the word "alight", as in to land on something. Or possibly "lit", as a shortened, past tense of "alight".

"light" isn't usually used as the present tense of "lit" for "landing", whereas it is for "setting fire to".

Isn't English a fun language to learn? ;-]

EDIT again: My apologies for the use of that word....  I've gone back and gotten rid of it....

No problem. The reason for the filter is for the unthinking people who attempt to use it; not the intelligent conversation that appears to be going on here.

Whilst we'd be happy to filter the former, and leave the latter, there doesn't appear to be a tickbox in the forum code for that option. Maybe they're having trouble coding it or something. ;-]

[LionHeart]

A few others that need to be re-evaluated are Activist and feminism, i'll explain activist in a second....

the word Activist tends to bring to mind something like the extreme members of PETA, which basically ruined the entire group for the more sane individuals involved who just want to see something done for the greater good... or if someone bombs an abortion clinic, it's been done by a "pro-life activist" the word activist seems to have replaced extremist, and extremist seems to have replaced the word fundamentalist... and fundamentalist is now left with like seven contradicting definitions by modern standards...

I mention Feminists because the overlying image today is not equal womens rights anymore(which i agree with) but now, going beyond that, that women are the superior gender... i support equality, but anything beyond that is bigotry, and ego on the part of anyone who claims to be superior to another group based on traits that are inherent in said group (for example, the 'bits and pieces', or skin color) IMHO...

Yes, "feminism" has gone from being a movement against discrimination, to being a form of discrimination in itself.

For that matter, how about "criticism"? The word has moved so far from its original meaning that "constructive criticism" is almost a contradiction in terms...

[Sunblink]

Once upon a time, a kid who attended my school walked up to me and asked me if "gay" was a synonym for "happy." And I said, "Well yeah, it is." And he told me his friend was insisting that it only meant "homo." I kind of stared at him for a long time after that, because I really didn't know that there are people who are still debating over the core meaning of the word gay.

IT MEANS HAPPY, PEOPLE. COME ON. Edgar Allen Poe used that word in his writing.

[Baal Hadad]

@Darkdragon: what about the word "light"?  It took me a long time to learn the meaning "land" (or "take off," which would make that another auto-antonym), even though I saw that use in The Cat in the Hat, of all things.  There's a phrase in that book "said the fish as he lit," and I never knew what that meant.

I believe you mean the word "alight", as in to land on something. Or possibly "lit", as a shortened, past tense of "alight".

"light" isn't usually used as the present tense of "lit" for "landing", whereas it is for "setting fire to".

Isn't English a fun language to learn? ;-]

EDIT again: My apologies for the use of that word....  I've gone back and gotten rid of it....

No problem. The reason for the filter is for the unthinking people who attempt to use it; not the intelligent conversation that appears to be going on here.

Whilst we'd be happy to filter the former, and leave the latter, there doesn't appear to be a tickbox in the forum code for that option. Maybe they're having trouble coding it or something. ;-]

Ah, thanks for the clarification.  But yeah, as I mentioned, the use of the word in The Cat in the Hat was "lit."  My point was that it took me a long time to learn any other definition of "light" or "lit" that didn't have to do with what fire, flashlights, and the sun produce.

And yeah, that's the problem with leaving it up to a computer, even if the latter is more convenient.  There are words that I know wouldn't have gotten past the filter, and I don't like to use those anyway, in any context.  And I wouldn't use that word in an insulting manner either, but I guess I didn't realize it wouldn't get past the filter at all--I guess it just scared me when it was replaced with "I'm too stupid to use nice words" or whatever it said....

Yes, "feminism" has gone from being a movement against discrimination, to being a form of discrimination in itself.

For that matter, how about "criticism"? The word has moved so far from its original meaning that "constructive criticism" is almost a contradiction in terms...

Exactly.  Especially since a lot of people like to criticize things, and other people, so that it becomes almost a sadistic pleasure rather than anything constructive.  In fact, I think that's why the phrase "constructive criticism" exists at all now--it's like "good Samaritan" in that it assumes we would think of criticism as something negative, as destructive, so it needs a qualifier.

Once upon a time, a kid who attended my school walked up to me and asked me if "gay" was a synonym for "happy." And I said, "Well yeah, it is." And he told me his friend was insisting that it only meant "homo." I kind of stared at him for a long time after that, because I really didn't know that there are people who are still debating over the core meaning of the word gay.

IT MEANS HAPPY, PEOPLE. COME ON. Edgar Allen Poe used that word in his writing.

Yeah, you know, after seeing a lot of old movies (mostly Disney cartoons), I grew up thinking "gay" meant happy--in fact, I heard the phrase "happy and gay" all the time, and now it's harder to take it in the spirit in which it was meant anymore.  Worse in my mind though is when people do it on purpose--a couple of times in webcomics I've seen they've done parodies of "I Feel Pretty" with a male character singing, and they use the original lines but pause before the word, to emphasize it (or else don't have it at all, but you know what's coming): "I feel pretty and witty and...GAY!!!" 

And now of course you have people using it as a disparaging term, which is even worse, as in "That's so gay."

[Jack McSlay]

Sorry for everyone who lives in the U.S., but  for a lot of people on other countries in the americas, calling people who lives in USA by american is confusing, often annoying and I heard it's even offensive in some places

[Sofox]

Over here a lot of people know "gay"'s original meaning as being happy and festive.
Heck, there's even an expression (when referring to someone's sexual orientation): "He's as gay as Christmas"

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

And yeah, that's the problem with leaving it up to a computer, even if the latter is more convenient.  There are words that I know wouldn't have gotten past the filter, and I don't like to use those anyway, in any context.  And I wouldn't use that word in an insulting manner either, but I guess I didn't realize it wouldn't get past the filter at all--I guess it just scared me when it was replaced with "I'm too stupid to use nice words" or whatever it said....

The filter is mostly not used, actually. We rely on people being sensible, and on the moderators coming down like a large, spiky mace on the people who aren't.

It seems to work for us. *grin*

So, there's a lot of words that will skip right past the filter. And there's a few specific words (about 5, I think - I'd look them up and list them, but... *grin*) that get caught by the filter. Generally speaking, if your sentence got caught, look at it and see if you can't rephrase it. We're mostly adult enough here that bad words aren't bad in and of themselves.

Although we do try to limit their use, since we have some young people on the forum, and we try to keep the place family-friendly. Like Eowyn.


Say "hi", Eowyn. ;-]

[Lisky]

After reading through some of my required reading for a creative writing class, i found another one that should probably be mentioned Queer... from what i can tell, it's original use is as a synonym for eerie, awkward, or strange...

[Tapewolf]

Queer... from what i can tell, it's original use is as a synonym for eerie, awkward, or strange...

Maybe it shows my age but I thought this was common knowledge.  "There's nowt queer as folk" is not an uncommon phrase.  Though it's probably more so in the UK than the US.

[Lisky]

another word used to describe homosexuals i'm afraid, at least, that's it 'common' usage in the US now...

yea, i guess it could be considered common knowledge, for english majors, or people who enjoy reading, to the rest of the US at least, Queer means homosexual first and formost... which depresses me, because as you pointed out, when used properly, it's actually quite a fun word to use in everyday speech