cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

Community Veteran
Posts: 1,112
Registered: 30-07-2007

Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

I fell foul of the word censor when previewing a posting the other day, the word was pretty innocuous and frankly one you could hear on a children’s BBC program. Don’t ask me why but I found it really annoying that I wasn’t allowed to use the term.
I actually added to the post and asked with a bit of judicious spacing if it was possible to get the word removed from the filter, the only response was an admonishment from a moderator for attempting to avoid the word censor!
So I am asking again. Is it possible to look at the censor database and update it to the noughties rather than have it stuck in the fifties?
Clearly I am not allowed to use the offending word in this post so I will just finish by stating a few words that I feel reflect my view on banning of it.
Completely
Ridiculous
And
Pointless
Anyone at Plusnet care to comment over and above saying I am circumventing the censor rules?
Peace be with you all, even overzealous moderators.  Shocked
121 REPLIES
Community Veteran
Posts: 1,100
Registered: 05-04-2007

Re: Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

I really suppose it depends on the definition. Both taken from the Concise Oxford Dictionary:
Quote
crap1 vulgar slang
· n.
1 nonsense; rubbish.
2 excrement. Ø an act of defecation.
· v. (crapped, crapping) defecate.
· adj. extremely poor in quality.
– DERIVATIVES crappy adj.
– ORIGIN ME, in sense ‘chaff’: rel. to Du. krappe, from krappen ‘pluck or cut off’, and perh. also to OFr. crappe ‘siftings’, Anglo-Latin crappa ‘chaff’.

Quote
crap2 N. Amer.
· n. a losing throw in craps.
· v. (crap out) informal make a losing throw at craps. Ø give up; fail.

oh, and the problems with the quotes are due to the word censor. The actual 'post reply' section is fine  Wink
Community Veteran
Posts: 1,100
Registered: 05-04-2007

Re: Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

To take a different word that is also listed as 'vulgar slang' in the Concise Oxford Dictionary:
Quote
fanny
· n. (pl. fannies)
1 Brit. vulgar slang a woman’s genitals.
2 informal, chiefly N. Amer. a person’s buttocks.
· v. (fanny about/around) Brit. informal mess around and waste time.
– ORIGIN C19: of unknown origin.

Does not seem to be censored, so their is an inconsistency in the use of the swear filter.
Community Veteran
Posts: 1,112
Registered: 30-07-2007

Re: Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

Fanny is also a sporting term: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pétanque
To fanny (mettre fanny in French)
To beat one's opponents 13 to 0. The figure of a bare-bottomed lass named Fanny is ubiquitous in Provence wherever pétanque is played. It is traditional that when a player loses 13 to 0 it is said that “il est fanny” (he's fanny) or “il a fait fanny” (he made fanny), and that he has to kiss the bottom of a girl called Fanny. Since there is rarely an obliging Fanny's fanny handy, there is usually a substitute picture, woodcarving or pottery so that Fanny’s bottom is available. More often, the team which made "fanny" has to offer a beverage to the winning team (see the French popular expression "Fanny paye à boire !").
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 26,969
Thanks: 1,763
Fixes: 135
Registered: 14-04-2007

Re: Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

It is,of course the 'Christian' name of a well known Undecided TV cook.

Customer and Forum Moderator.

Not applicable

Re: Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

The only thing I'd point out is that Plusnet don't control the word censor, the community do via us (the mods).
I remember replacing the word in your post, and regardless of whether a word should, or shouldn't be included, if it is, you must not avoid the word censor.
Glad that you've brought it into a seperate debate to discuss the though.
RE: The words that should, or shouldn't be included - we're happy to listen and do as the majority want - but we must also err on the side of caution on occasion.
Trouble is, I'm not sure how we can easily debate the word censor, since the words that might need to be discussed, are censored. Crazy
Ideas?
pierre_pierre
Grafter
Posts: 19,757
Registered: 30-07-2007

Re: Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

careful James or you will end up with a lot of B..  PM's
Not applicable

Re: Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

I don't mind a lot of PMs, so long as folks remember that it might take me a while to get through them all Wink
We are looking at progressing further with our re-arrangement of the forums (more news on this later) but a possibility that I'm thinking of is adding a hidden board for discussion of the word censor, which is accessible to anybody who wishes to join in the discussion, and accepts that there will be words which might be considered offensive therein.
So long as we have enough people to give some sort of a balanced view, it might work - does this sound sensible, and would some of you be prepared to give it a go?
pierre_pierre
Grafter
Posts: 19,757
Registered: 30-07-2007

Re: Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

I forgot, no use sending PM's as the Censored censor wont let use say what we think so it will have to be e-mails
Community Veteran
Posts: 3,291
Thanks: 2
Registered: 10-08-2007

Re: Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

I agree that a sensible review of the swear filter would be appropriate and would be happy to contribute to the discussion accordingly.
Community Veteran
Posts: 1,112
Registered: 30-07-2007

Re: Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

Yup, having complained about it I am happy to take part as well.
Community Veteran
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 1,030
Fixes: 62
Registered: 15-06-2007

Re: Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

Me too 
geewizz
Grafter
Posts: 1,125
Registered: 01-08-2007

Re: Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

I'm a fan of the current catch-all facility. It's link:censored entertaining.
Community Veteran
Posts: 3,291
Thanks: 2
Registered: 10-08-2007

Re: Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

You awkward bugger
Not applicable

Re: Plusnet - Please overhaul the swear filter?

I'm often tempted to add random words to the swear filter, just to see the effect it has on posts.
As an example, I took the liberty of changing the word "mildly" to link:censored in geewizz's post above, just to show you how it can make the most inoccuous posts take on a whole new meaning. Crazy
https://community.plus.net/t5/Community-Site-Feedback/Plusnet-Please-overhaul-the-swear-filter/td-p/549781
community.plus.net
crawl=CC-MAIN-2018-39
412400
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:AASAQGCMDGYZS6XNKNO5USNQOH2CWMKT
<urn:uuid:2f834f3c-40f8-489d-b44a-db52dd7c414d>
2018-09-26T16:02:51Z
46.19.168.229
text/html
sha1:5NJQGEBH5DGB5HSSF7BJEY2D3Y6JJZQT
<urn:uuid:87c8edf2-8e60-499b-8234-9d46267b7bac>
https://community.plus.net/t5/Community-Site-Feedback/Plusnet-Please-overhaul-the-swear-filter/td-p/549781
response
<urn:uuid:134453ec-2c37-4407-882c-6c27cbcc0549>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-39
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for September 2018
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-51-154-251.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 0.11-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/