# Language in Story Hours?



## barsoomcore (Jun 15, 2004)

I have a question I need a little guidance on, so any moderators who can chime in here...

I'm working on a new post for my Wild Stewardesses Story Hour, and in it there's a bit of a naughty word. I really want to use this particular word -- it's a colluquial term for a woman's secondary sexual characteristics, rhymes with "fits", starts with a "t"...

Is that going to be okay? Is it going to get smacked by the automatic naughty-word-smacker? Should I not even be considering such offensive language within hearing of Eric's Grandma?

It's just that it's REALLY funny and shocking and perfect for the moment, and I really want to use it. But if I need to find an alternate, I'd rather know now.

Thanks!


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## EricNoah (Jun 15, 2004)

I would appreciate it if you could find an alternate way to say it. Super-cool of you to check with us first, btw -- thanks.  

Edit: the term you were considering is on the filter list, btw, in case you were curious.


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## Psionicist (Jun 16, 2004)

You don't have to use the word, you can use a photo: http://www.virtual-bird.com/birds/parcri001he.jpg It's singular, but people might get it anyway.


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## barsoomcore (Jun 16, 2004)

Gee, a picture's always worth a thousand words, isn't it? 

Not always the right words, mind you...  

*goes off to figure out just how to express Li Fa's annoyance and pain appropriately*


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## Hypersmurf (Jun 16, 2004)

EricNoah said:
			
		

> I would appreciate it if you could find an alternate way to say it. Super-cool of you to check with us first, btw -- thanks.




Heh... I would have said Yes, just so that we could see a new sig: "Wild Stewardess Action (now with _Naughty Language_!)"

Ah, well 

-Hyp.


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## Piratecat (Jun 16, 2004)

You can probably sneak through with "boobs."


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## jgbrowning (Jun 16, 2004)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> You can probably sneak through with "boobs."




Yeah, boobies are cool. Especially the blue-footed ones....


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## the Jester (Jun 16, 2004)

You know, I try to always respect the rules of conduct and such here, but the times something more 'adult' has come up in my SH I've tried to issue a warning at the start of the post.  And then I've gone ahead and put it in there.  

This has never been a language thing for me, at least that I can recall; it's always been a situational thing (i.e. the whale incident).

Anyway, what I'm getting at is, to me the needs of the story weigh heavily on how I tell it; but I try to keep it suitable for everyone here, try to respect the guidelines/rules of conduct, and try to make sure that anything that _is_ a lil risque is done in the most, um, appropriate tone.  Sometimes there's a lil clash between story need and appropriateness; so sometimes I find that I'm walking a pretty fine line.  The disclaimers help show that you're at least thinking it over rather than just plain posting, and as long you tweak the tone properly, I think you can make just about anything pass muster.

But I don't think I've said the word to which you're referring to in my story hour.


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## diaglo (Jun 16, 2004)

i'm laughing just trying to think of alternatives for it...

this always reminds me of when they edit movies for television...


"You are as useless as  [pl. noun]  on a bull"

or Mad Libs... i loved those silly Mad Libs when i was a kid.


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## el-remmen (Jun 16, 2004)

I recently had to change "t*ts" to "teats" in my own story hour to make it show up.

-- Uses a lot of naughty words in his story hour Nemm


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## barsoomcore (Jun 16, 2004)

A more lively discussion than I'd anticipated!

I guess "Naughty Language" always brings out the lit'ry types....

Well, I think I've found a substitute that will do. Hopefully the post will go up today and we'll see if legions of appalled ENWorld members come reeling out of the Story Hour forums, shocked and offended at what they've just witnessed.

I can only hope.


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## barsoomcore (Jun 17, 2004)

Okay, well, the post is now up with the "substitute" language. Actually, I think I like it better like this. It's more comical, which is a good contrast to the moment itself.

So thanks for the input, everyone!


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## MerakSpielman (Jun 17, 2004)

"tîts" could work.


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## Cyberzombie (Jun 17, 2004)

MerakSpielman said:
			
		

> "tîts" could work.




Actually, that would be breaking one of the cardinal rules of language here: no cutesy workarounds.

Now get back to Nothingland where you belong!  Shoo!  Get!


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## Desdichado (Jun 18, 2004)

barsoomcore said:
			
		

> Okay, well, the post is now up with the "substitute" language. Actually, I think I like it better like this. It's more comical, which is a good contrast to the moment itself.
> 
> So thanks for the input, everyone!



Of course!  A little alliteration makes everything funnier.  

EDIT:  Although looks like you'd have to change the order of your two adjectives to get alliteration.  My mistake!


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## barsoomcore (Jun 18, 2004)

Joshua Dyal said:
			
		

> You'd have to change the order of your two adjectives to get alliteration.



Yeah, but then it sounds a little too much like Robin confronting Pamela Lee Anderson.

"Holy Big Boobies, Batman!"

Not at ALL the effect I was going for.


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## Desdichado (Jun 18, 2004)

_*Every*_ story hour could use a little more Robin confronting Pamela Lee.  In fact, I'm off to make a note of that right now for my own story hour...


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## Gez (Jun 19, 2004)

Cyberzombie said:
			
		

> Actually, that would be breaking one of the cardinal rules of language here: no cutesy workarounds.




_¡_ Damn, 'cause there's a character that correspond to the upside-down bang that the Spanish use, and it looks just like a i _!_


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## RangerWickett (Jun 20, 2004)

Actually, this is something I've had as a little pet peeve for a while.  I know this site is intended to be polite and decent, but if we're able to discuss mutilating bodies for the creation of undead from the BoVD, or talk about how unrealistic the orgasm rules are in the BoEF, why is it offensive when I say:



> "Did you hear that?"  Said the private dick, cocking his head to the side.




?

Would it be possible, somehow, to implement an option that would remove the profanity filter, if the person reading the thread wanted to?  For instance, I'm not at all offended by 'naughty words'; my ex-girlfriend regularly calls me things that are quite allowable by the filter, but which would be far more offensive.  If a storyhour writer had a vulgar character, and he put a notice in the title of his thread like "(adult language)," I would like to be able to read it as the writer intended.  For me, I'd have the "allow profanity" option enabled, and I'd be able to see the cussing.  For Grandma Noah, however, she'd just see smileys.

Even if the coding to make such a thing work isn't feasible (and I'd imagine it isn't), could there at least be an option for a poster to disable the profanity filter, with the stipulation that you'd have to include a notice in the title of your thread, or else you'd be punished?  

In fact, you wouldn't even have to change the board's filter.  There are several ways to work around the filter, but most people don't because we're not supposed to.  I'm just asking for a bit of leniency, for the sake of us who watch R-rated movies, and who'd like to be able to write about ornithologists.

If nothing else, though, I'm now gonna go read the storyhour to see what Barsoomcore has to say about .


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## RangerWickett (Jun 20, 2004)

Hmm.  Apparently it's not offensive for me to say that quoted phrase.  I could've sworn, though, that I tried to post once and got '' filtered out.  Oh well.  My request still stands, humbly.


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## MerakSpielman (Jun 20, 2004)

the problem is that you can't just remove the profanity filter for some people - the text you posted has literally been changed. Were you to go to edit it, YOU wouldn't even be able to see what you originally typed. Just a bunck of colons and close parantheses.


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## RangerWickett (Jun 20, 2004)

I understand that.  Which is why I suggest there be an option, perhaps even something requiring moderator approval or a community supporter status, to turn off the filter as you place your post.  Doing so would make the whole thread 'restricted,' so that when you click on a link, you get to a page that asks you to verify that you're alright with reading profanity.


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## RangerWickett (Jun 20, 2004)

By the way, Merak, some of the links in your sig are to the enworld.cyberstreet.com address, which messes up people's log-ins.


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## Gez (Jun 20, 2004)

I'd like a way to disable the filter, too. 

For example, I play in a PbP in French on these forums. It's DMed by Guillaume, if you want to find it. The story is the "Shackled City" thingy from Dungeon Magazine. As you may know (if you don't, that won't spoil anything), there's a problem with children kidnapped from an orphanage.

So, of course, with children, people will speak about "little ones". Which is said _pet__its_ in French. Without it being a naughty word.

I had the same problem, but in English, on the Wizards board. It was impossibe to ****yze monster strategies with a ****atrice. Since then, the filter has been fine-tuned, and you can talk about analysis and cockatrixes, but that was just an example of problems with profanity filters.


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## barsoomcore (Jun 21, 2004)

You ask a simple question, and look at the discussion that flowers...

The filter here caught me by surprise when I tried to describe people and things from the nation of Kish on Barsoom. The standard adjectival form of "Kish" adds "ite" to the end of the name, but that produces a naughty word surrounded by "Ki" and "e" so I ended up with a little girl vampire who was described as "Kie".  

So in my Story Hour the adjectival form for "Kish" is now "Kishak". Which is a perfectly cool word. But it was kind of a surprise.

Anyway, I'd welcome any feedback on the naughty bit in Stewardesses. Did it work? Would the initially-desired term have been better?


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## Piratecat (Jun 21, 2004)

I haven't checked Stewardesses yet. In the mean time, though, if you make a list of words like Kishi*e and peti*s we should be able to exclude those from the filter.


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## barsoomcore (Jun 22, 2004)

Oh, thanks, but 30-some-odd posts later I'm used to "Kishak". No problem. It was just funny at the time -- took me a while to figure out what the heck was happening.  

Thanks, though. Service with a, uh, smile. That's what keeps me coming back here....

Well, that, and the hope that I'll be able to Hong-beat properly someday. If you know what I mean. And I think you do.


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