http://qs321.pair.com?node_id=598053


in reply to Re: Consideration for obscenity
in thread Consideration for obscenity

Hmmmm. I'm not sure where you're coming from ... on one hand you seem offended that I had the temerity to dare to consider the node, yet on the other you talk about being offended by 'excessive prurience'. In the words of Inigo Montoya, "I do not think that word means what you think it means." Prurience refers to:

prurient: marked by or arousing an immoderate or unwholesome interest or desire; especially : marked by, arousing, or appealing to sexual desire

Perhaps you were trying to call me a 'prude'?

I didn't make up the guideline about family-friendly -- that was here before I really started posting. But it seems rather silly to approve of "professional" but oppose "family". Both simply refer to an abstract standard of decency which seeks not to trample on the things that matter to others. Personally, I find obscene language very unprofessional, so I guess it fits the bill either way.

It is sort of funny for me to hear you offer the idea that "obscenity is OK because it is adults talking to adults" (paraphrasing you), since that is one argument I think is particularly apropos to opposing obscene language. C'mon, we're not scrawling on junior-high bathroom stalls, here. Are adult monks not able to express themselves on a higher level, using the vast resources of the language, without descending into vulgarities?