Hierarchy - Is This at the Center of the Lib/Con Debate?

[_Chap]

I would like to know what you mean when you use the phrase "faux-profanity" if you are willing to explain.

I am referring to posts filled with dashes and asterisks, eked out by a sprinkling of permitted sub-obscenities, presumably to convey the impression 'Hey! I'm a really tough guy/gal, and if we were in a bar I'd be yelling obscenities at my interlocutors and jabbing at them with my finger while breathing beerily in their faces. Then you'd have to stop disagreeing with me.'

...

You think that when people use swearage in their posts it's akin to yelling in a bar expressing toughness? To me, swearage is simply emphasis unless it's used in a barrage of a profanity laced attack. Swearing equals yelling and intimidation? Maybe in some cases, I suppose.

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Nope. It's just that on a message board pretend swearing shows a frankly ridiculous wish to signal how very, very authentic and genuine one is, by deploying means which have no impact or relevance in this medium. It's adding a sig line saying 'Hey, if you met me in real life you'd be really impressed by the force of my earthy personality.'

To which I answer: Uh-huh. Is that so? But what do you actually have to say to us?

[_Jersey Girl]

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You think that when people use swearage in their posts it's akin to yelling in a bar expressing toughness? To me, swearage is simply emphasis unless it's used in a barrage of a profanity laced attack. Swearing equals yelling and intimidation? Maybe in some cases, I suppose.

....

Nope. It's just that on a message board pretend swearing shows a frankly ridiculous wish to signal how very, very authentic and genuine one is, by deploying means which have no impact or relevance in this medium. It's adding a sig line saying 'Hey, if you met me in real life you'd be really impressed by the force of my earthy personality.'

To which I answer: Uh-huh. Is that so? But what do you actually have to say to us?

How is using profanity on a board, pretend? That's what I don't understand.

I think you read quite a lot more into the use of simple profanity than anyone really intends there to be, but we all have our perceptions I suppose.

That sig line example, I'll try to relate that to myself somehow. If you met me in real life... you'd probably notice that I speak calmly and matter-of-factly and in some cases, that I use profanity as part of language. I think there are some folks on the board here who would vouch for that. In fact, I am certain that there are.

This reminds me of when Doc Cam was posting his travel journal and posted his observations about language usage on the East Coast. Did you read the comments that he made?

I'm pretty sure that what he observed wasn't people angry or yelling or tough or what have you, but people just speaking the way they normally speak.

It's interesting how you see this.