whats the stupidist thing you've ever had a social media ban for?

[VelvetChairGirl]

I have a 24 hour ban on facebook now for saying "you're a dog mate" to a man/woman with a dog avatar, who asked if I was a child because my avatar is a cartoon.

I previously got a ban on facebook for saying "I wish we had a store here" in the comments to a shop advertisement.

[quote HangingRock25]@FleshLiabilities It isn't 'slang'. It is a deeply offensive slur. No different to the N word. And banned WORLDWIDE. For a reason. You wouldn't allow the N word to be said, so why all the F-- word?[/quote]
world that be the N word which is actually spanish for the colour black and very common in spanish speaking countries because you know, they need words for different colours.

@VelvetChairGirl it means a ciggy here or a meat based product (well offal based) we've been eating them for at least 200 years

Yes, I know. But it should be changed. That's the point. Just because an offensive slur has been used for something else for 200 years doesn't make it right.

@VelvetChairGirl It is no longer in common usage in Spanish speaking countries. And even if it were, does that then also mean you agree with the N word then?

[quote HangingRock25]**@GreyCarpet* It is still deeply offensive to decent people in the UK. Just as the N word is deeply offensive to decent people in the UK. And it's a foodstuff that can be renamed*.[/quote]
Actually, anyone I know who might be on the receiving end of such an insult has never suggested the name be changed. Because they understand that food is not offensive... 🤷🏻‍♀️

@girlmom21

You don't get bans without warnings so, whilst some of these seem daft, you've got to be intentionally difficult, at the very least.

Wrong. I got a short suspension from Twitter, no warning given previously, for pointing out that males can't breastfeed naturally and therefore any male claiming to have done it was either a liar or had put a baby's health at risk by taking a cocktail of drugs to induce lactation which the baby would imbibe with the 'milk'.

I would willingly give up the word 'fag' meaning cigarette on international sites if Americans would stop using a word that I can't even bring myself to type (four letters, s**z, used to refer to people with cerebral palsy). But in FB's eyes it doesn't matter that it's deeply offensive to many FB users because it's not offensive in America.

[quote HangingRock25]@VelvetChairGirl It is no longer in common usage in Spanish speaking countries. And even if it were, does that then also mean you agree with the N word then?[/quote]
did you complain to a local paper a few months ago about the spanish words on food colouring packaging in hobby craft by any chance?

[quote HangingRock25]@marcopront So lets allow the N word then, too, shall we?[/quote]
To describe the colour brown in Spanish speaking countries, yes.

In other situations, no.

In the same way, in the UK we can use a word to describe cigarettes or meatballs but that word should not be used in other circumstances.

You are the one who wants to ban words that are offensive regardless of what they mean elsewhere. Who gets to decide which words we ban? Are you happy to never use the word "lull" in case you offend the Dutch?

I got thrown off a local FB page for ranting about some twit that had lit a massive bonfire one summer morning ..... and my garden was covered in thick white smoke. I'd got all my bedlinen hanging on the line outside including the mattress protector so it had been 3 loads worth.

Apparently my reaction was "disproportionate" and it was rude to call someone a tightarse for not paying for a green waste bin.............

Another traditional UK English meaning of faggot is firewood bundle.

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar

I would willingly give up the word 'fag' meaning cigarette on international sites if Americans would stop using a word that I can't even bring myself to type (four letters, s**z, used to refer to people with cerebral palsy). But in FB's eyes it doesn't matter that it's deeply offensive to many FB users because it's not offensive in America.

Quite!

@girlmom21

You don't get bans without warnings so, whilst some of these seem daft, you've got to be intentionally difficult, at the very least.

You absolutely do.

I got a 7 day ban for typing 'Black Dyke' (which is the name of a brass band in Yorkshire - and was 100% relevant to the group I was posting in) and I'd never been banned or had any kind of warnings before.

Most Twitter moderation appears to be automated, and the algorithm has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Programmed for US English and law, gives a lot of weight to number of reports without looking at the substance, heavily weighted to protect certain types of tweets and come down like a ton of bricks on others.

You can't say hoe in most of my gardening groups, despite it only being used to describe a weeding implement in UK. Of course weeds is another word that people have been banned for. The algorithms must think it's a riot of prostitutes and drugs in people's gardens!

The use of "faggot" to describe a dish of minced meat and offal or a bundle of wood far pre-dates its use as an insulting word.
It obviously shouldn't be used to insult people, but why should the dish have its name changed? Especially in the UK where the dish originated and where the use of "faggot" as an insulting term filtered across from North America much later.

It's imaginable that "Sloppy Joe", say, could become an insulting term; should the food item be re-named or should it just be recognised that its use as an insult is absolutely wrong and reprehensible?

I'd argue that it's different from the N word as that hasn't - AFAIK - had a completely different and innocent meaning in English.

And, to try not to wander too far from the thread, I was once put into pre-mod for a week on a message board because I complained that the board had been displaying my password instead of my username.

One of my FB fiends got 30 days in FB jail for bullying and harassment for describing Michael Moore as being fugly despite her settings only allowing friends to read her posts and Michael Moore not being privy to her opinion of him!

When the BBC ran messageboards 20+ years ago you couldn't openly refer to fuchsias or Scunthorpe or Pakistan! Interesting to hear similar problems persist even now.

The concept of context is clearly lost on @HangingRock25. Should someone be banned for writing in French using the French word for 'delay'?

I once had a comment removed on a retailer's post for going against community guidelines. It was probably about 8 years after I posted the comment on said post which was a competition, asking followers to comment the link of the item they wanted to win.

I didn't win

I was never banned from Facebook altogether but Britain First banned me from commenting on their posts.

@acatcalledjohn

The concept of context is clearly lost on *@HangingRock25*. Should someone be banned for writing in French using the French word for 'delay'?

I once had a comment removed on a retailer's post for going against community guidelines. It was probably about 8 years after I posted the comment on said post which was a competition, asking followers to comment the link of the item they wanted to win.

I didn't win

It doesn't matter the context. @acatcalledjohn F-g has the same meaning in any country, you are being disingenuous. There is no context where it's ok. Yes, it did mean meat or sticks or cigarette, but the point is it should be CHANGED now.

Why does the UK which rightly embraces disallowing the N word, have such an intense obsession with sticking with the F word? For the life of me I don't understand the stubbornness with that word. It is a universal term, it is offensive in every country.

Further, if you know your history, it was originally first used in the 1600s as a put down against women (and hence where the insult against 'feminine men' came about). It's use as an insult pre-dates meatballs or cigarettes.

I really don't understand this stubborn refusal to remove a word from common usage that is a recognised all around the world as a slur. It should be removed from common usage circulation, like the N word has. Why are the UK so backward on this?

@acatcalledjohn For the f-g word, there is no concept that it is acceptable. At least in 99% of the world. Why can't you say meatballs? Why can't you say cigarette, smoke, ciggie? Why do you need to say that word?

They have different meanings.

Plenty of languages have words that have different meanings, depending on context. Doesn't that mean that all meanings suddenly become equally offensive because of one context?

In that case, can all the current queer people refrain from using the term that was so horrendously offensive in the 70s and 80s?

Can all Americans stop using terms like "retard" and "spastic" as if they are acceptable? Because in most of the world they already are.

People in glass houses etc etc.

@acatcalledjohn

They have different meanings.

Plenty of languages have words that have different meanings, depending on context. Doesn't that mean that all meanings suddenly become equally offensive because of one context?

In that case, can all the current queer people refrain from using the term that was so horrendously offensive in the 70s and 80s?

Can all Americans stop using terms like "retard" and "spastic" as if they are acceptable? Because in most of the world they already are.

People in glass houses etc etc.

Again, it doesn't matter the meaning. The fact is it is a universal slur with only one meaning outside of the UK. That's what you and others are not getting. I really don't care a hoot that it's used as another meaning in the UK. 99% should overrule 1%. It shouldn't be and it should stop being used regardless of the meaning. It's been a slur since the 1600s. Slapping the word on a box of meatballs doesn't make it suddenly ok to use. The word should never be uttered no matter the reason.

Americans using those terms don't make it right. Also as far as I know they don't have those names on food items. America also doesn't have a box of rissoles called the R word. Because they, unlike the UK, know better.

This is interesting

www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0895769X.2022.2029692?journalCode=vanq20

I think we can safely assume that the UK isn’t going to stop referring to a type of meatball as ‘faggots’ ((as we’ve been doing for centuries) in the same way other countries aren’t going to stop using words that we might find offensive. I presume faggots aren’t eaten in other countries, so there’s no need to worry - but if someone from outside the UK wants to be shocked by it just as we might be by these www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-2929630/amp/The-rudest-food-names-world-revealed.html then go for it.