Using asterisks

[theQuibbler]

Does anyone else find the use of asterisks to somehow take the 'sting' out swear words, irritating?

I don't see how it makes a word 'polite' - it just infantilises writer and reader.

If you want to f**king swear, then fucking swear. Or find an alternative word that does the job for you.

[GrimmaTheNome]

Very irritating. If you must, the correct form is to use a dash as in "D--- you, you bounder". That has a certain Austenesque charmm.

Still its better than prissy websits which turn a mild 'shit' into 'bleep' thereby making it look as though I'd probably originally written 'fuck' (which I use but sparingly)

[AMumInScotland]

It's a tricky one - I think since you can tell exactly which swear-word they used, it doesn't actually make it any politer. OTOH if they are making it possible for people to read the thread despite the sort of internet filters which some people have to work with - ones which will not let you view a page at all if it has any swear-words on it - then that's a fair use of the asterisk.

I think I find f**k less irritating than fark though, because it's not pretending not to be rude!

[southeastastra]

have to quite i quite like the c**ting things myself

[prism]

If you want to be a proper pedant, be careful how you use the word "hopefully". I suspect you really mean that you hope that you are in the right place, but you may be saying that you know you are in the right place, and are full of hope, in which case "hopefully" would be the correct word.