Quite a shame how people respond

[Fidel_Castronaut]

I love English. I used to hate a few of my English teachers, though... this one of them had us do this fucking retarded 'branching' exercise and taught english phonetically. I remember that once she taught us 'I before E, except after C', and it pissed me off so much that I compiled a list of some 20-30 examples of where the rule is not true, and I gave it to her, and I asked her what about those.

Off topic but in fact that rule is wrong more often than its right (as you probably already know).

It's a silly rule and is really just a lazy attempt to get kids to spell when really they should be taught how to spell.

[Rayaan]

Yes, of course, over time, most people will ''grow some skins'', but take for example Dawkins, he sort of lost it with his website. He was too outraged by the language and the verbal violence which had spread like a cancer. He couldn't take it and so he decided to close it down, even though it was the most active forum for atheists. But then, look at how he frequently answers in public. He is no model of restrain when it comes to use cussin' words. All in all, it has to do with self-discipline. Anyone can use the F-word, it's the easiest one to use when you want to tell someone to get lost. But as I said before, it has been overused and abused.

I didn't know that Dawkins has such a propensity for cussing. If that is true, then I suppose people might have had a better opinion of him if he did less of that.

I only heard him say "fuck off" one time in this video. (Funny how he said it with so little force).

[Cyberman]

You ought to hear him in this one then!

[Rayaan]

You ought to hear him in this one then!

Oh, yeah, I've seen one that also. But here he was just reading the words of other people, so he wasn't actually swearing, right?

Nonetheless, he did say a lot of swear words in the video and that was funny.

[fr0d0]

He always looks so embarrassed to me, like his body let's you know when he thinks being an idiot.

[Cato]

He always looks so embarrassed to me, like his body let's you know when he thinks being an idiot.

It's called humility. Of course you godbotherers have no frame of reference.

[fr0d0]

Yes, him with his public school superiority complex....

[Cato]

Yes, him with his public school superiority complex....

Public school superiority complex? What does this mean?

[Angrboda]

Meh. People who get bent over swear words usually turn out to be dicks anyway. Why should I cater to their needs?


There was a long period in my life when I didn't swear. I was perfectly able to express myself then and now. I haven't changed.

I'm not even really conscious of how I use obscene language. It's just another rhetorical tool. And sometimes that hard edge is exactly what's needed. Other times, I may use it in a, "I don't know this person, so let's poke him with a stick and see what happens" sort of way. It's just another weapon in the arsenal; no better, no worse. Used skillfully, obscenity can be a potent weapon.

(Speaking of which, I don't think whateverist has quite got this swearing business down. It's quite charming, in an awkward way. Maybe in his next life.)

[Silver]

Yet you were perfectly capable of conveying what you needed without swearing. I have nothing against swearing, but to me it just seems that resorting to that type of vulgarity means a loss of control on the part of the one swearing. I would rather the person I am in conversation with understand that my control cannot be shaken.