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Aster*sks

NenyaNenya All Saints Host, Ecclesiantics & MW Host
in The Styx
Prompted by this thread I would welcome a discussion about asterisks and their uses. Some I think have become common parlance on the Ship, such as "sn*w" - where it's fairly clear what the missing vowel is, also from context, also because an asterisk looks like a snowflake. In other places it is not so clear. At times we seem to use them to avoid naming specific products or organisations (to avoid any hint of advertising?). Are there other reasons? Can we find ways to use them without losing clarity?

Comments

  • RoseofsharonRoseofsharon Shipmate
    I get the imperession that when the asterisks are used in peoples names it is because the posters are treating those names as though they are expletives.

    It certainly seems to be used most frequently for the names of people that are considered by some music snobs here as inferior musicians.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    There have been a few recently that meant nothing to me. 🤔
  • ThunderBunkThunderBunk Shipmate
    Please can we avoid making humour illegal? Establishing rules for absolutely everything is overkill.
  • Nick TamenNick Tamen Shipmate
    Boogie wrote: »
    There have been a few recently that meant nothing to me. 🤔
    Same here.

    ThunderBunk wrote: »
    Please can we avoid making humour illegal? Establishing rules for absolutely everything is overkill.
    That assumes the use of asterisks as described is actually humorous, which I think is debatable.

    I actually wondered whether, at least when it comes to names, replacing letters with asterisks already falls under the rule about not changing someone’s name, except in Hell.


  • Schroedingers CatSchroedingers Cat Shipmate
    As a rule, I don't like asterisking words. I mean, if we cannot say what we mean, maybe we shouldn't say it at all. And yes, sometimes it is clear in the context - if you happen to be in the right context.

    I was just looking at the thread that prompted this - and the uses are ridiculous, IMO. It makes it impossible for me (and so, I presume some others) to know what is being talked about. It means I cannot know whether I want to join in or contribute. Maybe that is the point, but it shouldn't be.

    I can see it working in a humourous context - in some cases. I can see that there are a few names that people don't want to sully their fingers with. I would totally understand President T**** and the MP N**** F******. In the right threads, these are probably clear - although the second one might be confusing to non-UK posters.

    And this divergence of posters is important to recognise. Not everyone knows that John Rutter is not greatly liked among choirs, due to overuse.
  • SpikeSpike Ecclesiantics & MW Host, Admin Emeritus
    We used to have a shipmate who would sort of prove this point by typing things like “fuckw*t” and “shit*ead”
  • NicoleMRNicoleMR Shipmate
    I find the use of asterisks in this way to be somewhere between pointless and confusing. And not humorous at all.
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    Is it just asterisks that people would be objecting to the use of? I think I routinely type "G-d".
  • DoublethinkDoublethink Admin, 8th Day Host
    Presumably for theological reasons rather than as a commentary ?
  • quetzalcoatlquetzalcoatl Shipmate
    I often don't get what the word is. Ah well.
  • ThunderBunkThunderBunk Shipmate
    All of these attempts to codify the way people use language get to me. Without exception. I'm never supposed to be figurative, use metaphor, use abbreviations, use asterisks. I'm not writing a scientific report. Go away.
  • ArethosemyfeetArethosemyfeet Shipmate, Heaven Host
    I have to lean in @ThunderBunk 's direction on this. If people want to amuse themselves by engaging in little nods to "speak of the devil and he appears" type superstitions then they take the risk of not being understood and their posts being ignored, depending on the level of obfuscation. For myself I prefer an elegant circumlocution to the bluntness of asterisks but to each their own.
  • Nick TamenNick Tamen Shipmate
    Arethosemyfeet wrote: »
    I have to lean in @ThunderBunk 's direction on this. If people want to amuse themselves by engaging in little nods to "speak of the devil and he appears" type superstitions then they take the risk of not being understood and their posts being ignored, depending on the level of obfuscation.
    They also run the risk of that self-amusement being seen as juvenile, lacking in creativity or just annoying. That doesn’t mean, of course, that there should be rules to prevent anyone from running that risk.


  • TwangistTwangist Shipmate
    Roseofsharon wrote: »
    It certainly seems to be used most frequently for the names of people that are considered by some music snobs here as inferior musicians.

    Guilty as charged - apologies
  • Schroedingers CatSchroedingers Cat Shipmate
    Caissa wrote: »
    Is it just asterisks that people would be objecting to the use of? I think I routinely type "G-d".

    In this case, while I am not a fan, on a Christian board, it is sufficiently well known across everyone that it is probably fine.

    And I get the reasons for this.

    It is one specific bowdlerization for God on a board where God is referenced a lot. If you did this for Ang_ls and D_v_l and H_ly Sp_r_t I would start to question it.
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