So this isn't a SITE FEEDBACK thing, I'm not suggesting we ban a word or anything, but I want to get some level of discussion on this because it's beginning to bother me.

Everyone knows GW has a certain "forum identity" or whatever. Lots of people like to chalk it up to basically slack grammatical style, steeling, and not using smileys ever, but it's more than that and I really don't think I need to elaborate.

What's kind of bothering me is that it seems more and more part of our forum identity is using the word FAGGOT or GAY as a perjorative.

Like, here's a new guy (this is by no means a callout, but an example) http://www.gamingw.net/forums/index.php?topic=5888.new#new

Suddenly he opens with an all caps MASSIVE FAGGOT.

And everyone does this, from admin down to normal member. I did it today and caught it right when the post went through:

hey psyburn is pretty gay but dont force him to give you money with false forum threats dude.

Psyburn's not ACTUALLY GAY, fyi, and if he is that wasn't what I was referring to.

Basically a lot of us are using these terms as replacements for "lame" "idiot" or "shit" and really, let's face it, this is a very prejudicial term. It's a hate slur. It has nowhere near the connotation of the word "nigger" or even some other racial ones, but it still has a very real line of homophobia in it.

Is everyone saying the word faggot or gay a homophobe, fuck no. Honestly, I think that's part of what makes it such a great online insult; you haven't heard it since fifth grade, but back then it was reserved for the worst offenders. Suddenly, BAM, Steel just called you a faggot for liking John McCain. it's a hate slur but without the prejudice, so it's just this caustic word you don't expect.

Gay is less hateful, but still you know, it's got that connotation of being lame (which in itself is also a perjorative for the crippled but really I think we can give that one a let).

Basically I've run out of justifications for using those words, and I was wondering what anyone else thought. I'm gonna stop, or at least try to, but I want to see what people think.

also before anyone says it this is not a bandwagon to get the word banned or filtered or even warned for, I just want to see if anyone has an opinion on this.

I don't really see a problem with using "faggot." it's obvious it has a homophobic connotation, but VERY few people use it really in a homophobic context. (the only one i can remember as of late was shepperd i think?)

it would be better if gw started using a different insult (or none at all!), but it's really not that big of a deal i think.

Yeah like I get that, but at the same time, it has this weird feeling of I HAVE A BLACK FRIEND I CAN'T BE A RACIST WHEN I SAY NIGGER.

Idk if the modern world subtracted all meaning from it and it became like LAME or whatever I guess I could see that, but honestly that's not going to happen in any of our lifetimes (mkkmypet...your child will inherit the wind) and so it just kind of gives the impression we just run around using hate speech and saying WHOA DIDN'T MEAN IT THAT WAY.

all in favor of replacing nigger with sparkling wiggles say aye

all in favor of replacing nigger with sparkling wiggles say aye

SA recently replaced nigger with an icon that says REPORT THIS POST TO A MOD.

but SA actually had a huge problem with "ironic" use so.

You know I think most have pretty much admitted to ourselves it's a ridiculous and terrible word to use, and maybe even all but stopped saying it in life, but maaaaan it is just so satisfying that I've sort of kept what I knew to be true in the back of my mind because FAGGOT it just rolls off the tongue and it'd be a shame not to say it anymore!  I don't really use gay very often, and honestly I don't say faggot particularly often either, but yeah it's probably for the best if I just cut it out of the old vocab entirely!

thats the worst part, it really does roll off the tongue (or THE POST or whatever). for me personally I think it's because it has an abrupt, almost German ending, just FAGGOT, and that's it, sort of like FUCK etc. the fact that it rhymes with maggot probably helped it stick around for so long in history but yeah it has a brusqueness that other insults lack.

Yeah, I really agree with the usage of "gay" in today's society. Nowadays pretty much "the flower is gay" "you're gay" "that teacher is gay" etc. I've been the type of person who's defended the usage of gay ("Homosexuals are gay"), but apparently some idiots believe that makes me gay.

Its nothing to do with GW- Justice always uses FAGGOTS in messages. Its pretty common amongst us UK lot.

During my first year of college the RA's collectively made up this stupid rule saying that if you heard anyone saying words like "gay" or "faggot" or other inappropriate terms, you were supposed to yell out "WORD CHOICE" and the offending person would immediately stop doing it.

It's really weird, because IRL when I heard random people talking and saying "MAN, that is so SO GAYYY" I kind of slightly cringe and assume that they are stupid guys (not necessarily homophobic, but just not people i would want to hang out with). However, there's some people I'm good friends with who regularly use the term "gay" and I kind of just automatically translate it as "lame" and don't really look deeper into it.

I had never used "gay" as an insult until I got to GW (most likely a result of Steel and buddies) and I quickly picked the habit up. I've caught myself using it perhaps once every few weeks and I quickly reprimanded myself in my head. I don't like it when I say it.

So to sum up, I guess it is at best "OK" to use it on this forum medium, despite the connotations associated with it, but it seems hypocritical for me to say that when I don't always tolerate it in real life.

Well, I don't know. On the one hand I can see why it would be preferable to tone down the use of certain words as pejoratives or derogatives, because it might offend some people and could come off as pretty repulsive given the hateful context they have been used in previously. However at the same time I know that when I say things like "YOU ARE A FAGGOT" or "HAHA STUPID NEGRO" I am definitely not intending that they be taken literally in the sense that I think you are homosexual and want to discriminate you for that reason (same goes for being black, or Jewish, or whatever). And I feel that most people understand that these words and/or phrases aren't being used in any kind of serious way. It just seems like a bit of a slippery slope to travel down if we were to impose any sort of global forum control over this, especially since very few members (and they are usually banned pretty quickly) actually spout off very hateful things. But, as you said, this isn't the bandwagon for word filtering.

If it matters in any way, I don't intend for someone who I may find upsetting or repulsive to define the words that are going to come out of my mouth. And anyone who takes offense to these phrases needs to seriously come forward and provide something other than "This was used to discriminate against my kind in the past, therefore YOU ARE NOW DISCRIMINATING AGAINST ME!"

I chalk it up to two things:

1: Internet meme.  GW has it's fair share of forced posting styles including:

-Random caps (i hate using [*b][*/b] to emphasize shit so i just POST IN ALL CAPS)

-The "HEH SHIT SUX" statement.  I've never seen this used anywhere else on the internet.

-The false shock statement used sarcastically to belittle someone ("m... my final fantasy fan game is bad you say!!??")

-And of course, any adjective added in front of faggot to include "Humongous Faggot," "Gigantic Faggot," "Unbelievable Faggot," "The Worse Kind Of Human [Faggot ][/Faggot])

2: The English language sucks.

Certain words do end up losing their meaning and are admitted into common talk.  Like you said, "lame" was originally a lowbrow term for mentally retarded (which has also become a very common pejorative). 

I honestly don't care what words I use in a post because it's pretty much the equivalent of talking to your best buddy but, uh, when doing something professionally I try to watch my language.

In conclusion I think we should make "foget" into an insult

YOU FUCKIN FOGET

this is pretty funny because it's part of steeling

i don't trust anyone that doesn't say faggot at least once a month
~steel paladines

CHECK YOSELF BEFORE YO FOGET YOSELF

But yeah, language is very fluid so deal with it. If anyone makes a personal choice not to say faggot ever than that's fine. I doubt anybody is going to call you out for not calling people faggots, but I feel that anyone who seriously challenges someone for using the word to jokingly describe someone being stupid (or gay(which means lame)) is overreacting a bit.

I don't like people using retarded as an insult because I have one relative who happens to have mental disabilities, stop doing this.

I don't like people using retarded as an insult because I have one relative who happens to have mental disabilities, stop doing this.

Haha my roommate is like this too. As a summer job he works with elderly people and people with mental retardation, so every time he hears someone say "retarded" he yells at them.