Given that it *is* offensive language in the UK, I'd really rather we not use it for a thread name.

I'm with Plei--I think we have enough UK-speaking posters on the board that we should avoid it.

I have debated making this comment for fear of seeming insensitive but here goes.

The deathmatch posts in Press are relevant to this board. They are Buffy related, in a Buffy fan environment.

(unspecified)~ma requests in Apocolypse for people that none of us know seem much stranger to me than announcing a deathmatch vote. Some of the posts in beep me aren't apocolyptic in relation to the board (i.e., going away for a while, having a baby, losing a parent), but are related to other people in our outside lives. I understand that the board is a support for all of us since we have close friends here who help us through tough and stressful situations (goodness knows I've benefited from ((())))'s myself), but I don't have enough ~ma to help heal the world. However, none of these posts bother me since I know the posters are making them for very personal reasons and they need to share their feelings and thoughts.

That being said, I'm not for censoring anything in Press or Beep me that fits the thread profile - including deathmatches and ~ma requests. The deathmatches won't last forever, lots of posts are made in all threads that not everyone is interested in, and it takes no time at all to hit that Read New button.

Regarding the use of regionally offensive language - My newbie naive suggestion would be to use the 'Buffy-verse' as our guide.

That which would be offensive in Buffy, should not be allowed. What is regarded as acceptable within the Buffy/Joss context - the subject matter this entire community is built around - should not be re-contextualized beyond the show.

The board is about things Buffy, and if a word, phrase or language is from that show, or the general Jossverse, than I suggest that it has already defacto been accepted by all those who would visit here seeking entertainment/information on that show/that verse.

It's not about not sympathising with regional language nuances, but rather more about logistics, consistency, and establishing a universal language base that the group accepts by way of it's fandom.

The deathmatches won't last forever,

It feels like it already has, frankly. I check Press and Beep Me before any other threads, because when I see new posts, I immediately think that something important is going on. When I see 4 or 5 new Press posts, I start to worry that someone got eaten by an Uruk-Hai or gave birth to a goddess who wants to eat humanity. But then they turn out to be yet another announcement that the Deathmatch is *still* going on.

lots of posts are made in all threads that not everyone is interested in

Yes, but they aren't repetitive posts that contain essentially the same information, made over (and over) a period of months.

Megan, it's my understanding that Beep Me wasn't made for apocalyptic events, but "Birth, death, illness, new job, vacation...if it's happening to you and you want us to know about it, post it here" -- the name is just to be cute.

That which would be offensive in Buffy, should not be allowed. What is regarded as acceptable within the Buffy/Joss context - the subject matter this entire community is built around - should not be re-contextualized beyond the show.

I understand what you're saying, but would be inclined to disagree in this case. First, off the characters operate under FCC guidance, so there are a whole host of things they can't say that we can ;-). Second, this conversation has established that the word "spaz" has very different connotations in the U.S. than in the U.K. The Buffy characters may operate in a U.S. linguistic culture, but not everyone on this board does. I'd rather not have a thread title that many people will read as offensive, whether I (or Buffy) personally find it so or not. (And yeah, I know, Spike's Bitches ... but that thread title goes back to Table Talk.)

I participate in the Deathmatches, so my opinion may not have much weight, but I don't mind the announcements. In terms of scale, they take up much less time to read than all the other things on the board I'm not interested in....

It's not about not sympathising with regional language nuances, but rather more about logistics, consistency, and establishing a universal language base that the group accepts by way of it's fandom.

But what if I was bothered the first time I heard it, and really don't want a palpably offensive word smiling at me every time I see the index page?

Joss isn't God -- the episodes aren't his gospels -- people have been offended by things contained in them, and I wouldn't ask them to not be, just because it was on Buffy/Angel/Firefly.

Joss isn't God -- the episodes aren't his gospels -- people have been offended by things contained in them, and I wouldn't ask them to not be, just because it was on Buffy/Angel/Firefly.

Yup. See also, "Billy."

Joss isn't God -- the episodes aren't his gospels -- people have been offended by things contained in them, and I wouldn't ask them to not be, just because it was on Buffy/Angel/Firefly.

Just might not be God, but his body of work is the closest thing a board like this has to universal texts.

Seems to me the debate is something akin to the constant issue of which dictionary to use in the world of Scrabble. There is no perfect answer in that case, and in our case, we actually only have 1 source common to all, and it's not the American, Canadian, Australian, British or South African dictionary of XY and Zee(or Zed), but rather that which we all turn up here to discuss - the work of Whedon.

And I agree - there is no universal rightness that will be good for everyone. That much is certain. In the absense of perfection, we *could* choose to use the subject matter as guidelines. Spikes Bitches is a perfect example of that which might be offensive in one context, not being so precisely because of the new context it is used in.

So I'm simply suggesting adopting a convenient, simple tome as guide and an alternative to the absolute logistical nightmare of actively purging all possible words/phrases that may have an offensive connotation in certain countries/regions of the English speaking world.

In short, i'm advocating adoption of the simplest of the available non-perfect solutions. This would ask for all participants to accept the single context provided by the source material as the defining medium, rather than the alternative of requiring every individual to learn and adhere to every other individuals personal and regional definitions of 'offensive', which while filled with the spirit of universal love, tollerance and wholesome goodness, is also probably hugely unmanagable and allows for newbies (and oldbies alike) to suffer extreme uncertainty of rules, acceptability and self-censorship.

Again, I could be just naive. It would be asking for some readers to see things that in other contexts they're not particularly comfortable with. Some might even be uncomfortable with things in the context of the Buffyverse. But there is no end to that road. What happens when we greet our first members offended by references to witchcraft or the occult? All discussion about Willows spells go off the table?

I dunno - when travelling, I tend to go with the flow of whatever culture I'm in, rather than expecting them to adjust to me.

Aren't there other suggestions for a thread title? Usually there are several. Let's go people, get creative.

t /reading Bureau