Scrabble Association Bans Racial, Ethnic Slurs From Its Official Word List:
The word "slur" has a number of meanings in English, but the one that has concerned Scrabble aficionados and Hasbro, which owns the U.S. and Canadian trademark for the popular board game, means "a derogatory or insulting term applied to particular group of people."
On Wednesday, the North American Scrabble Players Association [(NASPA)] announced that derogatory language would be removed from the game's official word list.
The decision follows an online poll conducted by NASPA that elicited impassioned responses, the organization's CEO, John Chew, said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Some members threatened to leave the association if a single word were removed; others threatened to leave the association if any offensive words remained," he said. "There were a lot of good and bad arguments on both sides."
NASPA's word list is used in competitive tournaments, which is different than the Merriam-Webster Official Scrabble Players Dictionary. Hasbro says it has worked to eliminate offensive words from the dictionary with every new printing of it.
[...] "One of our members asked what we were doing to reduce racial tensions in the U.S. and Canada," [Chew] said. "And then someone else asked 'what if we take the "N" word out of the lexicon, would that at least be a good start?' "
A discussion and the online poll ensued and NASPA's advisory board ultimately voted to remove 236 words from the list, Chew said. Words that are potentially offensive but are not considered slurs — such as those for parts of the body — remain, he said.
Hasbro, the board game giant that owns Scrabble, is banning the use of racial and ethnic slurs from its official word list. The crossword game will no longer allow derogatory language to be used while playing.
"Hasbro Gaming is rooted in community and bringing people together, and we are committed to providing an experience that is inclusive and enjoyable for all," the company wrote in a release on Wednesday. "For that reason, Hasbro is changing the official rules of its Scrabble game to make clear that slurs are not permissible in any form of the game."
[...] The crossword game uses the Merriam-Webster Scrabble Players Dictionary as its official word list in North America. Hasbro said that it first started removing offensive words in 1994 and continues to regularly review the full list.
[...] The North American Scrabble Players Association, which uses a slightly different word list for its competitive tournaments, also agreed to ban the use of racial and ethnic slurs after a poll was taken by the association's members.
The association's CEO John Chew said in a statement on Wednesday that Scrabble brings together a wide range of people and the association needs to do more to be inclusive.
"As people have said across the spectrum of responses, removing slurs is the very least that we can do to make our association more inclusive," Chew said. "I will be reaching out to the community for suggestions in coming months, and look forward to working with everyone to make our community a larger and happier one."
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Booga1 on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:10AM (21 children)
Excluding words people find offensive from Scrabble is not going to meaningfully improve anything.
It's a feel-good measure that says, "We need to put ourselves in the news with some free advertising. This token gesture ought to do it." Sure enough, news outlets took the bait and here's the free ad.
Besides, if you want a comprehensive word list you should use one of those "unabridged" dictionaries that are about eight inches thick. That'll teach your opponents some new words!
(Score: 4, Informative) by zoward on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:16AM (1 child)
At one point my wife and I used to get together with a couple that were obsessed with Scrabble. While we consistently lost to them, I learned more words from those play sessions than at any other time in my life.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @05:11PM
Ones like this?
subordinate
subsidiary
menial
peon
bottom-rung
entry-level
nether
second-banana
second-fiddle
subjacent
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:23AM
That's what she said.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @12:34PM (3 children)
What's more, where precisely does this end? If slurs are being removed, what about words for things that are just for disgusting or that make people uncomfortable for other reasons?
These are just words, if people are this sensitive, then they clearly don't have any actual problems.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @04:02PM
This already happened years ago. I'm surprised it isn't being brought up in this Scrabble discussion more, but Scrabble expunged over 200 words from the standard word list in 1994 after an amateur player complained that the word "jew" was included on the official word list. (Note that Scrabble doesn't allow proper nouns: "Jew" (with a capital) would be disallowed by that rule, but "jew" (with a lowercase, a verb meaning "to cheat out of") wouldn't be.)
After much debate, the 200+ words were tacitly removed from most common Scrabble dictionaries, but were still included on the official word list only for tournament play. (Apparently "professional" Scrabble players are able to avoid being offended more than the average player.)
The list of expunged words was all over the map, including profanity like FUCK and CUNT, as well as offensive slurs like KIKE, HONKY, and WETBACK. Obscure slurs like ABO (for "aboriginal") and SKIMO (for "eskimo") were also included. But the the list veered into the weird: not only were words like FART and TURD thrown out, but also words like BADASS, PISS, FATSO, LIBBER, and even words like PAPIST and JESUIT. ("Papist" is a rather obsolete derogatory word for Catholics, but almost no one would realize that. The word "jesuit" -- again with lowercase -- can be used as an adjective that's vaguely derogatory against someone making complicated arguments in a way similar to a classic member of the Jesuit order. It seems they imported some rather conservative Catholic censors from the 18th century to come up with the list.)
The debate about "the list" came to a head when ESPN decided to televise the finals of a Scrabble tournament in 2004 [slate.com], leading to a fun debate about "you can't spell that on television." Top Scrabble players used to making occasional reference to the banned list in tournaments were rather incensed, and one play of LEZ (a banned word) caused a 10-minute delay as judged debated the validity of the play (even though ESPN was mostly concerned about the appearance of words like FUCK and CUNT, not vague terms that might be perceived by only a small group of people as somewhat offensive).
The most ironic thing of all: on the banned Scrabble list is the word REDSKINS, a word that appears on ESPN all the time....
(And this wasn't the first time this sort of thing happened on television -- even before the advent of "the list," the finals in 1990 included a play of DARKIES on the board, but the image was altered to be DARKENS when it was displayed on Good Morning America.)
So yeah, this editing of Scrabble words is greater than before, but it's nothing new.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @12:27AM (1 child)
It ends when the United States is turned into a "socialist" state which is really Marxist with a more marketable name, and people who displease the elite by saying or thinking the wrong things can be imprisoned, tortured, and possibly executed for WrongThink. Plus, with fMRI technology they might even infer WrongThink without you saying anything, and punish you that way.
Sadly there are a lot of people on this site who seem to be absolutely in favor of this outcome and have contempt for freedom of speech (oh, they're for it alright, so long as it's the speech they approve of!). They will retain this opinion until they find themselves being "reeducated" at gunpoint.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @10:35AM
Well, obviously you are a prime candidate, since your comment is so full of wrong thinking and right wing paranoia. Relax! We are your fellow Americans! We are just here to help! We are not going to tell you what to think, we are just going to show you how!
(Socialist=marketable Marxism? Hey! Boomer!)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Sunday July 12 2020, @01:15PM (6 children)
It's called virtue signalling [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:48PM (4 children)
So by your logic I should be allowed to walk into churches and start cussing everyone out while exercising my free speech to promote the church of the flying spaghetti monster?
When did your freedoms become more important than someone else's?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @07:25PM (1 child)
Of course you could say that, but they could also have you banned from the premises for doing so as Churches are private property.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @09:09PM
Getting warmer . . .
(Score: 4, Touché) by FatPhil on Monday July 13 2020, @11:25AM
... invoke a straw man fallacy.
Indeed, you should; but you'll look the fool for so doing.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by AssCork on Monday July 13 2020, @01:40PM
This is exactly how free speech works.
You can do exactly that, but on private property you will be asked to leave or face a trespassing charge.
But nothing* stops you from standing on the sidewalk outside the church holding signs, passing out flyers, and chanting "PASTAFARIANS UNITE!"
*=Not applicable in CA, NY, MD, DC, VA, OR
Just popped-out of a tight spot. Came out mostly clean, too.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Sunday July 12 2020, @08:10PM
It's called virtue signalling.
Which is just another advertising campaign...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:38PM
Amazing how network TV censors the fuck out of everything and you independent free thinking tough guys never bitched as much as when a board game company removed words from their official list.
You think they want some headline about racism in a scrabble tourney? The fuck is wrong with you snow cone reagents?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by fustakrakich on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:46PM (5 children)
You could say they created a blacklist. Don't worry, it's up on bittorrent. There will be tournaments on the Darknet, oh wait, can we still say darknet? Let's call it the "obscure" net.
Well, let's see if changing the language makes a dent in real institutional racism. Kinda doubt it. A new "code" will emerge from the slavers
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Booga1 on Sunday July 12 2020, @07:54PM (1 child)
It always does. The problem isn't the word. It never is. It's the intentions behind it. People with mental deficiencies were called many things over the years. Just look at the evolution of the word "retard." That's an offensive slur according to some folks.
They were:
- Stupid
- Idiots
- Imbecile
- Morons
- Retards
But then people got upset with how those words were thrown around as an insult. So there was a push to treat people better by trying to curb the language used to describe people with various mental deficiencies.
They tried:
- Slow
- Special needs
- Mentally handicapped
- Mentally challenged
Every attempt to erase a word as an insult or slur was replaced with the equivalent based on the new, softer term. These are social issues, not language issues. Changing the language won't solve anything.
(Score: 3, Informative) by FatPhil on Monday July 13 2020, @11:29AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday July 13 2020, @11:28AM
Latin obscurus "dark, dusky, shady,"
Nope, banned, racist.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Funny) by AssCork on Monday July 13 2020, @01:42PM
files a formal petition to change the name of darknet to Onion Network.
Just popped-out of a tight spot. Came out mostly clean, too.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @02:22PM
Dungeonet
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:14AM (20 children)
This is the list of removed words:
B*M
B*TTY
P*X
KN*CKERS
KN*CKERS
W**-W**
SEMPRINI
The list, printed in a large font, will be posted in a prominent place in every tournament, so that players may know not to use any of these words.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Booga1 on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:17AM (1 child)
Whew! I thought they were going to remove words that used Q or Z. Crisis averted!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @04:51PM
It'll never work. They have to remove all the letters used to spell those bad words. Q and Z will be the only letters left.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @02:02PM (17 children)
abo
abortuaries
abortuary
abos
arse
arsehole
arseholes
asshole
assholes
badass
badassed
badasses
baldie
ballbuster
ballbusters
ballocks
ballsier
ballsiest
ballsiness
ballsinesses
ballsy
bastilles
batshit
baywop
baywops
bazoom
bazooms
blowjob
blowjobs
boche
boches
boffed
boffing
bohunk
bohunks
boink
boinked
boinking
boinks
bollocks
boobie
boodies
brailles
bubba
bubbas
bubby
buckra
buckras
bulldike
bulldikes
bulldyke
bulldykes
bullshat
bullshit
bullshits
bullshitted
bullshitter
bullshitters
bullshitting
bumboy
bumboys
bumwad
bumwads
butches
chickenshit
chickenshits
chola
cholas
cholo
cholos
clit
clits
cocksman
cocksmen
cocksucker
cocksuckers
cojones
coloreds
comsymp
comsymps
coonshit
coonshits
crapper
crappers
crip
crips
crumblies
culchie
culchier
culchies
culchiest
cumming
cums
cunt
cunts
dago
dagoes
dagos
darkey
darkeys
darkie
darkies
darky
dicked
dickhead
dickheads
dicking
dikey
dipshit
dipshits
doobies
dykey
effing
faggier
faggiest
faggotries
faggotry
faggoty
faggy
fart
farted
farting
farts
fatso
fatsoes
fatsos
feminazi
feminazis
fistings
fubar
fuck
fucked
fucker
fuckers
fuckface
fuckfaces
fuckhead
fuckheads
fucking
fuckoff
fuckoffs
fucks
fuckup
fuckups
fuckwit
fuckwits
gadje
gadjo
gazoo
gazoos
ginzo
ginzoes
girlies
gobshite
gobshites
godamndest
goddam
goddammed
goddamming
goddamn
goddamndest
goddamned
goddamnedest
goddamning
goddamns
goddams
gonad
gonads
goolie
goolies
gooly
goy
goyim
goyish
goyishe
goys
graybeard
graybeards
greybeard
greybeards
gringa
gringas
gringo
gringos
haole
haoles
hardass
hardasses
hebe
hebes
hist
honkey
honkeys
honkie
honkies
honky
horseshit
horseshits
hos
hunkey
hunkeys
hunkie
hunkies
ichnite
ichnites
jailbait
jailbaits
jesuit
jesuitic
jesuitical
jesuitically
jesuitism
jesuitisms
jesuitries
jesuitry
jesuits
jew
jewed
jewing
jews
jigaboo
jigaboos
jism
jisms
jiveass
jizz
jizzes
johnson
johnsons
kanaka
kanakas
kike
kikes
les
lesbo
lesbos
leses
lez
lezzes
lezzie
lezzies
lezzy
libber
libbers
liberals
merde
merdes
mick
micks
mindfuck
mindfucks
mofo
mofos
motherfucker
motherfuckers
motherfucking
mulatto
mulattoes
mulattos
mutha
muthas
nance
nances
nancier
nancies
nanciest
nancy
nigger
niggers
nitchie
nitchies
nonpapist
nonpapists
nookie
nookies
nooky
numbnuts
numbnutses
ofay
ofays
papism
papisms
papist
papistic
papistries
papistry
papists
peed
peeing
pepsi
pepsis
phuts
picaninnies
picaninny
pickaninnies
pickaninny
pickney
pickneys
piss
pissant
pissants
pissed
pisser
pissers
pisses
pisshole
pissholes
pissier
pissiest
pissing
pissy
polack
polacks
pommie
pommies
pommy
poncey
ponciest
poncy
poofier
poofiest
poofs
pooftah
pooftahs
poofter
poofters
poofy
poontang
poontangs
poove
pooves
porcine
pow
raghead
ragheads
redneck
rednecks
schlong
schlongs
schtup
schtupped
schtupping
schtups
schvartze
schvartzes
schwartze
schwartzes
shagger
shaggers
shamateur
shamateurs
shat
sheeney
sheeneys
sheenie
sheenies
shegetz
sheikhs
shemale
shemales
shicksa
shicksas
shiksa
shiksas
shikse
shikseh
shiksehs
shikses
shit
shitbag
shitbags
shitcan
shitcanned
shitcanning
shitcans
shite
shites
shitface
shitfaced
shitfaces
shithead
shitheads
shitheel
shitheels
shithole
shitholes
shithouse
shithouses
shitless
shitlist
shitlists
shitload
shitloads
shits
shitstorm
shitstorms
shitted
shitter
shitters
shittier
shittiest
shitting
shitty
shitwork
shitworks
shkotzim
shlong
shlongs
shtup
shtupped
shtupping
shtups
shvartze
shvartzes
skimo
skimos
softa
spaz
spazz
spazzes
spic
spick
spicks
spics
spik
spiks
squaw
squaws
stiffie
stiffies
stiffy
suckhole
suckholed
suckholes
suckholing
sumbitch
sumbitches
swank
swanker
tommed
tomming
turd
turds
twat
twats
vendu
vendus
wank
wanked
wanker
wankers
wanking
wanks
watt
wazoo
wazoos
wetback
wetbacks
whiteys
whities
willie
wog
woggish
wogs
wop
wops
wrinklie
wrinklies
yid
yids
yingyang
yingyangs
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @02:06PM
nancy made the list but goatse didn't? Oh well, 10 points.
(Score: 2, Informative) by hemocyanin on Sunday July 12 2020, @03:19PM (8 children)
Interesting choices:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pissant [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesus [wikipedia.org] (jesuit)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Crapper#Origin_of_the_word_%22crap%22 [wikipedia.org] (looking at the origins of the word, I wonder why "junk" isn't also excluded)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonad [wikipedia.org]
.... hang on. Liberals? Did I get trolled?
So here is a sort of helpful list, except for the fact that the letters are rearranged into alphabetical order, so liberals=abeillrs and it is in fact, on the list: https://www.scrabbleplayers.org/w/Slurs [scrabbleplayers.org] I feel trolled, not by AC above, but by fucking Hasbro.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @03:24PM (5 children)
I posted that list not to be vulgar, but to show the absolute stupidity of what SJW is doing to the English language.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:42PM (4 children)
Sorry you lost over 50% of your working vocabulary, but this is not really a loss to the English language, per se.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday July 13 2020, @07:14AM (3 children)
Disagree. Liberals and/or SJW's are quick to point out that the English language is constantly evolving. And, here they are trying to ban words? Uhhhhh - maybe the language doesn't belong to conservatives, but it sure as hell doesn't belong to some vocal minority SJW clan.
There are many times when I need to express my contempt for some individual's mental competency. I can spend a minute and a half using "acceptable" words to express what I think - or I can just tell that person that he's an idiot, or a retard, or he's crazy, or any of several other word with only a few consonants. The language belongs to me, just as much as it belongs to some self-loathing white bitch in Boston who hates the word "retard". Someone needs to retard that bitch's timing a couple degrees!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @08:57AM (2 children)
Yes, poor Runaway, we know. Often we are the victims of your illiterate and ignorant rages. But just remember, a need on your part does not equal a justification of a politically incorrect, and socially maladaptive, expression.
You lying sack of shite! No one believes you have the vocabulary to only spend a minute and a half! Probably more like half an hour! And still, epic fail. The main problem here is not the words so much as what you seem to regard as "thinking". The Trumproid rage you feel against the well-know liberal bias of the real world is not a thought so much as a lizard-brain spasm, causing you to shoot out your tongue in hopes of "getting some".
So, when in doubt (and I imagine that is most of the time), silence is the best policy, you stupid excuse for a redneck Arkansas part-time real estate agent! Just bite your tongue. Shut up, Runaway! See, no need to hurt yourself trying to think up words, or ideas, or knowledge.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @09:40AM (1 child)
Didn't I meet you once? You were sweeping the floor in a factory, in some podunk town in New Jersey. Your name was spelled wrong on your shirt, and your shoes didn't match.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @10:44AM
Couldn't think of any words, Runaway? And, you forgot to login.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @02:57AM (1 child)
You have been trolled. The “abeillrs” unscrambles to “ballsier,” which is actually the intended word that’s banned (along with similar words). “Liberals” isn’t on the list.
(Score: 1) by hemocyanin on Monday July 13 2020, @06:20AM
+1 Informative.
It would be nice if Hasbro just published the damn list.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @04:54PM (1 child)
Fucking goddamned greybeards.
(Score: 1) by hemocyanin on Monday July 13 2020, @01:40AM
I wondered about that one, even did a search, but nothing obvious jumped out at me. The best I can guess is that it is somehow wrong to call old men greybeards. But I don't find "biddy" in the list, so they've sort of had a big intersectional fail if ageism was their goal.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @05:18PM
Well at least the kids are playing Scrabble and not listening to the Devil's music [urbandictionary.com].
(Score: 3, Informative) by RandomFactor on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:36PM (2 children)
I'm not sure how to take that 'liberals' is disallowed, but 'conservatives' isn't.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @09:35PM
It's the damn Pinkos.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @03:36AM
It’s not. The banned word is “ballsier” (letters scrambled from “liberals”) — GP is just a troll (or got the llist from someone who is a troll).
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday July 13 2020, @11:41AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:31AM
https://scrabble.wonderhowto.com/news/controversy-changed-scrabble-0114722/ [wonderhowto.com]
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:35AM (12 children)
Not that it will help in the long run. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:50AM (8 children)
Perhaps after January's inauguration they'll remove 'trump' from the word list!
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Sunday July 12 2020, @01:23PM (2 children)
I'm fairly sure a few card game enthusiasts [wikipedia.org] would object.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @07:36PM
Easily my favorite card game.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:30PM
Irrelevant. If one meaning is offensive to anyone, in any context, then the word must be banned entirely.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @05:23PM (2 children)
Something tells me trump voters won't be up on the play in scrabble pedantry. Doubtful they can spall any of the words on the list so it's a moot point.
(Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:39PM
Actually, causing spalling is something I expect Trump supporters have the upper hand in.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Runaway1956 on Monday July 13 2020, @07:28AM
Liberal arts school grad denigrates more conservative people for their spelling abilities. News at 11:00 . . .
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @07:27PM (1 child)
I'm pretty sure that Trump was already a banned word as it's a proper noun. The trump that can be used is primarily related to card games.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @07:56PM
The point of banning the word "trump" is to prevent players from committing a microaggression against survivors of the Trump Presidency.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @12:38PM
So linked 1 thing for China, while you could have linked dozens an dozens of events for USA that are nicely categorized. It's like America doesn't have memory longer than a dog that sees a squirrel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_racial_violence_in_the_United_States [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @01:28PM
And in the darkness, bind them. [scottbarrykaufman.com]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday July 13 2020, @02:28PM
Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
(Usually in summer school before next school year. And now in an "online learning" contraption.)
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:41AM (12 children)
"It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words"
(Score: 4, Insightful) by BsAtHome on Sunday July 12 2020, @02:08PM
Newspeak [wikipedia.org]:
Anything else is therefore crimethink. Let us destroy more unwords.
War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @05:27PM (10 children)
You folks have probably all seen Carlin's stuff on banned words but if not... bitch, please. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUvdXxhLPa8 [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @07:03PM
At least they waited until he died before going full retard.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @07:54PM (8 children)
The part many users around here miss is "its about CONTEXT!"
For this particular article the context is "family friendly game company doesn't want any problems stemming from racial slurs." No rational person is upset at Hasbro.
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @08:07PM (7 children)
https://slate.com/culture/2020/07/scrabble-offensive-words-ban-player-reaction.html [slate.com]
The context is that there is a Marxist BLM culture purge underway. People recognize this move as the virtue signalling bullshit that it is.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @09:45PM
The Library of Congress was founded in 1800, 24 years after the United States gained its independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1814, 3,000 books from the Library of Congress were used by the British forces to burn down the US Capitol during the Burning of Washington. Although there were dissenting voices to this wanton destruction, the conflagration was motivated by a strong desire on the part of the British to humiliate the Americans.
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @09:49PM
Black people are poised to dominate the human population because their culture includes polygamy and shuns birth control, and because they live in a climate which is "continuously hot", with the result that work is less important for them than in other cultures. ...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Green_Book_(Muammar_Gaddafi) [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @10:03PM (4 children)
Wow, hurts me to realize some people are willfully as stupid as you.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:39PM (3 children)
It hurts you to think. Keep trying, you might wise up one day.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @12:06AM (2 children)
So you follow up stupidity with ad-homs? You must be a Trumper. What do you make of Trump finally wearing a mask? Is COVID a hoax, are masks for cowards? Do you even understand why people are wearing masks that can't even prevent them from catching COVID?
Rhetorical questions all, no need to respond.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @04:43AM (1 child)
I find your lack of self awareness disturbing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 14 2020, @09:38PM
Stop posting your diary entries on SN
(Score: 4, Interesting) by MostCynical on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:42AM
lots of contention and heated debate [slate.com]
The international word lists (owned by Matell [wikipedia.org] outside the US and Canada) have not been updated, so tournaments are going to be tricky after September.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @12:34PM (8 children)
"One of our members asked what we were doing to reduce racial tensions in the U.S. and Canada,"
Face it, the only way to reduce racial tensions the way those offended really want is to kill all white people.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @03:03PM (3 children)
But "master" is on the blacklist!
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @03:33PM (2 children)
The "exclude list", you mean.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @03:35PM (1 child)
The "non include list", or you might trigger someone who's been excluded from list of sane people.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @04:59PM
The "infinitesimally less inclusive collection", because "non" is overly harsh, and a "list" can be used as an instrument of oppression (you're on a list) or relief (Schindler's list) but we can't be sure so take it away.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @03:38PM
The welfare fund would dry up because all the white people would be gone and everyone would die of starvation soon after all the stores are looted.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:45PM (1 child)
"All I want for Christmas is my white genocide!"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @10:49PM
Not this December. Wait for Xmas 2025.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @07:32PM
We could also ship the ones that are offended by stupid BS back to whatever country their ancestors came from. It gets old trying to placate a bunch of people that are even more racist and looking to be perpetually offended.
(Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Sunday July 12 2020, @01:13PM (2 children)
It's offensive to people with a speech impediment.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @01:27PM
and offensive to people with spelling impediment.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @03:54PM
And "hasbro": it is totally sexist. Although maybe the sjw's will that slide since they removed "cajones".
(Score: 2) by Bot on Sunday July 12 2020, @01:35PM
TOTAGSFG
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @03:38PM (3 children)
I just got my hillbilly cousins to start playing Scrabble... now they're going to have to go back to their old games, like Lynch-the-Nigger and Pin-The-Tail-On-The-Kike.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @05:56PM (2 children)
Amusingly, "lynch" isn't on Mattel's list of SJW trigger words so they must be OK with it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @08:25PM
NOOSE is legally worth 5 points.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Monday July 13 2020, @12:53AM
it isn't Mattel [soylentnews.org], it is Hasbro, and NASPA [scrabbleplayers.org]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by leon_the_cat on Sunday July 12 2020, @04:13PM
:P
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @05:21PM
Have the SJWs come for the cleaning product "spic-n-span" yet, or have they not heard of it because their maids did all the cleaning?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @07:51PM (1 child)
Click-bait journalism for the easily offended man children. Captain Marvel was an awesome movie beeteedubs.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @08:28PM
It's nice that your Russki bot script can be reversed with the flip of a switch.
(Score: 4, Informative) by darkfeline on Sunday July 12 2020, @10:29PM (4 children)
The recent wave of censorship is very concerning to me. It is Newspeak, removing words to restrict people from talking or thinking about "problematic" topics.
The grand irony in all of this is that the entire BLM farce is rich white people taking advantage of blacks to spark outrage. The actual blacks supposedly affected do not benefit at all or care about censoring words like nigger from fucking Scrabble. They care about reducing black on black violence, poverty reduction initiatives, better education (not racial discrimination to get unqualified blacks into the highest ranked colleges, but funding local school districts better).
I've heard the sentiment a couple of times, anecdotally all from black Americans:
"The white liberal is the worst enemy to America, and the worst enemy to the black man."
"The liberal elements of whites are those who have perfected the art of selling themselves to the Negro as a friend of the Negro. Getting sympathy of the Negro, getting the allegiance of the Negro, and getting the mind of the Negro. Then the Negro sides with the white liberal, and the white liberal use the Negro against the white conservative. So that anything that the Negro does is never for his own good, never for his own advancement, never for his own progress, he’s only a pawn in the hands of the white liberal. The worst enemy that the Negro have is this white man that runs around here drooling at the mouth professing to love Negros, and calling himself a liberal, and it is following these white liberals that has perpetuated problems that Negros have. If the Negro wasn’t taken, tricked, or deceived by the white liberal then Negros would get together and solve our own problems. I only cite these things to show you that in America the history of the white liberal has been nothing but a series of trickery designed to make Negros think that the white liberal was going to solve our problems. Our problems will never be solved by the white man. The only way that our problem will be solved is when the black man wakes up, clean himself up, stand on his own feet and stop begging the white man, and take immediate steps to do for ourselves the things that we have been waiting on the white man to do for us."
Recent statements made by Biden makes this all the more vivid.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday July 13 2020, @07:42AM (2 children)
That could be shortened quite a lot. The progressive/liberal agenda is to keep Darkie on the plantation. Or, paraphrased, the only good darkie is the darkie that I'm profiting off of.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @10:41AM (1 child)
Violation of Scrabble rules!
Prohibited terms used:
Last two implied by character of poster. Fines recommended. Forfeiture if non-compliant.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @12:36PM
Alex Trebek: I'd like to ask our contestants once again, please refrain from using ethnic slurs. That said, let's take a look at the scores. Sean Connery has set a new Jeopardy record with -$230,000.
Sean Connery: You think you're pretty smart, don't you Trebek. What, with your dago mustache and your greasy hair?
Alex Trebek: Look, what did I just say about ethnic slurs?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @03:39PM
Close with most of what you said, but not this. They are worried about State (especially police) on Black violence.
Black-on-black violence is an issue, but not really. If you look at crime rates, you could make the argument that white-on-white violence is an even bigger problem. Trying to portray this as a "why do blacks keep hurting each other" is distracting. (And true but mis-representative, which makes it especially pernicious.)
(Score: 2) by Webweasel on Monday July 13 2020, @08:38AM (4 children)
Chess will be next. Black vs white and white moves first? Yeah.
I expect all chess boards to be yellow and red, same with the pieces. Black and white will be banned.
Priyom.org Number stations, Russian Military radio. "You are a bad, bad man. Do you have any other virtues?"-Runaway1956
(Score: 3, Touché) by FatPhil on Monday July 13 2020, @11:39AM (1 child)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Webweasel on Monday July 13 2020, @01:09PM
Fuck me, I was joking. Wow.
Priyom.org Number stations, Russian Military radio. "You are a bad, bad man. Do you have any other virtues?"-Runaway1956
(Score: 2) by dak664 on Monday July 13 2020, @12:18PM
That conflict is easy to resolve!
Just make one set black on the right and white on the left, and the other set white on the right and black on the left!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 14 2020, @07:25PM
What have you got against Asians and native Americans?