A public apology for my possibly antagonising posts...

[PetrosA]

I don't mind the language being on an adult level at all. The only time it seems overdone (online or in live conversation) is when someone is learning English and knows the words but doesn't feel them yet. On a humorous note - I often find myself in foot-in-my-mouth situations because I also speak Polish as a second language. Having lived there for so long, there are lots of very close expressions that I get mixed up sometimes when I speak English like ass kissing and ass licking. The meaning is the same in both languages, but licking strikes English speakers as much more graphic

[Jon Chandler]

Changing directions slightly, it's good to remember there is a difference between

"That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard."

and

"You are the stupidest person I know."

Even if the second applies, stating it the first way is probably a better thing to do here if you feel the need.

I've spent a lot of time studying the effect of "How can you be so #$%$%^ stupid?!??" and I've reached the conclusion that nobody hears the following sentences.  Unfortunately, I seem to have plenty of opportunities for more research!

[RayJones]

I must say that I am no a prude by any stretch of the imagination and will swear profusely when with a close group of friends in private conversation.

However if you are walking down the street and come across some clown spewing forward obscenities for all to hear most people will shake their heads and do their best to ignore them.

This is the way I also view the public forums.
It is not acceptable in real world public places, so why should it be any different in forums?

I may also hasten to add we may well have younger more impressionable readers, eg my 12yr old is starting to take a keen interest in electronics and it would be hard to recommend reading forums full of obscenities.

And I agree, "play the ball, not the man".

[EEVblog]

Changing directions slightly, it's good to remember there is a difference between

"That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard."

and

"You are the stupidest person I know."

Even if the second applies, stating it the first way is probably a better thing to do here if you feel the need.

Indeed.
One thing I won't tolerate on the forum is personal attacks on other members.
By all means attack/debate the idea or viewpoint or whatever, but never the person.

Politicians and corporate management are of course fair game

Dave.

[EEVblog]

I may also hasten to add we may well have younger more impressionable readers, eg my 12yr old is starting to take a keen interest in electronics and it would be hard to recommend reading forums full of obscenities.

I agree.
With this in mind it's a good idea that we should all try to be on our best public behavior.

Dave.

[Simon]

I don't mind the odd four lettered word but yes we do should remember to keep a healthy balance. One of the annoying things of ETO was the over the top censoring of some words right up to the ridiculous, it went from keeping out the profane to keeping out anything vaguely "politically incorrect". I was p[leased to find that this forum allows freedom of expression and cherish it but of course we have to act like adults for it to work as intended. Yes people are wound up  by the use of certain words in a certain context.

For example Hero there are things that wind one person up while others will see no problem. Remember our discussion the other night about my facebook comment ? well not that anyone gets it but personally I feel very offended and insulted that members of a social club which I give my time to help manage and run should convert all of their event management to facebook and not tell anyone or ask if it's ok or provide any other alternative basically giving me the message that if I'm not on facebook I'm not welcome. Now no swearing or other offensive language was required here, the simply fact of someone's behaviour has very much annoyed me to the point I call it an insult. Just an example although not a good one I admit.

[Jon Chandler]

However if you are walking down the street and come across some clown spewing forward obscenities for all to hear most people will shake their heads and do their best to ignore them.

I recently got out of the car in a parking lot and there were two women smoking and talking nearby.  The one woman was saying "F%^& this" and "F^&* that" using the F word several times in the few seconds I was standing there.

I really, really wanted to say "It's so seldom you hear a classy lady say F^&* in public."  I'm not sure she would have taken the hint anyway.

[glossywhite]

I must say that I am no a prude by any stretch of the imagination and will swear profusely when with a close group of friends in private conversation.

However if you are walking down the street and come across some clown spewing forward obscenities for all to hear most people will shake their heads and do their best to ignore them.

This is the way I also view the public forums.
It is not acceptable in real world public places, so why should it be any different in forums?

I may also hasten to add we may well have younger more impressionable readers, eg my 12yr old is starting to take a keen interest in electronics and it would be hard to recommend reading forums full of obscenities.

And I agree, "play the ball, not the man".

Agreed.

[Zero999]

I don't mind the odd four lettered word but yes we do should remember to keep a healthy balance. One of the annoying things of ETO was the over the top censoring of some words right up to the ridiculous, it went from keeping out the profane to keeping out anything vaguely "politically incorrect". I was p[leased to find that this forum allows freedom of expression and cherish it but of course we have to act like adults for it to work as intended. Yes people are wound up  by the use of certain words in a certain context.

What annoyed me more than anything was there was a bad word filter but it didn't censor really bad words such as fuck or cunt, the only word I found was censored was porn which is totally ridicules.

For example Hero there are things that wind one person up while others will see no problem. Remember our discussion the other night about my facebook comment ? well not that anyone gets it but personally I feel very offended and insulted that members of a social club which I give my time to help manage and run should convert all of their event management to facebook and not tell anyone or ask if it's ok or provide any other alternative basically giving me the message that if I'm not on facebook I'm not welcome.

I don't think it's a simple as that.

For a start it's not Rushden who are excluding you for not using Facebook, it's Huntingdon and all that happened was someone got annoyed because you ranted about how much you hate Facebook so deleted your message.

Now no swearing or other offensive language was required here, the simply fact of someone's behaviour has very much annoyed me to the point I call it an insult. Just an example although not a good one I admit.

Well yes I see your point and agree.

I've also noticed how my behaviour and glossywhite's have been similar here: we both made silly posts then got defensive when people had a go and eventually apologised. The thought process is as follows: get angry about something so rant using all sorts of bad words, then become even more annoyed when people have a go so get defensive, (justify the bad behaviour and pretend everyone else has the problem), eventually realise our rant probably wasn't the best way of dealing with it and finally, after swallowing our pride, admitting we didn't go about it the right way and apologise.

You have a right to be annoyed about them using Facebook but it wouldn've been better to say something like "Most of our club don't use Facebook, could you please email me about your events in future" rather than ranting. I'm not saying you apologise (it wasn't that bad) just go about it in a different manner.