i would like to use the words fuck, shit, twat, arse, and even cunt whenever i wish so long as it isnt in reference to an individual on the forum. this isn’t dinner with your prospective mother in law
I believe swear words should be avoided, so as to maximize their impact when eventually used.
But seriously, I wish that G-rated and R-rated types could find a way to live with each other, and not have to set up separate fora or something. (This wouldn’t apply to topics which have no G-rated equivalent, such as the various alternative sexualities which are discussed from time to time.)
PC is a somewhat different issue, but my answer is the same. Just because YOU are PC by nature doesn’t mean you have to insist that I be PC as well. (Does it?)
I’m of the opinion Forumosa is perfectly suited to the intellectually challenged of Taiwan. I’ve noticed such socially inadequate personalities as sandperson enjoy posting here.
I feel Forumosa can offer a real outlet for those in our community who are companionship challenged, socially disorientated, and subject to cultural maladjustment. I have found it a most rewarding place to express my own misgivings about the dismantlement of the over zealous regime in Iraq, and I believe others have also welcomed such an opportunity. Thanks forumosa for accepting all of those in our community who wish to express themselves fully and flagrantly on these forums.
I’ve been banned twice so far… because i said i was a republican and hated hippies im pretty sure that was why… man do i hate hippies
Forumosa has more or less the right balance.
But dudes, get rid of that fucking autocensor. Hey, if someone wants to say N I G G E R they have the right to their disgusting ugliness. This is a free country - you have the right to be a jerk. Changing that word to “person of african-american origin” by auto-censor (or whatever the term it changes it to) is downright silly. We’re all adults here. Just exactly how many 13 year old kids are surfing this site?
I never realized there was an auto-censor function. I just tried out the N word and got ‘person of a minority group’. It wouldbe better to have some luan4 ma2 to indicate a profanity. Anyway they are pretty easy to get around as ML has demonstrated.
‘Shit’ doesn’t get censored. So what words do and don’t get censored?
I don’t like the censoring of dirty words either. But…
This is NOT a free country. This is a privately-owned website. You do not have the right to disgusting ugliness. You do have the right to be a jerk - within the limits we set, and those limits are not that restrictive.
[quote=“mod lang”] Changing that word to “person of african-American origin” by auto-censor (or whatever the term it changes it to) is downright silly.[/quote] Actually, I agree. I didn’t like it when it was first installed either, but enough people on the moderating team back then did, that the auto-censor function stayed. Maybe I’ll put it up for discussion with the mods. In the meantime, I think I’ll change it to “bleep”.
The problem is, ML, not all people POST like responsible adults. You know this better than anyone, having recently narrowly avoided a ban for posting (under an alias) some of the most hateful, misogynist, violent-towards-women “humour” this website has seen in recent months. It is not unrealistic to expect higher standards here than we would from a website dedicated to adolescents. Some sort of limits have to be imposed, or the website would become an obscene discussion forum for gutter-mouths, we’d lose members and what was once a valuable resource for foreigners would fade away into a memory.
That being said, very little censoring or deleting happens here. In fact, I have asked the mod team to delete nothing, except for double posts and the like. If it’s objectionable it can be thrown into the flame or flounder forums.
Segue is far too politically correct. Whenever I refer to it to people back in the states (which is seldom) I call it the Segue Syncophants (I actually use a more colorful phrase which starts sucka
I would rather these forums be edited for obvious spelling and grammar mistakes than nasty words. I can expect new learners of english and even experienced ESL students to make mistakes, but some of these posts come from people who are from the very countries that seem to be most coveted in terms of their english skills. Just a pet peeve.
On another note, I sense a general disdain here for teachers who come to Taiwan and work illegaly. That’s my situation come early Feb. Sorry. I’ll fix it as soon as I can, but for now, thats the way it’s gonna be. I’m more concerned about being a good teacher and making a good life there than feelling inferior for not being able to finish my degree in a timely fashion.
Please don’t take this as a real complaint. I actually spend a lot of free time here (forumosa), and have gleaned so much usefull information that I feel as if I already live there. My new life is all I really think about…
and forumosa kicks ass on tiawanho and tealit.
thats my two cents…
regards, smashy
I agree with brianlkennedy. I will alzo add that whenn someon makes a spellin’ miztake, pleaz to not let it deetrackt from the focuz of the argumend/dizcuzzion. Let it slide.
There’s no taboo, it’s just that a lot fo people disagree with you, which is not surprising really becuase you’d have to pretty stupid to live in a country where you hated the people. Perhaps you’d be better suited to a forum for grumpy old gits with nothing better to do but bitch about the country they live in?
Brian
Brian, Brian, don’t be so harsh toward Mr. Kennedy – you’ll make him quit wasting his time on bulletin boards. 
Brian Kennedy: many of us are married to these lying, cheating, odious local scumbags, and count some of them as family members. Of course we’re unlikely to agree with your blanket generalizations. As for me, I mostly only despise the ones I don’t know. And the French. And the Americans, of course. And don’t even get me started on those duplicious Finns.
Speaking of annoying censorship, could we PLEASE stop the “automatic” pinyin conversion? The choice of which system Taiwan will adopt isn’t going to be made here by us.
This post really belongs in this thread;
forumosa.com/3/viewads.php?t=100 … highlight=
and so does this reply of mine.
The problem is that many of the most commonly used spellings such as K e e l u n g, and T a i c h u n g without an apostrophe after the ‘T’, do not conform to any Romanization system at all. Thus they cannot be used to derive accurate pronunciation. For this reason giving a Hanyu Pinyin version is useful. As Brian pointed out, it’s also useful for doing searches on place names without having to search 5 variant spellings.
But my Googling revealed that for each of many places in Taiwan, a single ‘unsystematic’ spelling such as the two above is by far the most common. So it could be useful to add a function that in the case that a poster only gives the Hanyu Pinyin, the most common variant spelling is also automatically inserted, to aid identification and web searches etc. But I think this could be technically problematic, especially when posters are quoting other posts which have already been supplemented by one or other variant spelling.
So for the moment, the current ‘autopinyiniser’ system serves a very useful albeit occasionally annoying purpose.
Watch Taichung, Taipei, and Keelung, are not a problem to input if you have the right method.
Thanks Big Fluffy
[quote=“sandman”]Brian, Brian, don’t be so harsh toward Mr. Kennedy – you’ll make him quit wasting his time on bulletin boards.
Brian Kennedy: many of us are married to these lying, cheating, odious local scumbags, and count some of them as family members. Of course we’re unlikely to agree with your blanket generalizations.
Once again, I agree with Brian Kennedy. Isn’t it a generalization to assume that all who are married to locals actually like this place? Isn’t it a generalization to assume that if someone has a complaint or concern about Taiwan that they “hate it here” and should “go home”? Its seems alot more Taiwanese hate this place than the foreigners who live here. Just look at the lines every day outside of our trade offices. Check the immigration stats of your (home) country and I can promise you that alot more of them are leaving here than us immigrating to here.
As I’ve read through past discussions it seems that the last question anyone asks on this website is “why”. Boy do people love to point the finger on this site. I for one understand that this is a private website but as far as opinions are concerned… they’re just opinions. If you have a positive opinion regarding the Taiwanese, their culture, environment, business ethics or system of government, then you are just as entitled to that opinion as someone with the exact opposite viewpoint.
Everyone knows that not all Taiwanese are bad and to say so is just plain dumb. It is also stupid to come to the defense of the Taiwanese when someone posts that they have been discrimated against due to their race. And generalizations are not bad. Generally speaking, it is pretty god-damn hot in Kaohsiung during the summer. Correct. Generally speaking most Taiwanese eat rice for lunch or dinner. Correct as well.
And four your spelllin’ checkerz i hoping that i’l’d didn’t not make two many spellin’ errorz as to offense of your desire previouzly. I ever.
Hey, I never said that. I too get very annoyed with people who say “if you don’t like that, go home” when one complains about an aspect of living in Taiwan. On the other hand disliking the ‘locals’ seems like more than a ‘complaint or concern’. I also wasn’t saying that all those married to locals like the place, but they should at least like the locals (or at least one of them 
).
But this is off topic, so maybe if anyone wants to discuss this further they could start a new topic.
Brian
I think the amount of moderating that goes on here is just fine. Not too much and not too little. If there were no moderating then this site would degrade into a mess of MLM ads and porn links. And people don’t come here for that. Or information on a specific topic would be lost in a maze of drivel, thus defeating the very purpose of having this site.
It is not the job of the moderators to make this site interesting or fun. That is the job of the posters.
What is the alternative to the way moderating is done now? NHB? Sure, then we should change the site’s name to “Pissingcontest.com”. Moderate every little thing? Heck, if you like it that way then we should change the site’s name to “tealit.com”. If we are too PC, then why is there a Flame Forum? I really enjoy the flame forum because I can tell people to “fuck off” without getting my hand slapped. 
Think of the Flame Forum as a place where you can take off your PC mantle and just unload on someone.
As for banning…I think it is important for everyone to understand that there is quite a bit of discussion among the moderators when someone is up for banning. We all have different opinions about banning and I think that is a good thing.
[quote=“brianlkennedy”]Segue (Now Forumosa) is far too politically correct. Whenever I refer to it to people back in the states (which is seldom) I call it the Segue (Now Forumosa) Syncophants (I actually use a more colorful phrase which starts sucka
Brian, do you actually read stuff posted here? As I see it, most of the mods here agree that there are many aspects about life in Taiwan that suck in a very big way, but they do object to ignoramuses whose flaming trolls add nothing to the discussion.