* is used to give emphasis and show that they are using the word as curse word rather just calling it bad

It doesn't read as emphasis to me. It reads like the person is trying hard not to curse, and they think "crap" is a curse word. It's a little bit adorable, like I'm reading a comment from an obedient child.

▲

xbmcuser 6 hours ago | parent [-]

I guess you are not from the generation of texters. This how languages work we used to use * as a way to avoid getting censored it over time became a way to curse or give emphasis.

▲

Sharlin an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I'm definitely from the generation of texters and there was never any censorship going on with SMSs... yours must be a cultural or regional thing.

▲

collabs an hour ago | parent [-]

Maybe you didn't have T9 enabled but I consider it censorship when I type bitch and it gives me chubi.

Even now I wonder if I am allowed to type bitch here...

I guess we will find out.

	▲	Sharlin an hour ago \| parent [-]
		But typing "b*tch" with T9 is just as difficult (if not more) as typing "bitch". Anyway, I guess I never had a need to swear much over SMS. On IRC, on the other hand...

▲

mixermachine 35 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Am I, with around 30, in this generation? Putting * in words seems like self censorship to me. Still, might have a cultural component. German here.

▲

nairboon an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Is that a cultural/national thing instead of an age thing?

I've never had texts censored by texting providers, they're not supposed to read texts in the first place (at least around here).

▲

josephg 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Sounds like a generational thing.

I grew up texting. But in the 90s any profanity filters could just be turned off in settings.

▲

10729287 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

People are getting used to censor themselves in order not to be reported, banned, or «hurt » other sensibilities. The words « rape » couldn’t be written in instagram for example, what a great way to deal with such a serious issue. Mainly an American thing spreading away from young people if you ask me. Sorry America, just being honest here.

▲

sampullman 3 hours ago | parent [-]

America is partly guilty, but TikTok censorship is a big part of the younger generation's tendency toward self censorship.

▲

bragh 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

As much as I personally dislike TikTok, I don't think it is fair to it: cultural willingness for more sensor sheep on Internet started years before TikTok's popularity in the west.

	▲	sampullman 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It's not the sole cause, but I believe it's the main driver behind a bunch of specific substitutions that are mainstream now or nearly so. For example, dih, ahh, and unalive. They may not have been invented on tiktok, but that's where they incubated.

▲

well_ackshually 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

There's no such censorship on TikTok, it's entirely groupthink based on people saying "when I use that word my video is seen less so therefore it's being censored".

Youtube is a lot more guilty of it though, as well as demonetizing.

	▲	collabs an hour ago \| parent [-]
		well_ackshually, tik tok has a well known, long, and rich history of suppressing certain search keywords.

▲

mixermachine 29 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

After reading through the threat here it seems more like a cultural thing. The US has quite a lot of filters for profanity. I remember from my youth that in 2009 Eminem was a guest in a Germany TV show and very happy to swear as much as possible without being censored. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2OC-yKZ5Yag

▲

nairboon an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

You had profanity filters for SMS?

▲

saberience 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I’ve been texting since it was first a thing (sms on Nokia phones) and no one I knows does this. We just say shit, fuck, and crap.

▲

lofaszvanitt an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

stop feeding nonsense to the masses

▲

Tade0 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think a string of non-alphanumeric characters would work much better here, like "Once you have allowed that proprietary @#$&% into your C++ codebase”

Leaves more to the imagination.

▲

westonmyers 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

In any context I've seen, asterisks are for wrapping formatting and said formatting it to add emphasis. So being in the habit of typing `emphasised phrase`, for italics - regardless of whether the platform parses markdown/similar formatting, e.g. SMS.

To have an unclosed asterisk replacing characters in a word? I've only ever seen that as a way to bypass censorship. This spans communications from people currently in their 40s down to 20.

▲

vladde 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

i do this to put emphasis, i always type "h*ck".

(although it is a half-joke since it's definitely not a curse word imo)

▲

lsofzz 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

like for example, c*nt?

▲

kbenson 6 hours ago | parent [-]

Maybe more like p**p, as in "that cunt p**ped in my yard"?

I'll admit, it never once occurred to me that people might be using censored characters to provide more emphasis that a word is a swear, but I guess it does indeed do that, at least to the writer. Whether that comes across to the reader, and whether the writer cares that their intention was understood... I'm not so sure.

▲

fc417fc802 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

What about ^#%& as was traditional in newspaper comics strips?

▲

ElFitz 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

How about "Pockmark!... Freshwater swabs!... Bully!.." or "Amoeba! Bashi-bazouks! Chowderheads! Certified Diplodocuses! Nyctalop! Ectoplasm!"?

	▲	RugnirViking an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I was so disappointed when I tried reading tintin in other languages and found the dear captain was straight up using slurs in those. I wonder whether the english language ones have been edited over the years to remove that sort of thing
	▲	yehoshuapw 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"

▲

latexr an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Known as grawlix or obscenicon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grawlix

▲

lsofzz 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Hah. Yeah, I agree. It's one of those things I admit is `lost in translation` for sure.