Yes its a swear word. Yes, there is a shrinking population where I am (UK) that still can associate it with its original meaning (but that is different in other places too) but you can apply that weak justification to a lot of other words too. ‘Cool’ literally means ‘not warm’ but it has also evolved to incorporate other totally different meanings, which can also vary slightly or a lot depending on geographical colloquial use.

You find it offensive because of your local cultural interpretations. I acknowledge that and respect it, hence why I have said things like ‘that word’ in my subsequent comments to you. What I’m asking you to consider is that, in places away from your local culture, it doesn’t carry that meaning and hasn’t for some time. The US is not the entire world.

I really don’t mind discussing this with you, but please at least make an effort to have your statements make some kind of sense. Just try and envisage the possibility that outside of the US the same or similar words have always had, or have evolved to have, different or alternative meanings. The people where I live who still interpret the word in the same way you insist is the only possible interpretation are of an older generation. Its in pretty common use by all genders in younger generations.

Also, if you ever get around to getting a passport (a document that lets you travel to other countries), you might want to leave Australia, the UK and Ireland in particular out of any travel plans you have.

Outside of the US, that meaning fell away and/or changed in some places quite sometime ago. I know it’s difficult for a certain type of American to envisage a world outside of their own borders but believe it or not, it does exist and even has different cultural language evolutions.

I’m assuming you’re American? If so you should be aware that word doesn’t carry he same baggage elsewhere in the world.

You say: “…prevailing orthodoxy to the dogmatic views of leftism…”

Most on Fediverse say: Just respect difference and don’t tolerate intolerance.

By the way, it’s OK to swear. Some examples might be: “You seem to be making a ham-fisted attempt to troll people. Stop being a cunt.”

Thanks Labour - you’ve now made me agree with those fucks about something.

The problem, I’m afraid, is not the idea but Jeremy Corbyn. A quick look at Yougov polling currently has him less popular than Keir Starmer at 21%. It’s a shame we live in such a personality led culture but we do - en masse, people just don’t like him and won’t vote for him.

Last line completely unnecessary.

Dunno if ‘they’ do, but I do. You baby.

The OSA is nothing to do with kids or parenting and everything to do with further developing surveillance of the UK and controlling what we can access.

I guarantee you, at some point after this will come prohibiting content deemed terrorism such as mentions of the word ‘palestine’ and ‘action’ in the same paragraph for example.

Sooner or later we’ll have our own pseudo or real great firewall. I expect them to come after VPN use at some point too.

Can confirm the ubo custom filter method works perfectly.

“Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind - except for Hulk Hogan” - John Donne, probably.

No, it happened in the early 80s so bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Budgie, Saxon etc

The ones where I have filterable control over what I see and who I interact with and who aren’t pushing ragebait at me or tracking me. So, fediverse services basically.

You can tell them about The Royal Standard which dates back to 1086 and is in the Doomsday Book or Ye Olde Fighting Cocks which is dated to 793.

It’s difficult to convey to non Brits just how strong and deep the urge to place all citizens under total surveillance runs in the political classes. Its beyond party politics - all parties want it and have for decades. We have (I think) the largest CCTV system in Europe, possibly the world and the police use facial recognition as a matter of course and encourage private businesses to use facial recognition too.

Hate is too strong a word I think - I nothing them - but they produce the sort of soulless indie/pop ballad that you know will end up in the soundtrack of Hollywood paint-by-numbers romcom that would’ve gone straight to DVD a decade or so ago. The unending radio play rotation would force the song (and we could be talking about any and all Coldplay songs here) into your brain and then five years later you’d find yourself humming it as you suddenly realised a longe bar version of it is playing in the lift (elevator USians) you’re in.

The threadiverse tech is better (Lemmy/Piefed/MBin etc) and it is a great feeling to know I’m not getting tracked and profiled by big tech or inundated by ads, or force fed ragebait via an algorithm I neither want nor need. The users are better, mostly, although I have noticed an uptick over the last 3 or 4 months of reddit-style dickheads being dickheads - but I can just block them.

Niche content will come I think. If the threadiverse can resist the self-defeating drive to ‘grow at all costs’ and just let it organically grow, more people will come but a lot more slowly. But of course that will bring a change in the user culture too. Its quite nice being somewhere with low to no tolerance for right-wing shit.

As for Reddit, I don’t have an account any more. My main of almost Digg migration antiquity was deleted when Spez shit the bed over the API thing but I’d been on Lemmy prior to that anyway off an on. My alt got deleted about 6 months ago when I realised I hadn’t used it for months. If I absolutely have to visit a sub I use a front end.

Not to pour cold water onto any sort of activism but this has zero chance. We all know what the OSA is really for and the kids/terrorism thing is a front for spying on us but the gen population are totally bought into the kids/terrorism thing and there’s not a single MP with any sort of political ambition who’ll take the chance on looking like they hate kids and support terrorists.

We have to.