New Rule: Replace the Word "Lynch" in Games

[Nancy Drew 39]

saying that the word Lynch isn't racist in and of itself, while still acknowledging the connotations its picked up over the past couple centuries

But there are a lot of idiots that will make the exact same argument about the n-word:

"The dictionary definition is an ignorant person! Therefore anyone can be one!" Yes but no one called white people that while they beat them in fields.

It's the connotation over the past couple centuries that requires sensitivity today.

Seriously? What dictionary is this where that word isn’t considered 100% racist?

[Radical Rat]

saying that the word Lynch isn't racist in and of itself, while still acknowledging the connotations its picked up over the past couple centuries

But there are a lot of idiots that will make the exact same argument about the n-word:

"The dictionary definition is an ignorant person! Therefore anyone can be one!" Yes but no one called white people that while they beat them in fields.

It's the connotation over the past couple centuries that requires sensitivity today.

Yes, and Nero literally acknowledged that connotation and accepted the change. So...

[Looker]

This is appreciated. Thank you.

[kuribo]

saying that the word Lynch isn't racist in and of itself, while still acknowledging the connotations its picked up over the past couple centuries

But there are a lot of idiots that will make the exact same argument about the n-word:

"The dictionary definition is an ignorant person! Therefore anyone can be one!" Yes but no one called white people that while they beat them in fields.

It's the connotation over the past couple centuries that requires sensitivity today.

Yes, and Nero literally acknowledged that connotation and accepted the change. So...

I don't reckon I've called Nero or anyone else racist in this thread, I'm explaining why the mindset of "oh the word itself isn't racist but..." is bad

[Radical Rat]

Yeah, I can agree on that then. My point was simply that it's a bit of a leap to start throwing the kinds of accusations that others

were

using around over just an etymological dispute.

Though yes, the specific origin of the word is only tangentially relevant, I don't think it's a bad thing to differentiate between words that are inherently harmful by design, such as the n word which is literally just derived from different terms for "black" and has never and will never be used in a way that isn't racist, and words like "lynch" that carry racist baggage because of associated events, but don't always have to be used that way.

People are still likely to have a personal negative association with the latter category, and adjusting site vernacular to avoid that is a perfectly sound decision, but there ARE shades of grey here, and its usage in Mafia is one such shade.

[kuribo]

saying that the word Lynch isn't racist in and of itself, while still acknowledging the connotations its picked up over the past couple centuries

But there are a lot of idiots that will make the exact same argument about the n-word:

"The dictionary definition is an ignorant person! Therefore anyone can be one!" Yes but no one called white people that while they beat them in fields.

It's the connotation over the past couple centuries that requires sensitivity today.

Seriously? What dictionary is this where that word isn’t considered 100% racist?

It was more common than you'd think in the last twenty years. The original Noah Webster's defined it as that. By necessity, the following links contain the word in their articles, but they shed light on how widespread this "ignorant" definition was, and still is in some parts of America:

Hell, Ja Rule thought that was what the word meant until just last year:

https://www.essence.com/celebrity/confu ... he-n-word/

It is still the secondary definition on dictionary.com with a length disclaimer:

Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person of any racial or ethnic origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc.

A letter to the editor of an Iowa newspaper in 1997 calling the paper out for the alternative definition:

https://www.iowastatedaily.com/an-ignor ... ceb6d.html

The line about it originally meaning "an ignorant person of any color," though is revisionist history. We can see from this article at the African American Registry the history of the word and its hateful heritage:

https://aaregistry.org/story/[removed]-the ... f-history/

[NorwegianboyEE]

Tl;dr

Both sides make some good points.

Pro-lynch points:
- The word has never been intended or used specifically as a jargon towards black people until recent history in the US. And even then there are many people and academical sources that use the term in an decidedly non-rascist manner even today.
- It has been an long used term on this site that’s hard for veterans to shake off and the ban decision may seem arbitrary for those that have never constructed the word in an racist meaning.

Anti-lynch points:
- The term has low marketing value and may turn off outsiders from joining this site due to the graphic nature of the word and perceived rascist connotations.
- The word is indeed taken as a rascist jargon by many African-Americans in the USA and therefore it is better to consider their feelings and limit the usage of the word to stop rascism from keeping a hold in the United States and limiting the potential for unintended insensitivity when people outside the world interact with people from the US.

Ultimately however, it is up to the site administration to decide which rules are to be followed. Suck it up or leave the site. (Honestly, it shouldn’t be that hard to unlearn a word and replacing it with another in the first place. But maybe i’m just saying that because i’m relatively young.)

[Nexus]

- It has been an long used term on this site that’s hard for veterans to shake off and the ban decision may seem arbitrary for those that have never constructed the word in an racist meaning.

We aren't going to ban people who use it.

We are asking moderators to change their wording, and then that will hopefully mean that the site culture will change.

[Alisae]

Yeah Norwee if ur a player it’s ok but as a mod it’s just a couple of changes to ur templates

[NorwegianboyEE]

As for a replacement word i feel it needs to emulate the meaning behind the word it is meant to reproduce as closely as possible.
Perhaps something like "Mobbing" would suffice? It would keep up the visual imagery of a herd mindset all ganging up to destroy the individual for perceived injustices enacted by the victim.
We could go further with the term by using it in intuitive ways such as: "John was mobbed because he was playing scummy."
"We should mob Clarence."
"Lara is M-2"

The word "Eliminate" as phrazed earlier doesn’t carry the same tone of seriousness and gives off the vibe that the entire thing is just an game show. (In which case the "dead thread" should really be called the: "losers club", "time-out chair" or something similar.

[Fredrick A Campbell]

I just pasted my rules in notepad, searched every instance of the word lynch, and replace it with execute(d) without a fair trial. No big deal.

[kuribo]

As for a replacement word i feel it needs to emulate the meaning behind the word it is meant to reproduce as closely as possible.
Perhaps something like "Mobbing" would suffice? It would keep up the visual imagery of a herd mindset all ganging up to destroy the individual for perceived injustices enacted by the victim.
We could go further with the term by using it in intuitive ways such as: "John was mobbed because he was playing scummy."
"We should mob Clarence."
"Lara is M-2"

The word "Eliminate" as phrazed earlier doesn’t carry the same tone of seriousness and gives off the vibe that the entire thing is just an game show. (In which case the "dead thread" should really be called the: "losers club", "time-out chair" or something similar.

I was literally just thinking about that because I had considered the word mobbing myself.

I do think it's an easier site wide adjustment if it's another one syllable word

[Klick]

Ooo yeah 'mobbed' is a good one.

[NorwegianboyEE]

Petition to change the word Eliminate to Mobbed.

[Nexus]

Again, you can use whatever word you want except lynched/hanged.

[kuribo]

Again, you can use whatever word you want except lynched/hanged.

Roped it is

I'm kidding obv

[Iconeum]

Again, you can use whatever word you want except lynched/hanged.

death by snu snu

[NorwegianboyEE]

Again, you can use whatever word you want except lynched/hanged.

Isn’t it better to have a defined standard?

[Nexus]

We have said we suggest eliminate.

[NorwegianboyEE]

Instead of mislynch we'd call it mismob.
LYLO becomes MLO
MYLO becomes MMLO

I honestly think it's better to come out with a list of the proposed new standard and then saying it's ok to use both terms but encourage an gradual change. That's the best way to remove the word slowly over time, while making the previous acronym still acceptable to use but not the accepted standard.

[kuribo]

Again, you can use whatever word you want except lynched/hanged.

death by snu snu

I once wrote flavor for a game where a player who replaced out had sex with a beehive and was replaced by a clone made of... stuff

[NorwegianboyEE]

We have said we suggest eliminate.

Yeah but i don't like that word as an replacement, so making it the uniform new "standard" each mod should use is something i'd see as a loss.

[Dunnstral]

Tl;dr

Both sides make some good points.

Pro-lynch points:
- The word has never been intended or used specifically as a jargon towards black people until recent history in the US. And even then there are many people and academical sources that use the term in an decidedly non-rascist manner even today.
- It has been an long used term on this site that’s hard for veterans to shake off and the ban decision may seem arbitrary for those that have never constructed the word in an racist meaning.

Anti-lynch points:
- The term has low marketing value and may turn off outsiders from joining this site due to the graphic nature of the word and perceived rascist connotations.
- The word is indeed taken as a rascist jargon by many African-Americans in the USA and therefore it is better to consider their feelings and limit the usage of the word to stop rascism from keeping a hold in the United States and limiting the potential for unintended insensitivity when people outside the world interact with people from the US.

Ultimately however, it is up to the site administration to decide which rules are to be followed. Suck it up or leave the site. (Honestly, it shouldn’t be that hard to unlearn a word and replacing it with another in the first place. But maybe i’m just saying that because i’m relatively young.)

Good post.

I agree with not liking 'Eliminate' as a replacement.

[N]

Again, you can use whatever word you want except lynched/hanged.

Isn’t it better to have a defined standard?

We have said we suggest eliminate.

Yeah but i don't like that word as an replacement, so making it the uniform new "standard" each mod should use is something i'd see as a loss.

WHICH DO YOU WANT

[Dunnstral]

He wants a standard but doesn't want it to be "eliminate"