Discuss New Forum Policy Here - Pt 2

I need a turbo button on my mouse, all Nintendo style for abuse reporting! Keep up the purse jokes Ano, and I'll wind up owning a good portion of Mavericks!

Bring it on, sister!

Damn, I pulled a muscle in my arm hitting that Report Abuse button so fast. Outing my RL gender.. pfft.

Um, I mean lying and junk.

Yeah.








Word.

What about when people make this infomation public via the media, so it is readily available to the entire world. Does this rule still apply?

Nah, then Linden Lab has to investigate every forum post, blog, webpage and newspaper in the civilized world.

We're basically screwed if we use the wrong gender-specific pronoun, Eboni. That's the long and the short of it.

Thus, we need to come up with a special non-gender-specific pronoun with which to refer to people in order to keep ourselves safe.

I propose the word "ort."

Example:

"I like Eboni Khan! She's the neatest!"

would be written as

"I like Eboni Khan! Ort's the neatest!"

or

"That Enabran Templar is such a nice fellow. He just gave me a free robot!"

would be written as

"That Enabran Templar is such a nice resident. Ort just gave me a free robot!"


Now, I know this seems both silly and weird, since those who have grown up using English have always referred to individuals with pronouns that easily indicate gender. However, it's probably the safest course, since referring to someone as "it" might be perceived (and reported) as a personal attack.

Thoughts?

Post reported you *&%$@# !!!

That would only work if you used "ort" for every pronoun you ever used in all your posts about anybody.

coco

I'm glad you understand the gravity of this undertaking.

Thank you for making me spit Mt. Dew out my nose.

Ort Por Ylem?

or

Ort Rel?

or

Ort Sanct?

Couldn't resist!

VAS FLAM!

Sorry.

No, Enabran is actually on to something. I mentioned it once before, but it got burried. What are we supposed to do, just not use pronouns?

Well course I do, guys. I'm a writer, and I have been plagued for YEARS over the he/she business, and trying not to resort to the stuffy-sounding "one." Even worse is sentences that go something like, "Everybody who likes the idea can join if they want to."

For writing on places like here, I just go ahead and say "if they want to." For professional writing, I turn cartwheels and stand on my head and get into yoga positions in order to write a natural-sounding sentence that makes the subject match the verb without saying "if he or she wants to."

coco

Hmmm, I'd suggest something we're all already familiar with... "dude."

If you're talking about someone it would be "That dude" and if you're speaking directly to them it would just be "dude."

"Ort" means table scrap.. scrap of food.. small bits of leftovers after dinner.

I think it fits.

a southerner friend of mine explained to me that "dude" is offensive.

Where as out here in the West, dude is completely cool.

I'm not down with anyone, LL included, dictating how I'm suppose to talk, walk and conduct myself - by now I either get it or I don't.

I don't understand why you think this fits as "a special non-gender-specific pronoun with which to refer to people". Could you explain, please?

Because we're all table scraps.

Who ate the meal?

I can't say that I share your opinion of yourself and others but thanks for taking the time to explain your view.

Ingsoc. By BB's big black mustache, blaze was right all along!

I know, some people see themselves as duck confit, but I don't take myself, or anyone else, that seriously.

It was just a bit of humor. I should have added more smileys I guess.

"Today, we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives. We have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology. Where each worker may bloom secure from the pests of contradictory and confusing truths. Our Unification of Thoughts is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on earth. We are one people, with one will, one resolve, one cause. Our enemies shall talk themselves to death and we will bury them with their own confusion. We shall prevail!"

Orts and dudes.... Ingsoc! By BB's big black bushy mustache, blaze was right!

We simply must do this ort business.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that in real life, I am a man. (I actually am a man in real life, but that's beside the point.)

My avatar in Second Life is also a man. He lacks breasts, has short hair and wears masculine clothing. He owns no special attachments to close the deal, but it's good enough.

If someone says, "Enabran Templar is a right bastard. He stole my roast beef sandwich!"

That person has "outed" my real life gender. Did they mean to? Maybe. Maybe they were going on my avatar appearance.

But the damage is done.

Ridiculous? Yes.

But there we have it.

Much safer to say ort. I did not realize "ort" meant anything. I just wanted something that was short and rolled off the tongue like "it."

To say "they" in place of he or she is a breach of language I cannot permit myself. If your linguistic compunctions are more lax than my own, then you may write accordingly.

I'm going with ort, folks. No turning back now.

This thread is getting a little derailed, let's try to stay on-topic.