Since my thread seems to have sparked this, I feel like I started it. I'd like to say a few things about this...
My wife and I frequently have discussions about language and the definitions of various words. She likes to stick to a single definition and holds everyone to that ideal. Trouble is, she decides the definition to hold you to and ignores the context. This is where our discussions begin!
If you read nothing else I say, please read this:
There is never ONE single RIGHT definition of most words by themselves without context.
The phrase "you suck" does NOT mean what people seem to be saying it does. The word "suck" has been used in OTHER phrases that mean what these people are objecting to. But it's pretty benign in the phrase above when used the way we use it here. Definitions have nothing to do with it, really - it's all in the context.
"Daddy, What does 'You Suck' mean?"
"In this case, it means the person is jealous or jokingly giving someone a hard time." <-- You are NOT obligated to give the etymology of the individual words used and all their gory details. The phrase has a different meaning than it's consituent words. It's about
context. Call it what it really is, in context.
Getting bent out of shape over this phrase scares me. What's next? You have to draw the line somewhere. I wouldn't want to be on a forum where I have to tip-toe around innocuous phrases like "You Suck" when someone gloats. It's practically expected!
I'm not saying don't express your opinion about the phrase. You are entitled to your opinion and this place makes it pretty easy to express that objection. The phrase you object to, though, is your objection and not the user's. Raising an objection is not always a requirement for change. People like to fix problems by nature, but if we tried to fix everyone's problems, we wouldn't get anywhere. To that end, people come to expect changes to be made when they complain and that gets dangerous, too. To try to force an ideology on anyone else by adding rules to restrict it is just unacceptable to me.
Please ... for the good of this forum ... leave the rule making to the real issues. If you try to make a rule against every phrase people took offense to, who would talk? Surely not me.
Take what you like. Leave the rest.
Nobody can make you feel
anything without your consent.
Your feelings are
your responsibility.
I don't like language restrictions (as you might have noticed) and I don't feel that "you suck" is crossing any politeness boundaries. I personaly feel that telling me I can't use benign phrases in benign ways (and it really IS benign in this context) is a great way to alienate people.
*shrug*
I should quit typing - i feel a little strongly about this and have trouble stopping myself. I'll re-read and adjust before I send.
Okay - i might have just fueled the fire, but i think my opinion is equal to everyone else's so I choose to express it