Salford to ban foul language in public areas

I don't think this is a good idea. It smacks of intolerance and authoritarianism.

Besides, what is 'foul language' to one person is not foul language to another. It is not for town councils to decide.

Oh! surely not thatbags, how about having respect for the people around who would prefer not to have foul language shouted and bandied about whilst they go about their every day shopping?

About bl**dy effin time

Good luck with that one!!!!

I'm with bags. It is authoritarian. Yes it would be nice to think there was some respect for other people, but sadly many people no longer have any respect for others. And many people are no longer deserving of respect from others. It's the way it is today. Banning foul language won't change that. There are many ways of speaking and behaving in a foul and disrespectful manner without using a single obscenity.

And I'd love to know how they intend to enforce it. Perhaps they'll have posters up around the town listing all the banned words

I can understand this being applied to, perhaps, a group of loud-mouthed youngsters carrying on a conversation at the tops of their voices and punctuating every few words with a f******, but what if some perfectly reasonable person was walking along and say, tripped, or bumped onto a lamp post (it happens) and said FUCK! or SHIT!? Would they get fined?

into. not onto.

Salford is probably a rough old place.

Would shitey-poo-poos be allowed?

I have been moved to remind teenagers not to swear in front of young children in hey ahe street. They are usually quite sorry. I suppose the trick is to be careful who you censure.

'And many people are no longer deserving of respect from others.'

Who? What? Why?

I'm not one normally for censorship, enjoy all the complexities of our language and am not above using the odd expletive when appropriate, but these foul-mouthed yobs only appear to have one swear word in their limited vocabulary which they use ad nauseam.

Actually jings the proposed ban is to cover the Salford Quays area. This is a posh docklands development including the Lowry Arts Centre and the Imperial War Museum, as well as the BBC. This may seem 'rough' to Southern softies, but not to those of us brought up on clogs and whippets.

The area is also used as a short cut by Man U fans en route to Old Trafford and I'm sure they will all watch their language very carefully now!

I have every respect for people who don't like what they deem foul language, printmiss. That includes self-respect because I also dislike language that is used foully towards other people.

I suspect that the difference between you and me on this is that I also respect the right of others to use language that some people, including me, might regard as foul— foulness would depend on context of course. Someone peppering their speech with fuck is not necessarily using 'foul' language; they may just be using it for emphasis.

As an example, if someone told me, or anyone else to fuck off in a rude way, that would be quite different from someone saying "Fuck!" because they'd just dropped a heavy hammer on their toe. The second usage is not foul in my view though it may be in some people's. It was that difference of perception that I referred to in my first post on this thread: what's foul to one person may not be to another. Who decides? Not town councils.

Ah! Man U fans.....I rest my case

OMG! Man United fans?!!! They are the worst! CARI - it's your lot again.

Anya great minds.

Truly!

I agree, anya, that repeated fucks are very tiresome. I don't think hearing such from yobs does anyone any harm though.

Where do yous all meet/hear all these yobs? I can't remember when I last heard or saw one.

I have heard teenagers effing a fair bit but they were not yobs, just ordinary teenagers talking to their pals in non-offensive ways.

Having now read further into the thread, I see jings has made the same argument as I have.

Words themselves are not foul; it's how they are used that can be.

Outside certain pubs in city centres bags - rarely in rural havens such as Dumfries & Galloway, but often down Sauchiehall Street when I were a lass.

My father was a ships' riveter on the Clyde Shipyards after the war. He could make full use of the English language after a skinfull, but he rarely repeated himself in the same sentence. It's the monotony of the swearing I find offensive.

Did what you heard on Sauchiehall St as a lass do you any harm, anya? I doubt it. It may even have helped you develop a realistic attitude to life, and to have learned some tolerance of things (and possibly people) you don't like.

I just find the monotony boring. I'm not offended by it. E.g. although I thing Billy Connolly can (could?) be very funny, I've switched him off more than once because listening became tiresome. Surely one can do the equivalent in a public street? Just walk on by.

think