Salford to ban foul language in public areas

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.

Truly!

Anya great minds.

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

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

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.

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!

'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.

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.

Would shitey-poo-poos be allowed?

Salford is probably a rough old place.

into. not onto.

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?

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

Good luck with that one!!!!

About bl**dy effin time

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?

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.