From: H. C. (bmaxey1@juno.com)
Date: 10/26/01-02:34:36 AM Z
>>An op ed piece in yesterday's NY Times, "Bowdlerized by Microsoft,"
>>pointed out that the Word 2000 thesaurus has eliminated all words
>>considered "offensive... to ensure that the tools reflect current
social
>>and cultural environments." The incident was precipitated by Mark
>>Goldblatt being dissatisfied with the word "fool," and wanting a
variant.
>>He got only "trick," a verb, and no noun at all to suggest dumbness.
>>"Idiot" was not found, nor were goon, ninny, nincompoop, nitwit,
dullard,
>>dunce or dolt. Etc. He called a friend with Word 97, which provided a
>>rich assortment, from ninny to dunderhead and ignoramus.
This is sad. I believe we all have the right to say anything we want and
to write anything we want. Having a large corporation forcing us to
eliminate really great words because they bother someone, is just plain
wrong.
The specific words pointed out above are good examples of words that are
better than those people would normally use. As for Marc Goldblatt,
perhaps he should purchase a Thesaurus and forget whatever is included in
Microsoft's products.
I wrote a piece once that used the word "Incestuous". I used it in a
context that had nothing to do with parental/sibling sexual activity, but
all people could do after the talk was condemn me for bring Incest into
the talk.
HCM
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