A simple suggestion for the censors

I knew that Americans say "rooster" because we're too prudish to say "cock", but now Arnold Zwicky reports on Language Log that the RSPB is censoring the word for male birds

a correspondent on an RSPB online forum was surprised to find that his use of the word "cock", when referring to a male blackbird, was replaced with four asterisks.

He challenged the forum moderator over the sensitivity to the word, only to find that once again the asterisks appeared. He wrote: "When is it not in order to refer to a male bird as a **** and a female as a hen? I've heard of PC but that is taking things too far."

... The moderator replied: "It is not political correctness. The issue is words that can be used in an offensive context and we should not forget that the RSPB website has a massive viewing from children. Pretty much all internet forums use the same or similar filters. It is far from an ideal situation but it is better to be safe than sorry."

In a second posting, the moderator adds: "Some words have been hijacked for a different and more offensive meaning and it is important to examine the context in which they are delivered because forums have the potential to be read by people of all ages. It is not easy to override the system but I have seen this being abused on other forums by careful wording so it is better to be cautious."

An RSPB spokesman confirmed that it did not use the word "cock" on its website, preferring instead to describe birds as either male or female. "The filter that removes the word 'cock' and replaces it with asterisks is built in to the Microsoft software package we use. This is standard procedure. It is not something that we have added ourselves," she said.

But think of the children!!!

Specifically, think of those in that "massive viewing" who keep seeing **** on the RSPB website and wondering what it means and then asking their parents.

Were I that paranoid (Who Killed **** Robin, forsooth?) I would make my filter replace "cock" with "male".

And were I a member, I'd write to complain about them putting filthy ideas into my childrens' heads...