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Comment by hrnnnnnn | Hacker News Reader

One notable difference is the c-word, which is a gendered slur in the US, but not in Scotland or Australia.

I'm self censoring here because this is a US-run site and I'm afraid I'll get shadowbanned if I use it in full. I am not from the US and this word does not carry the same weight for me.

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If I'm going to be censored for saying "cunt" I at least hope I don't have to do the censoring myself.

Only a cunt would censor you for saying "cunt".

Also, I find it funny that "cunt" is considered a gendered slew in the US (according to one of the parent comments). Being a cunt has nothing to do with gender, and everything with a character.

> Being a cunt has nothing to do with gender

Surely you see, though, how it could.

I see this argument as similar to the idea that 'bitch' doesn't have to do with gender. If that were true, wouldn't calling someone a 'dog' carry the same weight?

Let's stick with 'asshole'.

The truth remains that in US culture it does have this gendered meaning, and in Scottish and Australian culture it does not.

Context matters. Intent matters.

Context and intent is also the first to go in the censorship witch-hunt.

Google has fired many an engineer that mentioned that.

Why are you surprised? In US usage it refers to female genitalia. I believe the non-US equivilant is 'fanny'.

There's a bit that comedian Bill Burr does where he observes that referring to someone as "that fucking $XXX" is considered racist while "that $XXX motherfucker" isn't and it has to do with the former talking about the group $XXX as a whole and the latter very explicitly (uh, no pun intended) referring to an attribute of an individual.

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