Publius Ovidius
Well-known member
At your age, granny, you should be utterly ashamed of yourself! On a more serious note, and I do appreciate that your post is tongue in cheek, there is a difference between an insult and political correctness, though one could clearly argue the opposite. To answer your question, I suspect that the use of the word "poofter" these days would be construed as an insult. Perhaps it boils down to the intent behind the use of the word? Anyway, sorry, as I am sure that the last thing you want is to get all deep about what you wrote!
To be fair, I actually agree with you and the points you are making. It's the fallout from the Internet and the fact that people can insult other people they have never met with impunity. Ok so the " mods" can ban someone for calling someone a name, but at the end of the day how many of people on here would say the things they do to that persons face? Apart from the obvious idiots that infest message boards, I would suggest no one would.
I have finished my OU degree and you think the insults on here are bad, intellectuals and highly qualified students were many times worse than you get in here on the course message boards. I had a run in with some woman, arguing about a greek myth that was thousands of years old, the Trojan War, and she resorted to insulting me in Latin as I didn't agree with her line of argument, which seeing as no one even knows if homer, or helen of Sparta, or Paris, Achilles or hektor actually existed was just pathetic.
I had a break from here for a year or so as it was being over ran by trolls, they have not all gone away, but it is a much better place. So I would say, if it gets to you, leave it alone for a while, just don't log in and keep an eye on what is being said and you will see when it is worth popping back on.