SG Taboo Words Poll: - Leecher - to ban or not to ban?

i was for ban. not anymore. also, like, not that offensive.

To be honest, I don't really care but I wonder if there already exists such a ban of words.

don't ban bad words, ban bad people

Nah - I don't really see it being used much anyway.

If you ban the word, another will replace it with the same meaning.

I was a member of one old Croatian gaming forum and they had an interesting way of censorship. Words like piracy, drugs cd crack and such would come out as different (often silly) words when submitting a post. So with that said, we could change the word leech/leecher to something like a cookie or a flower. And whenever someone writes my username (xarabas), it could come out as "cute" upon submitting a post. And it's not so far from reality when you really think about it.

I personally don't care, kinda actions speak louder than words kinda guy myself. I usually think really hard before posting/saying something to someone. Also I give away games, 'cause I buy way too much bundles and don't have enough friends that care for/play games, so can't really be mad at people that just win, without giving... after all I'm happy I got rid of the keys, they are happy they won.. hopefully.

P.S.
I know we are talking about the word, not the people, just my general point of view :)

Say the word gets banned... I think I would link a leech picture. Or simply write it l33ch ? :3

The only time I see the word leech used is in stupid discussions like this one.

I suggest to ban people with positive ratios. If they give more than they take, they pressure a person (or people) of the community to take more than they give (turning them leeches), because that's how math works.

For those that hate leecher! Please be grateful!

Imagine about ur ratio. If no one leech, everyone would have the same equal gifting and receiving. If you were to say that u would want your gifts to receive 0 entry as most people would be feared of being banned/ classified as leecher due to high ratio. Others that find that the game is not fun, would not even join the giveaway. Thus, the community will be even more selective of the games they join which is good but they would ignore most of the indie games which may be fun to play. Gifting is a sense of pleasure and if the creator feel constaint for gifting to others that are leeches, you can create ur own whitelist or set up giveaway with your choice of rules.

Leecher can be a strong word but well others can replace it with another :P

I took a big tray of cookies to work a while back. I didn't have to, but I did.
I was the only one who brought cookies for everyone.
No one else brought anything.

I called them all "leeches."

That's how much the term makes sense (to me) when it's used around here.

Don't ban the words, ban the people.

Wait, what exactly are you proposing here, banning the word leecher, or banning all the leechers?

Calling people "leechers" is just plain rude, considering the purpose of this website. I don't think the word should be banned, but everyone using it is a despicable elitist and should feel bad.

I look forward to the day when all words are banned and everyone starts communicating through interpretive dance.

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Of all the things you could want to censor, you pick this?

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I wouldn't necessarily ban them but I wouldn't think very highly of them either. Leecher doesn't make sense: leeching is done by/with a single leech or multiple leeches.
Regardless, words shouldn't be taboo; it is the context in which they are used and the intent that should be judged. If they are breaking community rules on acceptable conduct, report them. If they are not breaking rules but also not behaving in a way you think is appropriate, deal with it how you see fit. I would either tell them that I don't appreciate what they are doing or simply ignore them. Other people seem to have different coping mechanisms both here on SteamGifts and in the real world - they might blacklist them or punch them in the face, but neither of those is my style.

This is similar to that George Carlin bit where he talks about how humans keep wasting time creating "nicer" words for the same thing..

petition to change leecher to hanger-on!

Censoring doesn't work. If someone's offended then they'll also be offended by the inevitable new word that'll mean the same thing as "leech". People will keep using the words they want. Like when the "n-word/whatever other racial slur" turned into "coloured people" which in turn turned into "people of colour" which is literally the same thing with words just switching places. People took offense to the first word, the second one became quite comically ridiculous and now the third one seems to be used even by those that claim to fight racism.

Point is that you won't get rid of definitions, so when the word associated with it gets banned, it'll just evolve to have a new word to associate with. If you have a problem with the word being used against you, ask yourself why it is. Then ask yourself if that reason's enough to take away people's right to say that word.
Someone might be offended if you use the word "fat". When they think about the word, odds are they have bad associations for that word. It's likely they themselves are overweight, so that word has a negative connotation to it. Not because it's an inherently bad word but instead because they feel hurt because they know there's something wrong. They know it's not good to be fat.

If it truly is something that would benefit everyone, then change their minds. Use logic and common sense and you'll get the rational ones behind you. Over time the irrational ones will follow suit because they're not actually very smart and they'll follow the trend.

"Leech" is a word that induces cringe in me. People call others "leeches" on this site, unaware that for the most part, everyone's a leech here because in the end you never paid for the games you won and never really wanted the games you gave away. There was no real sacrifice here and if there was, you'd be quite a silly bugger because you're sacrificing your life quality to make a stupid giveaway. Everyone's a leech. It's just that those people think that because the CV they've given is higher than others or higher than they've won, that they're suddenly some generous saints. There are a few people who use the term ironically. Though, there are also some who use that irony, unaware that they've turned into the thing they're mocking. I won't go against people using the term because I have no horse in this race and ultimately care little about the specific word. I will however keep cringing when looking at those clueless people who are so unaware of their own existence that they actually call people leeches. It's cringeworthy at best and bloody sad at worst.

Any other potential taboo words I should know about that some of the SG community is particularly sensitive to?
Just curious, as I only tend to browse only a few of the forum categories here and haven't come across much drama yet in my 2 months since joining.

Rather than banning, I rather just not use it. Pretty much like the F word. :3

I really hate when that word gets used but not enough think it should get banned lol

My vote for "raccoons".

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