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8 days agoI understand the sentiment and I also find it grating when it feels like a decision motivated by things I don’t approve of, but words like ‘heck’ and ‘gosh’ are a very common part of language in their own right. People grow up listening to their families and communities using the words, and then continue to see it everywhere online, so it’s just like any other word for them. I also don’t think it’s necessarily self-censorship to purposely choose milder language with different connotations, we don’t always want the harshest words.
‘PDF’ is actually the one that always irritates me, haha. It just feels so ignorant and selfish to make people associate such a common word with such a triggering topic. Euphemisms can be so useful for affected people and help them to talk about topics they otherwise couldn’t, but it defeats the purpose when it’s a common word and the association becomes strong.