Microsoft Word synonym function and sex/witchcraft-related vocabulary Thread poster: Dana Pottratz
|
|---|
Hello,
Has anyone other than me noticed that the synonym function in Word never gives any synonyms for sex-related words or for words related to witchcraft? (Do a simple test by right-clicking on common words such as "sexy", "sensual", "voluptuous", "witchcraft", "sorcery" or other such common words which have a plethora of possible synonyms available in the English language and you"ll see what I mean) I should mention that I am not a translator of pornography (LOL) or books on bl... See more Hello,
Has anyone other than me noticed that the synonym function in Word never gives any synonyms for sex-related words or for words related to witchcraft? (Do a simple test by right-clicking on common words such as "sexy", "sensual", "voluptuous", "witchcraft", "sorcery" or other such common words which have a plethora of possible synonyms available in the English language and you"ll see what I mean) I should mention that I am not a translator of pornography (LOL) or books on black magic!!! But I do a lot of perfume and luxury cosmetics translations in which words pertaining to the two domains are quite common. I was wondering if anyone had any theories or explanations for this peculiar phenomenon (ie. extremely puritanical, book-burning, censorship-promoting religious fanatic software developers at Microsoft...?).
Thanks in advance,
Dana Pottratz ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Here's my theory | Apr 25, 2007 |
Witchcraft is what Microsoft is trying to replace with its products. All these computer tricks, automated actions, etc., are nothing but modern witchcraft. So Microsoft doesn't want to advertise the competitor's glossary.
As for sex-related words, they are the direct result of Microsoft's witchcraft. Users need them in order to express their feelings after the unsuccessful efforts to use Microsoft's witchcraft. Thus Microsoft is kind of protecting themselves from strong expressions.
| | | | Heinrich Pesch 
Finland
Local time: 06:08
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
| Works in German and Finnish though | Apr 25, 2007 |
Thanks for the hint, I didn't know or didn't remeber there was such a function.
Cheers
Heinrich
| | | | | Here is a nice explanation | Apr 25, 2007 |
Thesauri
"The Microsoft Word thesaurus is really an anti-thesaurus, the exact opposite of Roget’s. As writer Mark Goldblatt revealed in a New York Times column last year, Microsoft has sanitized all entries it deems potentially offensive, including words to describe people who aren’t exactly Einstein. “Idiot,” for instance, is gone completely. Want a synonym for “dummy”? Try mannequin. How about “fool”? The only substitute is the verb “to trick.”
A Microso... See more Thesauri
"The Microsoft Word thesaurus is really an anti-thesaurus, the exact opposite of Roget’s. As writer Mark Goldblatt revealed in a New York Times column last year, Microsoft has sanitized all entries it deems potentially offensive, including words to describe people who aren’t exactly Einstein. “Idiot,” for instance, is gone completely. Want a synonym for “dummy”? Try mannequin. How about “fool”? The only substitute is the verb “to trick.”
A Microsoft representative told Goldblatt the selective purging was done to reflect “current social and cultural environments,” and that “Microsoft’s approach is to not suggest words that may have offensive uses or provide offensive definitions for any words.”
Call it political correctness taken to another absurd extreme: Not only must we refrain from using nouns that define substandard intelligence, we’re also expected to deny such words even exist. It’s almost as if Microsoft believes that eliminating descriptions of stupidity will make stupidity itself disappear. "
www.absolutewrite.com/fun/thesauri.htm
IMHO the rest of the above article is also much fun to read!
[Bearbeitet am 2007-04-25 06:50] ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
PAS
Local time: 05:08
Polish to English
+ ...
| Correctness shmectness | Apr 25, 2007 |
I use the Word thesaurus sporadically.
If I'm really stumped, I go straight to www.thesaurus.com
Soooo, let them be PC as much as they wanna be...
Incidentally, the spell checker doesn't seem to have a problem with most nasty words.
Pawel Skalinski
| | | | Dana Pottratz
France
Local time: 05:08
French to English
TOPIC STARTER | "political correctness taken to another absurd extreme" | Apr 25, 2007 |
Thanks Claudia for the enlightening and very amusing article. What a bunch of imbeciles at Microsoft. It really is censorship as far as I'm concerned.
Dana
Claudia Krysztofiak wrote: Thesauri "The Microsoft Word thesaurus is really an anti-thesaurus, the exact opposite of Roget’s. As writer Mark Goldblatt revealed in a New York Times column last year, Microsoft has sanitized all entries it deems potentially offensive, including words to describe people who aren’t exactly Einstein. “Idiot,” for instance, is gone completely. Want a synonym for “dummy”? Try mannequin. How about “fool”? The only substitute is the verb “to trick.” A Microsoft representative told Goldblatt the selective purging was done to reflect “current social and cultural environments,” and that “Microsoft’s approach is to not suggest words that may have offensive uses or provide offensive definitions for any words.” Call it political correctness taken to another absurd extreme: Not only must we refrain from using nouns that define substandard intelligence, we’re also expected to deny such words even exist. It’s almost as if Microsoft believes that eliminating descriptions of stupidity will make stupidity itself disappear. " www.absolutewrite.com/fun/thesauri.htm IMHO the rest of the above article is also much fun to read! [Bearbeitet am 2007-04-25 06:50]
| | | | | Use OpenOffice.org Writer | Apr 25, 2007 |
It does not have a problem with spicy words.
Regards,
Piotr
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Microsoft Word synonym function and sex/witchcraft-related vocabulary | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
| | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
