Following a discussion with community members we developed a swear-word policy. We'd like to ask all DNA community and message board members not to swear and to adhere to this policy, voluntarily. If you see a swear-word within a posting or article - perhaps with an 'alternate spelling' - we'd like you to register a complaint about the posting using the complaints button. This will bring it to the attention of the moderators.

If you see a word that you personally find offensive - that isn't on this list - please press the complaints button and bring it to the attention of the moderators, who will make a decision as to its suitability in the given context. This page is for guidance only, it isn't a definitive list; if other words offend, or are used in an offensive way, they will be removed.

We'd like to point out that, we'd prefer you not to use swear-words at all. BBC Communities and message boards attract a wide range of readers and members - in terms of age, culture, nationality and personal attitude, and so on - and many people are genuinely offended by swear-words that others consider perfectly acceptable.

If your Posting or Article breaks the House Rules (i.e., it is obscene, profane, abusive, racially offensive, etc.), it will be failed regardless of whether the words have been starred out or not. Psts or articles containing swear-words that appear to have been deliberately mis-spelt, or written using alternate characters, in order to get past the profanity filter will be failed.

Unacceptable Swear-words - Examples

The following are examples of the type of words blocked by the profanity filter or referred to the moderators for evaluation. this is not a definitive list. (There are very rare circumstances in which some of these words may be used if editorially justified; if the word appears in an extract of a quoted poem, for example).

Please note that derivatives of offensive words are also included on the banned word list:

• bxxxxxks - testicles
• cxxt - vagina
• fxxk - have sex
• txxt - another vagina, not twit
• wxxk - masturbate, not work

Words with Dual Meanings

There are a number of words which have both acceptable and unacceptable meanings. The moderators evaluate the meaning of words with dual meanings, in context.

• bxxxxxd - illegitimate person, bar steward (forbidden in the context of an insult, allowed as a term for an illegitimate person).
• pxxs - urinate (Banned in the context of urination and insult, but allowed as a slang term for being angry or drunk)
• pxxxk - a penis, a pricking feeling (not to be used as a substitute for penis, allowable in the context of pins and suchlike).

Minority Groups

Some words are banned not because they are 'profane' or swearing, but because they may offend members of any minority, religious or ethnic group. The list below is not definitive; postings or articles using a slang word in a way that is offensive to a group of people will be failed:

• cxxn - black person, possibly from raccoon. But you are allowed to use 'coon as a slang term for raccoons.
• nxxxxr - another black person, 'catch a nxxxxr by the toe'
• sxxxxxc - a term that can be used offensively to describe a person with cerebral palsy.
• yxd - short for 'yiddish'