We Say Tomahto, You Say Tomayto
| Share |
So guess yesterday’s post was a bit of an eye opener for us. We found what might be a slight cultural difference can cause quite a stir on the Internet. Offline we mingle with people in our environment. Friends, family, colleagues etc. Most of them have either the same eduction, smoke eat the same grass, watch the same TV shows, go shopping in the same stores and use the same slang. You move with the crowd and adjust to your surroundings more or less.
Online is a different game, especially if you’re a blogger, a forum visitor or a chatter on IRC for example. All these tools are used to do one thing –communicate. Over 90% of the people you will at one point communicate with online will be from either a different city, country or even continent. And they all have their own culture, slang and a certain tolerance towards specific words that they use a lot. You could say we become immune to certain things people say around us. They probably don’t even think about what they are saying –its that common.
So along came the cows and they used the C-word as it’s been referred to by some. The article would probably not have reached the amount of comments that it did if it was read only by Irish people. But like we said, the Internet is a HUGE place and people from other parts of the world read it, and the C-word suddenly made us look like a ****!
It’s all a matter of interpretation. What’s offense for one person might be something innocent to the other. When we posted the article “Our Blog Is Not Your Bitch” we actually had to think twice before we published. It’s a much worse word in our opinion but nobody seemed to share that perspective. Not one comment referred to the title as being inappropriate.
Now we changed the title after the complaints, obviously we had no intention of offending anyone since the C-word was not aimed at anyone in particular. But because people seemed to take offense, we decided to edit it. Not because we’re COWards like someone mentioned in the comments, but because it’s effect was not the one we had put it up for in the first place. Looks like we can all learn a bit from this situation. If you’re in the public eye, be mindful how you communicate to other people. They might have no sense of humor and take offense to your jokes.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
contestant on Let Us Pimp Your Blog – Win A Free Blog Makeover!Developer on We Say Tomahto, You Say Tomaytomadringo on We Say Tomahto, You Say TomaytoMichael on We Say Tomahto, You Say TomaytoRhys onWe Say Tomahto, You Say Tomayto
blogosphere. Ironically, one of these bloggers is John Cow. His blog started as a “thinking outside the box” exercise by parodying John Chow. More recently he started a paid Wiki and sold it ,titled a post with an offensive word, and did a fake hack of his site. Just about every move he makes tosses another blogosphere sacred cow on the grill. Sometimes it works, sometimes it backfires, you may not like him but you have to agree
Some might see this as backpedaling or caving in. I think it’s just being considerate of your readers.
it needed to be said! Good work Cow, your blog still rocks
It ain’t backpedaling – the C word is extremely bad.
Where I come from, we say to-meh-to.
I suppose all this -PR makes everyone edgy and everything becomes good flame fest. I don’t know what’s worse. Losing 2 ranks or staying 0. 
Good call on the retraction. However, It made me jump right to it when I saw it pop up in my RSS reader. It is such a strong word that I thought something heavy was going down.
I have to say I found it offensive but gave you the benefit of the doubt because I assumed the cultural differences you discussed.
Thank you for recognizing the issue and correcting it. I don’t see it as back-pedaling. I see it as being an adult and a professional.
I’m extremely sarcastic by nature and find myself having to edit ruthlessly because of it. I have several readers who use a translator to read my posts so I’m sure there are still things that get misunderstood.
That title certainly got our attention, though we definitely were not offended by it. We just assumed you were trying to get a point across.
The Internet is a strange beast. It certainly is a place where you have to be careful about what you say as there is so much cultural diversity online.
This was a great lesson for all bloggers. We think you handled yourself with class on this one. Good job!
What is the C word? English is not my native language and I can see only “cunt” so is this the word and why is it THE C word?
Think there are under 18’s reading your blog, you c**t!
Now how is that?
Think you were right to edit the post, and although it wouldn’t offend me (lived in Dublin for a while) I can see how it could offend other readers.
I did become a bit confused, until I found you’re an Irish blogger, and totally understood what you meant.
First impressions count, and I’d be surprised if you didn’t loose a few readers – but, good post btw.
A little bit too much Curb Your Enthusiasm?
It’s always best to keep your reputation as a business owner in mind. Good call on the edit!
I am like A.T., but the less of the editing, just annoyed a big UK blogger with my post calling him a rubbish author.
Humourless c**t.
Yeah, that definitely got my attention. Glad you edited it.
It’s very silly how one word can be so offensive in another country that speaks the same language.
But do you guys really say “tomahto?”
To be fair, I’m Irish myself, and the word is used quite loosly in our society. I suppose – when you’re called it often enough you grow somewhat immune to it
i think this was all linkbait.
TIP: If you ever get an American girlfriend and you get into an argument, DONT drop the “C”-bomb ..
The American comments are right. For some reason the C-word is pretty bad but we say bitch on TV quite often.
wash out your mouth john!! lol…keep up the good work mah man!!
From Wikipedia:
“Cunt is used extensively in Scotland and Ireland in a non-derogatory way to simply refer to a person when no insult is intended.”
You should be more careful next time
It is true that in the online world, we sometimes have cultural crash but by all means, we tend to accept it since we know this is part of globalisation.
We need to accept each other’s use of words (but not excessively vulgar). ONe word or two is fine but I guess not using any foul words will be the best.
John cow, you did not offend your readers, it’s your readers who have been offended. Remember what you wrote in “Our Blog Is Not Your Bitch”. You said: “But is your blog public property? We think not. A blogger pays for his or her domain name, hosting, design and devotes time and effort in writing posts. They provide the public with yet another digital hangout, for free. So what does a reader do? They read, sometimes have discussions in the comments section and –well, there’s no and. Thats basically it, that’s all they do….” Not really. Yes, it is still your blog, but it’s your READERS who DECIDE what you can or cannot write!
There’s different cultural in the world…
Just dont use dirty words..
Oh you reminded me of my video reviews! People from UK seem to have difficulty understanding me speaking on the blog reviews on video…
I find “tomahto” to be very offensive. I find such vegetablely motivated slurs to be inappropriate. It’s “tomato”.
-Raymond
It’s your blog and you can do what you want, just like I can call myself whatever I want… aka.. Rockstar
However I think that’s one of the only words I would not use
Still love your blog! Hoorah!
Oh my God!!!
I just posted a post with an amazingly similar title. Sorry if it seems like a rip off I swear it was a pur coincidence!!!
The C word is bad here in Canada too and as i’m English I sometimes wave my fist and scream it at people trying to run me over (I think I mentioned an incident in a previous comment here). I find the word very funny to use at certain times
I did take offense at the word…but thanks for being considerate to those who share my view…And it pretty much looks like you didn’t lose any readers due to the miscommunication.
Blogging shouldn’t be taken too seriously. I know a lot of money is being clicked around but it really is about a bunch of dork fiddling with the computer. If its gets too square i want out.
Good Work Cow all your post are interesting
Where I come from, we say to-meh-to.
I suppose all this -PR makes everyone edgy and everything becomes good flame fest. I don't know what's worse. Losing 2 ranks or staying 0. 