FKAFigs t1_jaw0p4g wrote on March 4, 2023 at 2:43 PM

Reply to comment by GaimanitePkat in Banning Words Won’t Make the World More Just - The Atlantic by vaikrunta

I think this is a totally different situation. “Unalive” isn’t specifically prescribed as a word to sugar-coat death. It was used on tiktok in a tongue-in-cheek manner to talk about killings or suicides without those words triggering your account to be banned for discussing violence. Everyone knew how silly it sounded, so now they use it ironically in real life. It’s just jokey slang, like “kicked the bucket.”

GaimanitePkat t1_jaw2feb wrote on March 4, 2023 at 2:56 PM

I disagree. I've seen plenty of posts on other social media which use "unalive" in a completely serious and unironic way, just because they have become so used to changing their speech for TikTok's algorithm.

Whether or not it was "specifically prescribed," using a "tongue-in-cheek" jokey word to legitimately discuss the topic of death is by nature sugarcoating it and downplaying it.

It's why I get similarly annoyed when people say things like "sending nudes to minors is uncomfy" or "don't lewd the lolis". Using cutesy and euphemistic language to describe serious topics makes light of those topics.

FKAFigs t1_jaw4gyw wrote on March 4, 2023 at 3:12 PM

I mean do I find it obnoxious and immature sometimes? Sure. But that’s more youth being youth, and also I’m guessing it’s a way to try to make their very scary reality a bit less intimidating. My generation said “knocked up” to refer to somebody getting pregnant when we were young. Also immature and disrespectful which is like… what young people do best. They’ll grow up, and more confident, and most will experience enough life that they’ll want to use more serious language. You know when I stopped using “knocked up”? The first time I had friends that had fertility problems or unwanted pregnancies. Those experiences made me grow up and start being more respectful.