Slaglord.

I honestly don't know whether to be amused or horrified or what. (For those not in the know: in many countries, including the UK, 'slag' is a slang word for a promiscuous women, like 'slut' or 'whore'. It is widely thought to be misogynistic and demeaning; at the very best, it's still not a very nice word.)

Honestly, I'm in two minds about this. Do I:

1. Roll my eyes at the Yanks and their funny language - what with their 'fannies' and 'bums' and suchlike.

2. Take it a little more seriously and ask that it be changed.

I'm kinda inclined towards no 2 at the moment. Not that I'm offended, but for practical reasons.

Some users on this site are accessing Subeta schools, workplaces and libraries. Oftentimes, there places have filters on their computers that block out anything judged 'nsfw' based on the words on that page. For example, when I was in high school the internet was filtered by a programme made and distributed by the local county council; it blocked entire websites or webpages just because somebody mentioned drugs, swore or used a pole dancing emote. If a website pinged the filter too man times then it was completely blocked and basically banned outright. (It really made my A-level psychology and biology work a lot more difficult, I can tell you.)

So, if we have people mentioning the word 'slag' everywhere - which, as I said, is judged to be a wear and a slur in some places - then we could accidently block Subeta access to many users.

"Slag is the glass-like by-product left over after a desired metal has been separated (i.e., smelted) from its raw ore. Slag is usually a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide. However, slags can contain metal sulfides and elemental metals. While slags are generally used to remove waste in metal smelting, they can also serve other purposes, such as assisting in the temperature control of the smelting, and minimizing any re-oxidation of the final liquid metal product before the molten metal is removed from the furnace and used to make solid metal."

"Etymology From Swedish slagg, or Middle Low German slagge, whence German Schlacke; originally, the splinters struck off from the metal by hammering."

This definition of slag is way older than the modern slang definition attached to it by some people. It's a technical term used in the smelting industry.

There's nothing to be offended about. They're not calling him a slutlord, they're calling him the lord of molten rock and metal/the lord of the forge.

Let me just point out one thing while I try to figure out a polite way to respond to the rest of your post.

Slag is the proper name for stony waste matter separated from metals during the smelting or refining of ore.

If you're going to roll your eyes at anyone, roll your eyes at the people who thought it'd be a great slang term for promiscuous women.

[edit] I understand your concern about users being locked out of the site, but Subeta already has a bad word filter in place and it's on by default. A lot of places block game sites like Subeta in the first place, plus the community has had plenty of heated discussions about sexuality, politics and other touchy subjects in the debate forums, so I don't feel like banning the word slag, or renaming Slaglord is going to make that much of a difference when it comes to accessibility.

tl;dr - No support.

No. We're far from the schizophrenic Grapesaur debate, or the entire Gypsy fiasco. Slag is used in its mainstream sense, which is the following.

If it gets filtered, sorry, but I don't think it's really Subeta's fault, this time

Again, it's like the Fif Shirts. Fif means Fifth in English, but they also are a gay slur in Quebec. There are also lots of examples.

....although "slag" is also a the glass-like by-product left over after a desired metal has been separated (i.e., smelted) from its raw ore (thanks wikipedia for explaining that better than I can), which was frequently mentioned in the archaeology class I took a few years ago (in the UK).

So the Slaglord is simply the lord of the smelting-by-product (which fits the look of that challenger perfectly). I don't see any reason for that to be changed :)

There are plenty of items on site that have slang/slurs in their names and such, but it's all about context. Seeing as slag have multiple legit meanings, I don't see the reason for getting worked up over it.

Now if the battle opponent had been wearing skimpy underwear, that might be a different story.

...I really should have seen this coming. I can never make a topic where anyone actually agrees with me.

Well, when you start out by insulting people for using words in your own danged language as defined by your language, you should expect people to not agree.

This isn't some silly American 'yank' thing. This is a word in your language that existed far before the Americas were discovered, and is being used as it has been for hundreds of years.

I commonly work with pieces of slag in my profession.. and I live in the UK... so yes, while it is also a slang word.. it is a genuine term used in the professional world too, and I don't think the challenger's name needs to be changed, tbh.

Attempting to guilt-trip us by saying things like "I can never make a topic where anyone actually agrees with me." is not a good way to go and get people to agree with you.

Personally I think this would have been wonderful. Female empowerment by lava beast.

And the trend of asking staff to change items to be more "PC" continues. :(

Personally I think this would have been wonderful. Female empowerment by lava beast.

Asbestos skimpy wear ftw

im probably biased because i've never heard this term used outside of the geologic context. i mean, it's unfortunate that there is also an offensive secondary meaning, but considering there's no real connection between the (admittedly regional) slang and the geologic/metallurgy definition... i think this is a case where context absolutely matters.

Going to have to agree with these. Context matters more than a word's formal definition in most circumstances. Any word can be used derogatorily or positively depending on tone and context. In fact, that's how some words BECOME negative slang. "Bitch" is a good example of this, as it can be used both as a negative (such as when used between enemies/rivals) or as a positive (such as when used between friends). In this case, it isn't being used negatively in the first place. It is a name. Secondly, there IS an appropriate definition that can be used properly in this situation. Slag referring to geology/metallurgy makes far more sense in this context than a regional slang word. As others have noted, if the image itself were different, the context could change as could the meaning and usage of Slag. But for a molten battle opponent, Slaglord fits well and is in no way meant to be offensive.

Words that are used as slang are often words that had a perfectly innocent meaning at one time, but somewhere along the way people decided to take the word and give it double meaning. Words like that must be used carefully to make sure that they are taken in the right context, which makes me sad. I wish people wouldn't ruin words like that.

Anyway, it's clear that the word slag was used to describe molten metal waste and not as an insult in this case. Subeta is not at fault if a person decides to take exception.

I mean, I could take exception at the use of the words "cow" and "pig" on here - words that were used to insult me on many many occasions - but I understand that no one is calling me a cow or pig and the use of those words is perfectly innocent.

[edit] I also don't appreciate being referred to as a "Yank"... I am a hillbilly from the South, dagnabit. XP

I wasn't trying to guilt-trip anyone. I was lamenting my own lack of foresight, inability to learn from past experinces and the fact that the 'lock thread' button in the corner does nothing.

It's the first time that I hear about this slang definition of this word. but anyway, I like the name and it shouldn't change.

Since the gypsy dress mess, every now and then there is a complain about a word or names, and it should just stop, the gypsy dress was a correct complain, but the ones that came after were not. If you play Subeta at work, school, library or whatever, it's your problem and your own risk (and tbh to play at work? so unprofessional..) and the site doesn't have to change it's content because of it, there is some semi-explicit content here, and you just need to live with it.

I'm British, and I've got to say that I find the name "Slaglord" pretty amusing. Realistically, in terms of words which are potentially offensive or generally not appropriate for polite conversation, "slag" is pretty far down the list (although, the severity of such words is very much subjective). Even so, if you get in trouble at work because the word slag is on your screen, you're probably going to be in more trouble for being on Subeta when you should be working.

I'm slightly disappointed that the discussion on the word "slag" having multiple meanings has not brought up the use of slag as a verb; the "slag off" someone is to generally speak ill of them behind their back, often in a snide, gossipy way. Slangy, certainly, but not even slightly offensive.

Request: more things with names which are partially made up of slang words which also have a perfectly innocent meaning.

heh we say fanny in the uk too. except it means your vagina and not your bum here

Isn't bum also more of an english than an american thing?? aren't they more into 'ass'?

Well I'd hope they would be learning about slag in school...I did, it's a very scientific term meaning - stony waste matter separated from metals during the smelting or refining of ore

So yes, This is where the derogatory term came from..Meaning you are pretty much bottom of the barrel

DO NOT CHANGE THE NAME SUBETA!!!!!!!

[edit] edited because posted without finish typing