The Scunthorpe Problem

Retro · 18 Mar 2025

Can you tell what the problem is with Scunthorpe?

Many websites block swear words of any description, including in usernames and place names. This includes swear words embedded in other, genuine words like Scunthorpe creating a bit of a humorous problem when someone tries to use Scunthorpe anywhere. Ironically, even Wikipedia which I've linked to below is like this as can be seen by the screenshot, although the word can clearly be used in other contexts.

Matsushita, the company that makes Panasonic, Technics and other well known branded products has the same problem. btw, did you know that there's a high end "audiophile" product company called Schiit? No, really, I'm not joking! Also, it was founded in 2010, ie modern times so you'd think they'd more aware of this unfortunate connotation.

But guess, what? NerdZone isn't like this - hooray!

There are no word filters anywhere. I believe a certain amount of swearing in the right context is fine, especially when one's really pissed off about something and you'll see me swear in such situations. I don't know why apparently the majority, of people take umbrage at any swearing whatsoever in any context. Seriously, get a life. The issue causing the swearing is waaay more important than the naughty word being used in relation to it.

If I believe a username is a bit off-colour, or swearing used inappropriately in some way, I'll simply deal with it as and when required, no big deal. So far I've not had to and appreciate the respect that our members show myself and each other on here, even when things get heated. One thing I generally don't find acceptable would be members swearing at each other to throw insults, however, I've not had this situation happen either, so far.

The Scunthorpe problem is the unintentional blocking of online content by a spam filter or search engine because their text contains a string (or substring) of letters that appear to have an obscene or otherwise unacceptable meaning. Names, abbreviations, and technical terms are most often cited as being affected by the issue.

The problem arises since computers can easily identify strings of text within a document, but interpreting words of this kind requires considerable ability to interpret a wide range of contexts, possibly across many cultures, which is an extremely difficult task. As a result, broad blocking rules may result in false positives affecting many innocent phrases.