How do you know when you've won a Newsvine debate?  It's not always that easy to tell.  But, there is at least one time when you definitely know you have WON.  That's when your opponent has devolved into posting profanity in his or her comments.  What do I mean by profanity.  

What is profanity anyway?  Well, here is a very basic description of it:

• pro fan i ty - noun 
• blasphemous or obscene language: an outburst of profanity.
• a swear word; an oath.
• irreligious or irreverent behavior.

And here's a real Newsvine example:

that is the the biggest cluster@!$%# of 

That jumble of indecipherable characters there, @!$%#, is what the Newsvine Profanity Filter does when it encounters a profane word.

What is the Newsvine Profanity Filter?  It's a built-in feature that you can find by clicking on the Customize Column in your menu above, then on the tab at the far left labeled Account Settings.  Your Profanity Filter switch is located between the Last Name text box, and the My Personal Website text box.  Its default setting is On.

The famous author Ernest Hemingway is quoted as saying

The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof, @!$%# detector. This is the writer's radar and all great writers have had it.

Hey!  Newsvine provides that for FREE as part of the package with its Profanity Filter!  (Old Ernie may actually have been talking about something else, but that quote works here as well.)

I recommend you leave your Newsvine Profanity Filter turned On for two reasons.  First, it will convert most profane words to a jumble of characters as shown above, so you won't need to be assaulted by the actual word itself.  And second, because when you see that jumble of characters indicating your debate opponent dropped in an F-Bomb or some other foul langauge word or phrase, THAT IS WHEN YOU KNOW YOU HAVE WON THE DEBATE.

Since we're discussing profanity, it might be helpful to share a few quotes so we all now just exactly what we are talking about:

“Profanity is the weapon of the witless”

“Profanity is the common crutch of the conversational cripple.”

“When a man uses profanity to support an argument, it indicates that either the man or the argument is weak - probably both”

“Profanity is the attempt of a lazy and feeble mind to express itself forcefully”

and , if you're a golfer, then you may know from personal experience that...

“If profanity had an influence on the flight of the ball, the game of golf would be played far better than it is.”

Of course YOU know that your REAL Profanity Filter is actually located between your own two ears.  I recommend you keep that one turned on all the time too, so that you don't devolve into using profane words and phrases in your comments either.

Again, just to make clear, you know you have WON the debate if your opponent posts a comment that includes profanity, and/or other nasty comments or name-calling as well, some of which might slip past the Profanity Filter.  

But, what if he or she doesn't do any of that, and also if you don't either.  Then who wins?  In that situation you have BOTH WON the debate, because you were both able to share your views and ideas back and forth without devolving into profanity, foul language, nasty commentary, and any name-calling. 

If you can share your comments back and forth and be courteous and respectful while doing so, then even though you may never agree on the issue you are debating, or you may have to agree to disagree, you have still BOTH WON the debate. 

The real LOSERS are the ones who must resort to using foul language, nasty comments and name-calling because they just can't do anything else to intellectually argue their point.  Those are the LOSERS!

And that's how I feel about WINNING or LOSING debates here on Newsvine.  Sometimes it's easy to know when you've WON, because the user of profanity has lost.  Other times it's not so easy, but because both, or all, parties have shown common courtesy and mutual respect you both, or you all, have WON.

So now we at least all know who the real LOSERS are, don't we?

Be a WINNER!!!

And, take the LIVE POLL just for the heck of it!

If you leave a comment on this article, remember that CoH and Newsvine User Agreements are in force, violators will be reported, and besides that YOU ARE A WINNER, Right?