YCSTOT

This post should probably come with a warning. The amount of mindboggling dumbness could, actually, cause brain damage.

Consider that fair warning.

When I was in programming, I had to deal with the wonderful, censorship filled world of OBINs (Obscenity/Indecency) - basically swear words and nudity that hadn't been pre-filtered by the syndicators falls on the shoulders of the station's program director to catch and make sure it doesn't hit the air. I've  blogged about it before (you'll need to scroll down a bit if you want to read the original guidelines, I was in the midst of the 2005 word-a-thon back then...).

Anyway! Recently, the company revised the OBIN guidelines.
And... I... well, let me just post the update, and I'll add commentary after.

[...]After a recent talk with NBC Universal, several acronyms came under review. These acronyms have been popularized by text messaging and have entered mainstream vocabulary.
[...]please see our updated policy (attached) regarding them within programming and promotion, both audio and visually.

We prefer to stay away from all of the following, although we are OK with SNAFU since that has entered mainstream as a word. We are also OK with LMFAO when it refers to the band by that name. The following are deemed unacceptable:

BFD - big fucking deal
FUBAR - fucked up beyond all recognition
STFU  - shut the fuck up
OMFG - oh my fucking god
FML - fuck my life
DTF - down to fuck
MILF - mother I'd like to fuck and variations
WTF - what the fuck
MOFO - motherfucker
FTFW - for the fucking win (FTW is more common though - for the win)

Please share revised OBIN guidelines with appropriate staff.

...

Yeah.
They're acronyms.  Not the actual words. Letters standing in for the words.

Seriously??

But, SNAFU is okay, because people use that. (Do they? I mean, yeah, they do. But, I think I hear WTF or even FUBAR more often than I hear people use SNAFU) But, dudes. Come ON. If you're going to allow some of the acronyms, just allow them all.

However, the sentence that nearly threw me into cardiac arrest. "We are also OK with LMFAO when it refers to the band.." NO.
Nobody should EVER be okay with that "band". NO. BODY. It's just. NO.
It's a good thing I'm not in charge of this anymore, because, honestly, I wouldn't do it. I would not censor acronyms from television shows. Except, of course, for LMFAO. When referring to the band. So, honestly, they have it backwards. That's when we SHOULD censor it out. (Sorry. I have an (ir?)rational hatred of LAMEFO. Just typing they bands name causes me to cringe. So. Much. Hatred.)

The kicker on this update is that there are, at the very least, two instances where this will come back to bite them.
One of them is from 30 Rock - there's an episode that features a joke (throughout a large percentage of the show, if I recall) about "MILF Island" [a fictional reality television show]
Secondly, there's a joke in Modern Family where the parent is saying how he's so hip regarding online acronyms. He goes on to explain some of them: "LOL...laughing out loud, OMG...oh my god, WTF... why the face"
So, when that airs, are they going to remove that joke? Or just the WTF line? so. dumb.

But, then, I forgot that people are NUTS. (Never Underestimate Their Stupidity)