I still stick by that the word hasn't aged well, and the play you mention in this article that later changed its name reflects that just as much as the YiffStar example I had.
The 'starting off as something innocent and being adapted for more lude purposes' is certainly not unique to the word yiff or to the fandom. Words get muddied sometimes, but once they do it gets harder to go back to its more innocent meaning. It's like word virginity as it were. I mean the Spanish word for black used to be innocent and just mean 'black', now if you're an English speaker using it, well you'll probably be seen as a racist if you're not a Spanish professor.
Once a word has been drug through the mud, some people just leave it there, other will wave it about despite it being muddied.
For a fandom which is at a crossroads of some only carrying about fandom intra-action and to heck with what the outsiders thing ("damn the haters") and others who hope to build bridges to the world around us to try and make those more comfortable around us so in turn we can be more comfortable around them. There is in essence some conflict between these groups, and I think the word 'yiff' is a token in that sort of struggle.
As I said, it was really the CSI episode that really killed it. Here we had a fictional character written by a non-furry use the word in such a creepy way that now most of those outside the fandom were first exposed to it in that way. Now when a furry says that word in the the general public it can squick people. In essence the word is like sex itself, some people see a normal chemical process which can be a beautiful thing while others see animalistic urges which cause people to do heinous things to others. It is a matter of perspective, which really comes from one's experience with the act.
Was the first time you heard the word 'yiff' from CSI or from some random guy on Second Life who asked you for it before even talking about the weather (which is probably Cloudy with a chance of Mario), you probably won't look on the world as favorably as you would if you were exposed to it when it meant 'hello'.
While yes, having a historical grasp of wording is important, a word's survival is not determined by the previous generations decrying the word is "not that bad", but whether the next generation chooses to use it. And if it's anything history has taught me about the youth. They won't do what you want them to. And going back to the fact that that play changed its name and SoFurry thing, it's not looking in the word's favor.
But fear not, for it's just a word. Even if two generations down the road it dies, furries will probably be fascinated with whatever new lexicon fascinates them at that particular time. Words are sometimes but words, and sometimes we give them more importance than they actually have.
I still stick by that the word hasn't aged well, and the play you mention in this article that later changed its name reflects that just as much as the YiffStar example I had.
The 'starting off as something innocent and being adapted for more lude purposes' is certainly not unique to the word yiff or to the fandom. Words get muddied sometimes, but once they do it gets harder to go back to its more innocent meaning. It's like word virginity as it were. I mean the Spanish word for black used to be innocent and just mean 'black', now if you're an English speaker using it, well you'll probably be seen as a racist if you're not a Spanish professor.
Once a word has been drug through the mud, some people just leave it there, other will wave it about despite it being muddied.
For a fandom which is at a crossroads of some only carrying about fandom intra-action and to heck with what the outsiders thing ("damn the haters") and others who hope to build bridges to the world around us to try and make those more comfortable around us so in turn we can be more comfortable around them. There is in essence some conflict between these groups, and I think the word 'yiff' is a token in that sort of struggle.
As I said, it was really the CSI episode that really killed it. Here we had a fictional character written by a non-furry use the word in such a creepy way that now most of those outside the fandom were first exposed to it in that way. Now when a furry says that word in the the general public it can squick people. In essence the word is like sex itself, some people see a normal chemical process which can be a beautiful thing while others see animalistic urges which cause people to do heinous things to others. It is a matter of perspective, which really comes from one's experience with the act.
Was the first time you heard the word 'yiff' from CSI or from some random guy on Second Life who asked you for it before even talking about the weather (which is probably Cloudy with a chance of Mario), you probably won't look on the world as favorably as you would if you were exposed to it when it meant 'hello'.
While yes, having a historical grasp of wording is important, a word's survival is not determined by the previous generations decrying the word is "not that bad", but whether the next generation chooses to use it. And if it's anything history has taught me about the youth. They won't do what you want them to. And going back to the fact that that play changed its name and SoFurry thing, it's not looking in the word's favor.
But fear not, for it's just a word. Even if two generations down the road it dies, furries will probably be fascinated with whatever new lexicon fascinates them at that particular time. Words are sometimes but words, and sometimes we give them more importance than they actually have.