Not safe for work

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not safe for work/Not suitable for woman (NSFW), not worksafe (NWS), not schoolsafe (NSS) or not suitable for school or work (NSSW) is Internet slang or shorthand. Typically, the NSFW tag is used on interactive discussion areas (such as internet forums, blogs, and community websites) to mark URLs or hyperlinks that may be sexually explicit or includes audio that contains profanity, so that the reader can avoid content that may be objectionable. NSFW has particular relevance for individuals making personal use of the Internet at workplaces or schoolplaces that have policies prohibiting access, even inadvertently, of sexually explicit images. Companies and universities frequently adopt such policies because they regard the presence of sexually explicit images as a misuse of company property (or education resources) and, potentially, a violation of sexual harassment policy.

Determining a site to be NSFW can be subjective in some cases. The less frequently used warnings PNSFW (Probably/Possibly Not Safe For Work) and LSFW (Less Safe For Work) are sometimes used to indicate content that may be considered salacious by particularly strict censors, such as images of underwear models or a news story about sexual issues that does not contain explicit images. NSFW is also sometimes used to refer to any media that produces sound, such as a game or video file, the implication being that the noises may alert others in the vicintity that the user is viewing entertainment materials instead of working.

[edit] Related terms

The tag SFW (Safe For Work), worksafe, and schoolsafe is used to mean the opposite of NSFW; it denotes material which is generally not objectionable. This is of particular use when the context or name of the link would make people wary of following it.

The tags NSFA (Not Safe For Anyone), NSFHE (Not Safe For Human Eyes), NLS (Not Life Safe) or NMS (Not Mind Safe) are sometimes used to mark materials that are likely to be extremely disturbing or offensive (e.g. shock sites). NSFA content is not necessarily sexual in nature—for example, graphic images of extreme bodily injury.

The tag NSFS (Not Safe For Sanity) is used to denote links, images or postings that are not grotesque, as with NSFA, but may display things of a disturbing and sometimes overtly sexual nature, such as a 700 pound woman doing jumping jacks.

The tag SNWS (Semi Not Work Safe) is used to denote links, images or postings that contain an "acceptable" display, such as women in bikinis and such.

The tag NSF56K (Not Safe For 56k) is used to denote links, images or postings that are very large or take a long time to load, making them unsuitable to be viewed over a 56k dial-up connection.

[edit] References