To my mind, Ban has always meant permanent.
“You’re banned from this place! You’ll never be allowed in again!”

While I’ve always thought of Suspend as being temporary.
“You’re being suspended from school for 1 week, over fighting.”

Ban:

  1. to prohibit especially by legal means
  2. bar entry

Suspend:

  1. to debar temporarily especially from a privilege, office, or function
  2. a: to cause to stop temporarily
    b: to set aside or make temporarily inoperative
  3. to defer to a later time on specified conditions
  4. to hold in an undetermined or undecided state awaiting further information

When I hear someone mention they were banned my reaction is: “Holy shit! WTF did you do to earn that!” Then I find out it was only for a day or three: “Oh… That’s not a Ban! That’s minor. Go touch grass. You’ll be fine.”

I’ve been banned from subreddits and communities a few times. At least once I never even noticed because it was so short.

How is it a Ban if I didn’t even notice?

Why did Ban in online forums and games, come to mean temporary?

Is it simply an example of the intensification of language? To make something mundane, seem more severe than it is?

Does it bother anyone else? Or am I alone here?

  • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    28 days ago

    A temporary ban is a ban. Nowhere in your definition is length of time, because a ban can be for any length of time.

    You could suspend specific privileges within a club, without suspending all access. That’s the only case where suspension would make sense where ban would be odd.

    You can’t “suspend” access when access is available to the general public. You suspend a privilege that’s not the default. It doesn’t make sense to suspend something that is the default. Taking away access requires proactively preventing it, not removing a membership.

    • Steve@communick.newsOPEnglish
      0·
      28 days ago

      You could suspend specific privileges within a club, without suspending all access.

      That’s what a “Ban” here and at reddit means. You can still access and see the sub or community, it’s only your post and comment privileges that get Suspended.

      In Games a “Ban” means your access to play online with others is Suspended, not your access to use any single player modes or features.

      • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
        0·
        28 days ago

        You’re missing the point. I’m saying that there are contrived situations where there are privileges that are not access that you could suspend without the word “ban” making sense.

        Any case where you block access to anything for any length of time can correctly be defined as a ban.

        • Steve@communick.newsOPEnglish
          0·
          28 days ago

          But would more correctly (specifically) be defined as Suspend.

          Like on a multiple choice test question with two answers that are “correct”, one is more specific, and thus the “right” answer.

          • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
            0·
            28 days ago

            No it wouldn’t. Ban is exactly, perfectly, correct.

            If you considered taking points off for ban on a multiple choice test you’re a bad teacher with a flawed understanding of the language.

              • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
                0·
                28 days ago

                A test that punishes a correct answer is wrong, and yes, it’s entirely reasonable and not uncommon to have multiple valid answers that are accepted, or for a decent teacher to have a student point out “this answer was right” and allow anyone else who gave the same answer to get the points back as well.