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# Disemvowelling - you learn something new every day!
- URL: https://katecarruthers.com/disemvowelling-you-learn-something-new-every-day/
- Published: 2008-01-16T10:58:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-26T09:10:48.000Z
- Author: Kate Carruthers
- Tags: ideas

This great idea from [Internet Duct Tape](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disemvoweling?ref=katecarruthers.com) \- part of tips for dealing with idiots on the internet. I had not heard of it before and it is amusing. The tools for 'disemvowelling are particularly helpful.  
  
"**Tip #1: Disemvowel**  
From Wikipedia: “In the fields of Internet discussion and forum moderation, disemvoweling is the removal of vowels from text either as a method of self-censorship, or as a technique by forum moderators to censor Internet trolling and other unwanted posting. When used by a forum moderator, the net effect of disemvowelling text is to render it illegible or legible only through significant cognitive effort.  
  
Xeni Jardin, co-editor of Boing Boing says of the practice, “the dialogue stays, but the misanthrope looks ridiculous, and the emotional sting is neutralized.”  
  
This original sentence:  
  
In the fields of Internet discussion and forum moderation, disemvoweling (also spelled disemvowelling) is the removal of vowels from text.  
  
would be disemvowelled to look like this:  
  
n th flds f ntrnt dscssn nd frm mdrtn, Dsmvwlng (ls splld dsmvwllng) s th rmvl f vwls frm txt.”  
  
You can disemvowel any text using this [tool](http://novalis.org/cgi/vowel.cgi?ref=katecarruthers.com). There is also a [Firefox extension ](http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/7092?ref=katecarruthers.com)that lets you disemvowel comments if you’re a WordPress administrator. The same guy has a [Firefox extension for handling religious trolls](http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/7102?ref=katecarruthers.com)."