Meaning: Keep your comments civil and on point.

[K1ngk0ng]

Dear teachers,

Could you please explain the meaning of the following for me?

We welcome your participation in our community. Please keep your comments civil and on point.

What does keep...something...civil and on point?

Many thanks,

KK

[Gray]

'Civil' does mean 'not rude' or 'polite'. I am confused about 'on point' because I have heard 'to the point' most of the time. Let's wait for someone to explain whether 'on point' is acceptable.

'To the point' means relevant to the topic or conversation (in this context)
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First lesson - English, not english. I, not i. ~A student of English

[Alan]

Hi,

I'm not really happy either with the expression 'on point' and am happier with 'to the point'. The only 'on' expression along these lines that comes to my mind is 'on target', which indicates 'relevant' 'purposeful'.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Phrasal Verbs/run

[Esl_Expert]

.
The expression "on point" is used in American English. In the context of an online forum, for example, you might think of it as meaning the opposite of "off topic".

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All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. ~ Galileo Galilei

[K1ngk0ng]

Thanks all of you. I realize that I was a bit too lazy. Civil could have been understood by looking it up in a dictionary to find out it has the meaning of "polite". The point is when I saw "civil" I was a bit nervous since there were only 2 meanings in my mind, which were in "Civil War" and "Civil Engineer"! On point made no sense to me now.

Thanks Bill, Alan and Esl_Expert for your help.

KK

[K1ngk0ng]

But anyway, could I ask why they do not use "polite" and "purposeful" instead for ease in understanding?

[Esl_Expert]

Hello K1ngk0ng,

I'd like to point out that even though Alan suggested that "on point" is not used in the UK, he nevertheless understood the basic idea. If you stay "on point" in an online forum, that means you stick to the topic that is currently under discussion.

The way the word "civil" was used is not at all unusual. It is similar in meaning to "polite", but not quite the same. If you look in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, you will find this description for the word "civil":