When in Bumper Cars, can you bump someone else’s car? Sure! Can you do it without there being a good chance of being bumped back? No.
Thank you, The Ryan. You are technically correct, and I consider my nose to have been rubbed in the puddle.
However, “And” and “But” grate on me when used as sentence starters, “Or” doesn’t. Maybe it should.
My English teacher who I consider to be a semi-wise man say that not using and to start a sentence is a fourth grade rule and anyone who is capable of making a good sentence with the word and in the beginning is free to do so. It all has something to do with the incompetence of people on lower levels who would use and improperly or something to that extent. So rather than spending a week explaining when and when not to use the word and they simply say don’t start a sentence with it.
Back to the OP, is it considered “bad” to resurrect undiscussed posts that at one point in time HAD a heated discussion. Not that there is anything wrong with the current topics it’s just that I tend to read the all the topics I can choose from before I decide what I’d like to talk about. Maybe that’s why I still only have 14 or so posts…
–Michael
Or would you rather talk about monkeys?
It’s another one of the silly schoolroom superstitions based on the idea that English isn’t English, but some other language, usually, as in this case, Latin.
In Latin, “et” (“and”) at the beginning of a sentence means “both”, with the assumption that there’s another “et” further on to make the “and” to match it.
John W. Kennedy
“Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.”
– Charles Williams
Et tu, John?
I’ll just point out that according to Suetonius, Caesar’s last words were in greek, “kai su, teknon?”
I posted for the first time today (though I have been following Cecil’s column for awhile) and I was called a troll.
http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000566.html
The only legitimate complaint that could be made against my post is I spelled “corroborate” as “corraborate”, though I see regular posters making spelling errors and they don’t get called trolls.
Perhaps the person who called me a troll didn’t agree with what I had to say, but I didn’t misstate any facts and it was just my opinion, so I think being called a troll seems a bit harse.
“The truth does not make a good story; that’s why we have art.”
I’m not sure if you were. Presumably you are referring to this:
I read that (and have now re-read it several times), and I still don’t get it.
Maybe you were called a troll, but I, personally, don’t think you should have been.
It is too clear, and so it is hard to see.
Hi lswote,
I don’t think RM was calling you a troll. I’m not sure what his point was, but I think it was that you were rushing to conclusions or something. I don’t know. But I wouldn’t take the stuff he posted to be calling you a troll. He quoted some obscure old post regarding Message Board rules violations. Those included referring to someone else as a troll too readily, or feeding a troll. That wasn’t aimed at you, but (maybe) an accusation that you were calling someone else a troll. Though looking at the post, I’m thinking your violation was number 4 - grammar rules.
Sorry your first post got slammed - I think RM was trying some tongue in cheek and forgot the UBB codes for that ( 
).
Anyway, welcome aboard.
Iswote, I saw your posting right after you first put it up, when it was still the only one, and I remember thinking, at first, “That’s a little confusing, what he means.” But then I read it again and I realized that you weren’t knocking Cecil’s column, but that, as JonF gently pointed out a little later, it was the sound-bite-contributing dimwit, and TV in general, that you were taking to task.
We’re all very sorry that you got called a troll your first time out, but at least you should be thankful that he didn’t call you a “F***ing” troll. Now, that would have been truly too bad.
All I can think of is the Three Billy Goats Gruff.
I’d like to propose the term “poltergeist” for those posters who rant and rave and misspell things atrociously, but who aren’t quite abusive or obnoxious enough to qualify as trolls.
A poltergeist makes a lot of noise, and may break a few dishes, but hey, at least it’s not a troll loose in your house.
(And in keeping with current educational trends in our public school system, I actually think that spelling shouldn’t count, unless it’s clear that the reason the spelling in a post is so bad is because the poltergeist is foaming at the mouth so hard it’s dripping down all over the keyboard, and his fingers are slipping.)
I like that imagery.
Following some rants I’ve seen (not here, of course (I’m new)) I’m tempted to respond solicitously: “Resumed human form yet?”
When it occurs occasionally, mistakes in spelling are simply human error. But if a post has so many misspelling that the misspellings seriously interefere with reading the post, then that shows a serious lack of resepect towards other members of the board, and I can see how people would consider that trollish behavior. The attitude that such posts project is “I don’t have any concern for you; what’s really most important is my desire to say what I want to say, which is of course so important that yopu should try to muddle through my misspellings”.
Am I reading fewer posts or is there less name calling on this board now?
Are you driving with your eyes open or are you using The Force? - A. Foley
I know what you mean–you want to tell the illiterate slob, “Geez, get a clue.” It’s like seeing a car that’s parked halfway over the yellow line into the next spot–“get a clue, people.”
I think we ought to distinguish between words that are misspelled in the heat of a flame war, and words that are misspelled during a slumber-inducing discussion of the possibility of getting a federal grant to put in some new landscaping in the dying downtown shopping district.
I always assumed that words misspelled during a flame war got that way because (a) the poster doesn’t know how to spell, and/or (b) he doesn’t care anyway, he’s so busy venting his spleen on the world.
In that case, yeah, I think something ought to be done, but I have no idea what. Install some kind of SpellCheck to tidy up the flames before they’re posted? Gee, could we work this up into a Great Debate on censorship? (Irony alert!)
But as far as misspellings under normal circumstances, I always assumed that when I see a word misspelled, it’s because the person just doesn’t know how to spell it, and if I see the word misspelled over and over again, it’s because the person didn’t suddenly learn how to spell it in the last 3 seconds or so.
Not all of us in the world scored up in the 800th percentile in Verbal Skills and Language Arts on the SATs or whatever. And maybe the poor frood just can’t type–not all of us in the world can type 60 wpm with 99% accuracy. (And not all of us are anal enough to backspace and correct our own typos. I freely admit to being 100% anal in that respect.)
I am personally acquainted with at least one charming, brilliant, witty, warm-hearted humanoid, who, if you were to judge him by his written communication skills (not to mention his hunt-and-peck typing), would come across as distinctly sub-human (“who let THAT in here?”)
Jois:
I just got here, so I don’t know, but I do know that there’s a new official policy on name-calling, etc. that basically boils down to, “You kids play nice now–don’t make me come in there.” All Ugly Threads are to be immediately sent to their room (the Pit).
I personally think it’s great. I’ve sampled a few other places where there was essentially no control, people just plugged in the keyboard and let fly, and man, were they ever boring! I was like, "Hey, whatever happened to the discussion of Mike Leigh’s ‘Naked’ that was here when I checked in? And the only response would be something like, “Up yours, dickwad.” And I was like, “OK, I’m out of here…”
We’ve been fortunate in “Comments on Cecil’s Columns.” Most contributors here prefer to put more energy into articulating (and researching) their arguments than just resorting to insults and name-calling.
What happened to:
“Please post a link to the column you’re referring to. Don’t just wait for Arnold to do it.- Jill”
Shouldn’t this whole discussion be on another forum? (I’m a newbie, so I don’t know for sure, just asking.)
You have described three types of trolls. There are eight types, and counting.