# Charter Member Desmostylus banned **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 30, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092 "2005-05-30T14:39:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/61 "2005-05-31T21:38:21Z")
A -\> B … If A is true, then B is true ::B … Therefore, B is true ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/62 "2005-05-31T23:02:05Z")
It would be nice to see a point system similar to your driving record with the DMV…points drop off after a certain period (minor stuff over a course of a few months, major issues would be at least a year or two…kinda like a PUI). Under this system, most people will get warnings that they can have dropped by good behavior over the short term, and the more obnoxious posters would be up against the wall in no time and would lose posting priviledges either temporarily or permanently. Make the point system appear in the user’s profile only visible to him/herself and to the mods. After so much time, the points will decrease back to 0 for good posting behavior over an extended period of time. In **Desmo** ’s case, those first three warnings would probably dropped off, but those last four would still bear the same outcome…although **Desmo** might have changed his demeaner had he seen where he stood with the Mods. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/63 "2005-05-31T23:23:33Z")
Really, I think the whole warning thing is common sense. I, as far as I know, have no official warnings. So if I were to mildly annoy a few mods over the next few months, I doubt I’d catch much flak, aside from a few knock-it-off posts. And if I were to stop and behave after that, it’d most likely all be moot after that, and the staff I annoyed would probably forget about me. Now, if I were to spend the next few months after the mild annoyances insulting people in GD, pulling up lawn chairs, and being a major hassle, it’s perfectly reasonable for the staff to look at all my infractions, including the ones that weren’t a big deal at a time. It’s all about context. However, I’m not a mod or anything like that, so I may be way off. I doubt I am. Recording official counts and stuff is not something a group of volunteer mods wants to be doing. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/64 "2005-06-01T00:19:02Z")
> [@Duck Duck Goose](#): > > To “tic-tac”? Verb transitive? 😕 Well, verb intransitive, I think. I rather hoped I had coined the usage (as a verb rather than a noun), but of course (!) I was pipped to the post (!!): [How to tic-tac](http://www.arunet.co.uk/Bob_Stock/tictacman.htm) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/65 "2005-06-01T00:33:36Z")
> [@Futile Gesture](#): > > My concern about the warnings that are reproduced after anyone is banned is that some of them always appear as slight taps on the wrist that you might expect would have be long forgotten & forgiven. Yet suddenly here they are back again on someone’s permanent record, contributing to a banning. > > Does a long-standing poster have to worry about dumb things they may have done in their hot-headed youth? Have they been teetering on the brink of banning for the last 5 years, but never known it? > It seems to me that if the SDMB is going to administer some kind of strict enforcement of warnings and bannings where nothing is ever forgotten, it will need to devise a much clearer way of issuing the warnings and letting people know exactly where they stand. Yes, I agree that these things need to have a Statute of Limitations. How about a year? That would include the “Final warning” in this present case, plus the others afterwards. I agree that keeping track of a warning from 2002 seems a bit… well… There also should be a “how many warnings do I have” function or thread. Really, this could be part of the Search. I think I have one, and it was pretty tame… but who knows? If a MOD comes in and says “Ok guys, knock it off”- and I am one of the ‘guys’- is that a 'warning"- for me? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/66 "2005-06-01T02:21:11Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, I agree that these things need to have a Statute of Limitations. How about a year? That would include the “Final warning” in this present case, plus the others afterwards. I agree that keeping track of a warning from 2002 seems a bit… well… > > There also should be a “how many warnings do I have” function or thread. Really, this could be part of the Search. I think I have one, and it was pretty tame… but who knows? If a MOD comes in and says “Ok guys, knock it off”- and I am one of the ‘guys’- is that a 'warning"- for me? I disagree. Re your last question: While I’m speaking for myself, I doubt that any mod or admin here cares that you were part of “the guys.” We simply don’t have time to take down names. If you were the instigator, or you were the major offender, then we might post your name in a “mod-only” forum, where it can be used against you if you continue to be a jerk. What’s so hard about figuring out if you’re continuing to be a jerk? Only a _very small percentage_ of posters are jerks. It’s not about quantity, per se. Quality of jerkness and a refusal to correct bad behavior is _it_. Don’t sweat the small stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/67 "2005-06-01T04:36:42Z")
> [@Ice Wolf](#): > > Uh, no. As **Colibri** first pointed out here, and I heard direct from **Desmostylus** elsewhere, the name is that of an extinct beast. Which orator were you thinking of? _Demosthenes_, all this time I thought _Demosthenes_ with pebbles in his mouth at the ocean. Oh my and now he’s gone. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/68 "2005-06-01T13:04:22Z")
Is there a _private_ way to indicate to a Doper how close he is to the edge - something in the personal profile, for example? Viewable only to mods and the poster in question. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/69 "2005-06-01T13:59:56Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > Well, verb intransitive, I think. I rather hoped I had coined the usage (as a verb rather than a noun), but of course (!) I was pipped to the post (!!): > > [How to tic-tac](http://www.arunet.co.uk/Bob_Stock/tictacman.htm) [reads link and squeals with delight] Egad, Roger, do you realize how long it’s _been_ since I learned something absolutely **new** , learned about a field that I didn’t even know existed? Years. Definitely, years. Thank you. That is _so_ cool. You totally made my week. 😃 So, can we discuss the derivation of the verb? “Tic-tac” on this side of the pond is a tiny, rather nasty breath mint. I assumed from the context of your remark that “to tic-tac” must mean something like “to gesticulate frantically”, but what it had to do with breath mints was what stumped me. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/70 "2005-06-01T14:17:41Z")
> [@Duck Duck Goose](#): > > [reads link and squeals with delight] [Listens for echoes] I’m not Hearing anything! ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/71 "2005-06-01T22:44:08Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > [Listens for echoes] > > I’m not Hearing anything! She was obviously doing it with hand signals. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/72 "2005-06-02T02:18:34Z")
> [@Duck Duck Goose](#): > > [reads link and squeals with delight] > > Egad, Roger, do you realize how long it’s _been_ since I learned something absolutely **new** , learned about a field that I didn’t even know existed? Years. Definitely, years. > > Thank you. That is _so_ cool. You totally made my week. 😃 > > So, can we discuss the derivation of the verb? “Tic-tac” on this side of the pond is a tiny, rather nasty breath mint. I assumed from the context of your remark that “to tic-tac” must mean something like “to gesticulate frantically”, but what it had to do with breath mints was what stumped me. Yes, we have the little sweeties too. I had to look surprisingly hard to find ‘tic-tac’ used as a verb, but then again not too many small, local, independent bookies run websites, I would imagine. When I was a kid, we used to go to point-to-points, these brilliant British institutions where you go to someone’s farm, which doubles about half a dozen times between September and May as a steeplechase racecourse. You take your picnic hamper, bottles of wine, flasks of coffee, and roll out your blankets on the sward - if it’s not too wet. Then you watch these brave chaps and chapesses (there are quite a few country girls who prefer the manly world of the jump jockey to the rather more feminine one of the show jumping and dressage arena) leap over hawthorn fences. But the bit that enchanted me was the bookies, especially the tic-tac men standing on their old wooden crates. They’d semaphore the movements in odds to their bookies, who’d then bellow out the odds: “Sevnavordaveal - sevnavordaveal” It was only many years later that I realised they were saying “Seven to four the field”. If I ever owned a racehorse, I wanted to name it “Sevnavordaveal”. Wonder if they’d let me. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/73 "2005-06-02T04:44:03Z")
> [@Gaudere](#): > > “If You Don’t Like Me, Please Bait Me Continually Until I Lose It and Get Banned” 😃 Excellent idea, but a bit too long. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/74 "2005-06-02T13:30:34Z")
Hmm. Y’know, this forum is called “About this Message Board” and this thead is called “Desmostylus banned.” I’d like to suggest that posters please stick to topic? ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/75 "2005-06-02T15:44:46Z")
> [@Futile Gesture](#): > > It seems to me that if the SDMB is going to administer some kind of strict enforcement of warnings and bannings where nothing is ever forgotten, it will need to devise a much clearer way of issuing the warnings and letting people know exactly where they stand. People do know where they stand, of course they do. YOU may not be aware of what someone else has done, but they know, or they should. And you can always write us and ask if you’re unsure of your own status, we’re happy to tell you. We’re here to guide you and part of the job is answering your questions; in fact, if you’re in doubt about the suitability of a post, asking in advance is the good way to go. “It’s better to ask for permission than forgiveness.” What we are looking for most of all is a PATTERN of bad behavior. Mostly when someone gets tossed out, it’s because they continue to do the same thing over and over again . . . even after being counseled by us . . . having the bad behavior brought to their attention multiple times. It’s not a “oh gee, you’ve been warned 5 times over 5 years, you’re automatically out;” we look at all the circumstances. But yeah, if we ask you to do something (or, conversely, NOT to do something) and you disregard us, we’re not left with a lot of choices. And that’s usually what pertains here. I would estimate something like 99% of the community has no warnings at all. A few people slipped or misunderstood or let their temper get the better of them and they have a warning or two over the years. Sometimes people make newbie mistakes, which mostly we don’t hold against them. They correct their behavior, they go on, that’s the end of the situation. People that get banned have a laundry list of offenses and very often the same offense over and over again. (This does not count trolls/spammers, who get thrown out from the first strike.) your humble TubaDiva ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/76 "2005-06-02T16:23:32Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Hmm. Y’know, this forum is called “About this Message Board” and this thead is called “Desmostylus banned.” I’d like to suggest that posters please stick to topic? “Better make it an official Sticky dictating ‘No Off-Topic Discussions Or Minor Hijacks Ever Again’, then, and we’ll all see what we can do to comply…” she commented sourly. [insert smallish rolleyes emoticon] [egad, Dex] ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/77 "2005-06-02T20:20:58Z")
See? If you had just googled Tic-Tac, none of this would’ve ever happened. OW! Stop hitting me, Dex. just a little bit of fun for old times sake, no offense meant ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/78 "2005-06-02T20:58:38Z")
Better watch it or **Dex** will make you toe the line. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/79 "2005-06-03T02:25:06Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > I would estimate something like 99% of the community has no warnings at all. But are these the type of posters, adn only the type of posters, one wants, he wonders mischievously? By the way, by my rough and ready reckoning, this post _can’t_ be off-topic, as it’s responding to an Administrator. And shouldn’t that be ‘tow’-ing the line, as in ‘kowtow’? 😉 ;j 😃😛 ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092/80 "2005-06-21T08:27:48Z")
Shame to see Desmostylus go, he is one of the more intelligent and knowledgeable posters here and one that I always enjoy reading. He does not suffer fools lightly and certainly got into some tangles with a few of our more prominent ones. Desmostylus was hard done by based on the posts cited in the OP. Only a couple of the posts cited here were warnings and one of those was a misunderstanding by the moderator. It would be useful if warnings were less ambiguous than something like “knock it off”. It would also be useful if the members warning status was privately and clearly visible to that member. I think most would forget a subtle ‘warning’ made by a mod a few years back. I am sure if Desmostylus knew exactly where he stood he would be more restrained. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-desmostylus-banned/306092.md?page=5)