# Come out of the closet: What SDMB rules of a"cool" do you break? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 17, 2007, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289 "2007-12-17T02:41:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/241 "2007-12-24T22:57:12Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] I’m still not 100% sure what Firefly is either. [/QUOTE] Pontiac’s Canadian equivalent to the Chevy Sprint? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/242 "2007-12-24T23:38:02Z")
[QUOTE=jasonh300] I also have no clue who Opal is. [/QUOTE] A doper of some stature who declared that “two items does not constitute a list.” Hence, a list of two terms would consist of a third item, “Hi Opal!” ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/243 "2007-12-24T23:42:30Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > A doper of some stature who declared that “two items does not constitute a list.” > Hence, a list of two terms would consist of a third item, “Hi Opal!” The circle was recently completed when Opal herself ( **OpalCat** –who’s made several appearances _in this damn thread_–come on, people!) made a list of two items and someone told her that “two items does not constitute a list.” 😃 I, for one, was worried that the Dope would spontaneously cease to exist. Thankfully, it hasn’t. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/244 "2007-12-24T23:54:18Z")
[QUOTE=Hostile Dialect] The circle was recently completed when Opal herself ( **OpalCat** –who’s made several appearances _in this damn thread_–come on, people!) made a list of two items and someone told her that “two items does not constitute a list.” 😃 I, for one, was worried that the Dope would spontaneously cease to exist. Thankfully, it hasn’t. Yet. [/QUOTE] To be fair to “people”, there are so many similar user names that I would never assume that OpalCat and Opal are one and the same. I might ask. What’s this? My screen’s getting dimmer! Noooooo. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/245 "2007-12-25T11:16:18Z")
When I put on weight, it’s because I eat too much and exercise too little. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/246 "2007-12-26T00:13:25Z")
I don’t know how to do a spoiler box. /slinks away ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/247 "2007-12-26T00:39:56Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] I don’t know how to do a spoiler box. /slinks away [/QUOTE] Oh, that’s easy! Just look at the bottom of the page and click “vb code ‘on’” There ya go! And to see a spoiler, click “reply”. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/248 "2007-12-26T01:43:27Z")
I don’t know how to quote from more than one Doper in my replies. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/249 "2007-12-26T01:53:53Z")
Just do it by hand. It’s easy: [quote=control-z]I don’t know how to do a spoiler box.[/quote] Blah blah blah [quote=vivalostwages]I don’t know how to quote from more than one Doper in my replies.[/quote] Snark snark snark Take out the spaces between the brackets and you’re set. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/250 "2007-12-26T08:56:21Z")
I think beer mostly sucks. I can tolerate it if it’s a REALLY cold brew. but mostly see no reason to drink it. I hate coffee. I enjoy the McDonald’s “Filet-O-Fish”. I adore White Castle. I dislike Thai food, and most Indian food. I love horse racing. I even like greyhound racing. I hated “Rushmore”. “The Sopranos” looks boring to me. I find Wilco pretty boring, too. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2007, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/251 "2007-12-26T16:14:18Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] Oh, that’s easy! Just look at the bottom of the page and click “vb code ‘on’” There ya go! And to see a spoiler, click “reply”. [/QUOTE] Ah, that’s simple enough, but has somehow escaped me. I thought you had to set black text on a black background manually or something. Ok, since you told me how to do a spoiler, I’ll give you an easier way to see a spoiler. Just left-click somewhere above the spoiler, and while holding the button drag downwards. It will highlight the text and you can see it. On a Windoze machine you can also hit Control-A to highlight all the text on a page. Either way just left-click somewhere to undo the highlighting. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/252 "2008-01-02T20:21:50Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] A doper of some stature who declared that “two items does not constitute a list.” Hence, a list of two terms would consist of a third item, “Hi Opal!” [/QUOTE] Actually, I’m only 5’2". ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/253 "2008-01-02T20:27:48Z")
What rules of SDMB cool do I break? The biggest one that I can think of is that I have absolutely no interest in science fiction writing. Cafe Society is constantly saturated with an unending torrent of science fiction authors and I never recognize any of them, but everyone else seems to not only love them immensely but also have read every syllable they’ve ever written. The only science fiction story I have ever read is _I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream,_ by Harlan Ellison. I liked it. Besides that, I’m totally out of the loop. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/254 "2008-01-03T02:46:21Z")
[QUOTE=Hostile Dialect] Affect is a verb, effect is a noun. (There’s also a noun spelled “affect”, but you don’t have to worry about that one unless you’re a psychologist.) \ [/QUOTE] There’s also a verb spelled “effect”, meaning “to bring about”, as in “effect change”. 😃 Just read a lot, and you’ll remember them from seeing them used. * * * And to get back to the subject under discussion: I don’t like beer. I don’t post often enough to be one of the “cool kids” 🙂 I don’t use spellcheck (I’m just naturally anal retentive.) The only time I’ve used “Hello, Opal” is when I met her at one of the Cleveland dopefests. I don’t watch Buffy, or the Simpsons, or Firefly, or most of the others, mainly because my TV isn’t hooked up to cable or even an antenna. I just use it to watch DVDs and videotapes, and once connected it up briefly to a set of rabbit ears to watch one of the playoff games that involved a local team. (but I’m not really much of a sports fan either.) I spend most of my leisure time reading, either books or the Internet. I’m probably older than the average Doper, but I can’t even tell them to “Get off my damn lawn!” because I live in an apartment. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/255 "2008-01-03T02:49:53Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] Ok, since you told me how to do a spoiler, I’ll give you an easier way to see a spoiler. Just left-click somewhere above the spoiler, and while holding the button drag downwards. It will highlight the text and you can see it. On a Windoze machine you can also hit Control-A to highlight all the text on a page. [/QUOTE] Or you can just CTRL-click in the spoiler box. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/256 "2008-01-03T03:03:38Z")
> [@MisterThyristor](#): > > There’s also a verb spelled “effect”, meaning “to bring about”, as in “effect change”. I covered that in the H4, actually. ---
**Author:** ![goldenmean1975](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@goldenmean1975](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goldenmean1975)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/257 "2008-01-03T03:26:08Z")
I’m another one who really enjoys Starbucks. I love Jesus and deeply believe in an afterlife. I feel that a person can be educated and intellegent yet believe in something more powerful than ones self. I don’t care if that was incorrect useage or if I’ve misspelled every other word in this post. What the people here think of me is of no importance to me. I think some of Samperos (sp) stories are sort of funny. But I don’t think that his or her every post is side splitting as a lot of folks here seem to. I think abortion is wrong. The only thing I watch on tv is Dirty Jobs and Survivior Man. I rarely drink. I have two babies that I love dearly. I love kids. I like cats and dogs but I value humans more. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/258 "2008-01-03T03:59:26Z")
I don’t pretend “Cecil Adams” is a real person or is never wrong. I’m a Latin American who doesn’t hate the US. I think Bush made a much better president than Gore or Kerry could’ve. I couldn’t care less if the earth was created 6000 or 15 billion years ago. Ditto for evolution. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/259 "2008-01-03T04:02:56Z")
[QUOTE=Hostile Dialect] I covered that in the H4, actually. [/QUOTE] If you’re talking about post 104, you covered “effect” as a noun, not as a verb. > [@Hostile Dialect](#): > > Originally Posted by Hostile’s Handy Homophone Helper > Intelligence reports affect the president’s decisions. > The effect of intelligence reports on the president’s decisions is enormous. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289/260 "2008-01-03T04:09:20Z")
> [@MisterThyristor](#): > > If you’re talking about post 104, you covered “effect” as a noun, not as a verb. Whoops! I was thinking about another thread. Sorry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-out-of-the-closet-what-sdmb-rules-of-a-cool-do-you-break/430289.md?page=14)