This thread is intended to provide members and guests with an opportunity to comment on the revised summary of FAQ: Rules for posting at the Straight Dope Message Board.
There is no substantive change in the Rules. The new posts combines information that was found in half a dozen other locations, consolidating to one thread (a long-promised effort!)
What about the mandatory lonking ceremony that new members need to go through?
What exactly does a buddy list do? I previewed “ignore” in a thread once, to see what it does.
Sage Rat, we don’t want to scare people off until after we get the $14.95.
Alright, a real comment.
This should probably include sexual preferences (outside of bestiality and pedophilia of course.)
My few suggestions and corrections of minor mistakes.
Post 2, after Q: remove either “something” or “a post”
Maybe this post would benefit from a mentioning that even though the message when we report a post is pretty “scary”, it is the preferred way to get the moderators’ attention and is not only for posts that we think break the rules.
Post 3, last paragraph: “Changes that alter the tenor or interject editorial comment are not permitted.”
Post 5, under Calls to Action: “Threads calling for folks to take actions (political, charitable, personal, etc.) are prohibited unless there is prior approval from a moderator or administrator.”
Post 6, second paragraph: close the parenthesis.
Just curious, why, in the fourth paragraph, is “suspended or” in blue?
Post 9, fifth paragraph: “Anyone who wants to go to the site can do so”.
Sixth paragraph: “Note that being “workplace safe” doesn’t just mean that there’s no nudity or explicit visible sex. A page with a flashing banner that in large, bright colors [that] says, “Hot Nubile Young Teens” would NOT be workplace safe.”
Yeah, I can see that
HOT
YOUNG
NUBILE
TEENS!!!
XXXX!!!
could be a problem.
How about
SIZZLING
ASIAN
NYMPHO
CHEERLEADERS!!!
XXXX!!!
instead?
Very funny, smartass.
Let’s not do this, okay?
Sorry - that was a bit stupid.
severus, thanks again for catching the typos and grammatical goofs. Much appreciated, and all fixed. The blue coloration was part of the behind-the-scenes editing process, to keep track of changes… I thought I had cleared them all.
Post #8 (Foreign language)
I understand and agree, but sometimes two posters in a long thread will trade a few short posts in a different language (Looks North towards Canada).
Is this a problem, or is some additional clarification / verbiage needed on this rule?
Technically, it’s a rules violation. The thing is, the Moderators need to be able to understand what the poster is saying: particularly things like personal insults. A phrase here or there isn’t usually a problem. Lots of foreign phrases are well-accepted in English or are well-known (Russian nyet or Arabic inshallah, for instance).
This is the one rule where we allow lots of exceptions, and even list some. What we’re trying to avoid is (say) an entire thread in Greek, which becomes (a) divisive, since there’s an in-group and out-group; and (b) impossible to moderate. What do we do when someone complains that they’ve been called an idiot?
The no non-english exchange of comments is one of the rules that I’ve seen even the moderators break on occasions, so it’s not enforced to the iron leter of the law. I’d hate to see a strict adherance to that policy. It is derailer on threads not about languages and phrases, when multiple posters start posting in Non-english. You can learn things with these posts, if a translation is given by the poster. Not all the posters do, and that leaves all the other readers in the dark. Ocassional postings in non-english appear in a thread, but the poster should have the courtesy to post it in English also. This doesn’t exclude the possibility of a poster saying something different in both languages. Enough people read threads that a poster doing so would get caught and be banned in a short time. Should we strictly limit a source capable of expanding our horizons, and forever let it be a horizon lost to our eyes?
I know that the who is your favorite poster threads are very popular. In what way does it differ from posting people are on your buddy list? That would be a tough call on at what point you can’t say you liked some posters. Note that you don’t see a thread on the most hated posters on the board. Maybe the rule should be changed to only prohibit posting people on your banned list. You then can leave the favorite posters threads alone since they don’t infringe on the no buddies listing rules in any way or form. An undefined action is sometimes better, in that it allows flexibility where a strict rule requires flagrant violations or no exceptions to occur.
I’m good at finding areas needing attention, and sometimes I find a conflict. I will have to concider if this post and the previous post can exist at the same time, or if they are truely non compatable. Either way I have to rethink them, but you should consider them both as valid points.
I’ve decided that suggesting the use of non-english in small amounts with the english translation also posted should be a rule change and keeps the moderators from having to ignore rule infractions of that nature. It’s not going to lead the forums down the path of ruin and destruction. Anybody caught posting something different in both languages will lose their membership. Mention that people should primarily post in english with only an occasional posting in a foreign tongue.
This of course is my opinion advice on some subjects to concider will changes are being implemented, don’t misconstrue them to be more than that.
I like HD’s suggestion. Allow short passages in another language, but require an English translation to be posted along with it.
I have heard this mentioned before in discussion but no real suggestion as to Rules.
I am no stranger to the use or exposure to profanity (lord knows) but I agree with the idea of limiting the language used in the Thread Title. Some people don’t enter into threads in the Pit or discussions of sex for this reason but may be exposed for a prolonged period of time in the New Posts. I ask that a request be made to limit the use of those words prohibited on daytime TV in the Thread titles themselves and attempt to avoid the “mouse over” zone if at all possible.
Thanks for your consideration on this.
I’d like to second Rick’s post in that many times a Latin multi-term phrase is used and I’d like to be able to understand this.
I tend to see foreign language (with or without translations) of short statements to fall under the codes for suggested etiquette rather than absolute rules.
In a thread where people are exchanging quips (or even barbs), someone could, conceivably, post après moi, le deluge[sup]1[/sup] or lucus a non lucendo[sup]2[/sup] and the literal translation would still force someone who was out of the loop and had no access to Google[sup]™[/sup] to post a request asking what in the world was being said. On the other hand, explaining jokes is the fastest way to kill humor and I am not in favor of reducing the humor we find in this bitter world.
For those who are sticklers for the proposed rule:
[1] After me, the flood
[2] a grove by not being light
I agree; a joke followed by a translation lacks a certain je ne sais quoi (whatchamacallit).
There’s still one more typo in post #9 in the 6th paragraph ( next to the last, in case I counted wrong.) I believe it was meant to say “If your boss”, but it says “If you boss”
Fixed the typo, thanks, picunurse.
On the foreign language: the rules do say
Doesn’t that cover all the cases? I’d say a phrase like “après moi, le deluge” or “je ne sais quoi” fit the category of phrases that are common in literate English: along with “achtung” or “inshallah” or “por favor” or “schmuck” or … And I guess we don’t mind quotations that are translated.
The rule was imposed in the early days, when we had some threads in French (IIRC.) The primary goal is that such uses be inclusive – every person who is reasonably educated in English will understand the post, rather than having the small group of Farsi-speakers engage in an in-group thread that excludes non-Farsi-speakers. And the second goal is that the moderator understand what is said in case of rules violations.
We’re well understanding of the use of foreign phrases or quotes as long as we achieve those two goals. Should I add that to the Rules?
