# "Complete sentence" rule **URL:** \ **Category:** Site Feedback\ **Created:** [August 25, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990 "2020-08-25T15:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/1 "2020-08-25T15:46:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Body seems unclear, is it a complete sentence? This BS has to go. When playing hangman, it’s an absolute waste of time and effort to type anything other than, eg, “Y?” (or “Y…?” to meet the five-character rule). There’ve been many other cases where I’ve received this message. And the infuriating thing about it is that posting anyway is not an option – the only thing one can do is click on “OK” and then add pointless rubbish to the post. What [expletive deleted] idiot thought this would be a good idea? @codinghorror And no, this topic is **NOT** similar to “Today was very productive, yet also a complete waste of time” or to “Curse you Google! I can no longer type goog…goo…goggles!” ---
**Author:** ![CardboardBoxx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardboardboxx/32/7079_2.png) [@CardboardBoxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CardboardBoxx)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/2 "2020-08-25T15:55:20Z")
joeyY? Okay couldn’t post just Y? because it needed 5 characters, but adding 4 more characters it went through with no error even though it wasn’t a complete sentence. Haven’t seen the thing you’re talking about and don’t know how to trigger it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/3 "2020-08-25T15:58:26Z")
““Complete sentence” rule” Also, I’d like a rule (and have suggest it in the past) that people tell us what the hell they’re talking about in their OP. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/4 "2020-08-25T15:58:32Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > add pointless rubbish to the post. On snopes, which had a ten character limit, the style was “and some characters” to meet the limit. Try that! ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/5 "2020-08-25T15:59:15Z")
That also counts as pointless rubbish. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/6 "2020-08-25T16:11:29Z")
Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/7 "2020-08-25T16:18:35Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Also, I’d like a rule (and have suggest it in the past) that people tell us what the hell they’re talking about in their OP. Your point? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/8 "2020-08-25T16:23:09Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Also, I’d like a rule (and have suggest it in the past) that people tell us what the hell they’re talking about in their OP. I knew _exactly_ what he meant. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/9 "2020-08-25T16:25:06Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I knew _exactly_ what he meant. That doesn’t help out the people that don’t know exactly what an OP is talking about. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/10 "2020-08-25T16:27:36Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That doesn’t help out the people that don’t know exactly what an OP is talking about. I quoted what I was talking about, I explained the problem, and I’m obviously talking about Discourse. What else do you want? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/11 "2020-08-25T16:43:30Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > I quoted what I was talking about, I explained the problem, and I’m obviously talking about Discourse. It wasn’t until the post after yours that someone mentioned a minimum character requirement that I wasn’t familiar with, that you didn’t mention in the OP. And, as someone that’s never used a discourse board before this, it wasn’t obvious to me that you were talking about Discourse. And the quote, lacking context, didn’t mean anything to me, especially since it’s not a link to another thread where I might have figured out what you were talking about. > [@SCAdian](#): > > What else do you want? A simple mention of the minimum character length that the board is enforcing would have been helpful, at least for me. However, upon mentioning that I was confused, I got: > [@SCAdian](#): > > That also counts as pointless rubbish. and > [@SCAdian](#): > > Your point? and > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I knew _exactly_ what he meant. and > [@SCAdian](#): > > I quoted what I was talking about, I explained the problem, and I’m obviously talking about Discourse. What else do you want? Maybe I missed something in the OP, maybe I didn’t and other people are confused as well. I don’t understand the push back. ---
**Author:** ![CardboardBoxx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardboardboxx/32/7079_2.png) [@CardboardBoxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CardboardBoxx)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/12 "2020-08-25T17:03:19Z")
He did mention the 5 character rule in passing. However his main complaint seems to be that Discourse will enforce a sentence structure if it thinks you are not speaking in sentences, and will then not allow the post until corrected. I have not experienced this. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/13 "2020-08-25T17:05:38Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > > [@Joey\_P](#): > > > > Also, I’d like a rule (and have suggest it in the past) that people tell us what the hell they’re talking about in their OP. > > Your point? His point is that the OP doesn’t explain what this thread is about. It’s opaque nonsense to me. I have no idea what it’s talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/14 "2020-08-25T17:08:32Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > > [@Joey\_P](#): > > > > That doesn’t help out the people that don’t know exactly what an OP is talking about. > > I quoted what I was talking about, I explained the problem, and I’m obviously talking about Discourse. What else do you want? There’s no context for your quote. I have no idea what it’s from or why it’s there or what it means or why you’re upset about it. Do you actually want a lesson in effective communication here? Maybe Discourse needs even stricter rules. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/15 "2020-08-25T19:28:53Z")
👇 CMC For some of us it wasn’t just to annoy y’all. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/16 "2020-08-25T23:44:23Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > CMC 🤔 …and some characters. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/17 "2020-08-25T23:46:42Z")
Yeah, there used to be some extra characters in f8f8f8, sadly this board ain’t got colors or non colors. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/18 "2020-08-25T23:58:10Z")
    ETA: Was something else I saw. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/19 "2020-08-26T01:17:15Z")
```auto Y ``` ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-sentence-rule/918990/20 "2020-08-26T02:52:43Z")
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