# Demanding cites for things that would take you 2 second to look up is lazy **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 30, 2025, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281 "2025-06-30T01:49:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/1 "2025-06-30T01:49:50Z")
Please sir, I can’t be bothered to highlight a word in your post, search Google for it, and then click the Wikipedia link. Even though that entire process takes 2 seconds, it’s a better use of my time to post a snarky reply and then wait for some one else to do that for me. Take some personal responsibility. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/2 "2025-06-30T01:51:31Z")
Please, sir, don’t assume that everyone recognizes and understands every reference in your post. Take some personal responsibility. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/3 "2025-06-30T01:52:13Z")
It’s a general problem with the board (not the biggest one for sure), even if there are timely examples. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/4 "2025-06-30T01:53:05Z")
Lets see a cite for that. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/5 "2025-06-30T02:00:07Z")
We’ve certainly gone around and around about when to explain your acronyms and when not to. The general consensus seems to be that around here you should not be writing for an audience of experts, but rather an audience of curious people for whom your topic is not in their wheelhouse. As the person who triggered your complaint I see exactly the same issue when it comes to pop-culture references. Of course the OP knows who Boomhauer is. But a LOT of his readers will probably not. Either 50 people can individually look it up, or one person (the OP) can post a reference. My complaint was not aimed at “Oh noes, I’m too lazy to look it up.” As you rightly say, I could probably have googled as quickly as I posted. But that would not teach the OP anything. My comment was aimed at reminding the OP to _think_ when posting and consider that the context in his head is not the same as that in all of his audience’s head. Posting an OP is different from posting a response. You have an obligation to write a relevant title that matches your OP and you have an obligation to lay out some background and explain things that might be obvious to you, but may not be obvious to your audience. At least you have those obligations if you expect to get a quality set of responses. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/6 "2025-06-30T02:06:16Z")
King of the Hill was a wildly popular tv show. I think you’d rightly be annoyed if someone demand that an OP explain that the Beatles were a rock band from Liverpool every time they’re mentioned in a thread. Or to paste the definition of a word that isn’t in the top 500 in usage. The thread wasn’t some esoteric topic and I stand by that it’s on you to correct your own, minor, ignorance. You also could have posted a cite yourself, if it wasn’t about laziness. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/7 "2025-06-30T02:08:18Z")
The Beatles were more well-known than King of The Hill. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/8 "2025-06-30T02:10:30Z")
Oh wow, I wasn’t aware. Thank you for that valuable information. In the future I’ll be sure to include links to explanations for everything that wasn’t as popular as the Beatles. > **[Sarcasm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm)** > > Sarcasm is the caustic use of words, often in a humorous way, to mock someone or something. Sarcasm may employ ambivalence, although it is not necessarily ironic. Most noticeable in spoken word, sarcasm is mainly distinguished by the inflection with which it is spoken or, with an undercurrent of irony, by the extreme disproportion of the comment to the situation, and is largely context-dependent. > The word comes from the Ancient Greek σαρκασμός (sarkasmós) which is taken from σαρκάζειν (sarkáze... ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/9 "2025-06-30T02:11:25Z")
Username checks out. ---
**Author:** ![MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ec9cab/32.png) [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/10 "2025-06-30T02:13:24Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > The Beatles were more well-known than King of The Hill. King of the Hill was cooler tho. My mistake, I assumed enough people on here knew who Boomhauer was (is? there’s a new season starting). What kind of lame things were people doing in the 90s, instead of watching King of the Hill? Playing Tamagotchi while tripping over their JNCO jeans? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/11 "2025-06-30T02:34:13Z")
Well, well. Looky here. A bunch of folks were concerned with careers, having babies, buying homes, worrying about the state of the world and their 401Ks. Not watching cartoons on TV the teens were watching. I love King of the Hill. Now. But I don’t watch enough to be familiar with all aspects. Or care enough to investigate more than a cursory look. At the moment. I knew who you meant and that’s all. And, btw, Bless yer heart, hon’ 😊 (I’m sorry, the Beatles were much cooler) ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/12 "2025-06-30T02:37:05Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#): > > What kind of lame things were people doing in the 90s, instead of watching King of the Hill? Playing Tamagotchi while tripping over their JNCO jeans? I know that was a rhetorical question but I’ll answer anyway, to illustrate the fact that you really shouldn’t assume everyone’s background is so similar to yours that they should know the same things. I was living in Jakarta, Indonesia, then Maputo, Mozambique. I was pretty much cut off from Western popular culture, but most likely I know a helluva lot more about Indonesian and Mozambican 20th century history than you do. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/13 "2025-06-30T02:38:26Z")
I never even heard of King of the Hill. If a comment really interests me I will look up things I don’t know about. ---
**Author:** ![MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ec9cab/32.png) [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/14 "2025-06-30T02:38:50Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Well, well. Looky here. > > A bunch of folks were concerned with careers, having babies, buying homes, worrying about the state of the world and their 401Ks. Um, didn’t that kind of stuff just fell out of the sky in the 90s? No 2008 recession. College degrees were worth more. No covid lockdowns. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/15 "2025-06-30T02:43:45Z")
I don’t know. I know 9/11 threw the world into chaos. I had a baby that very day, so I got a double dose of the chaos. When covid lockdown happened I was in longterm rehab. The recession was pretty bad I guess. I was too busy to keep abreast of these things. ---
**Author:** ![MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ec9cab/32.png) [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/16 "2025-06-30T02:44:23Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > > [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#): > > > > What kind of lame things were people doing in the 90s, instead of watching King of the Hill? Playing Tamagotchi while tripping over their JNCO jeans? > > I know that was a rhetorical question but I’ll answer anyway, to illustrate the fact that you really shouldn’t assume everyone’s background is so similar to yours that they should know the same things. > > I was living in Jakarta, Indonesia, then Maputo, Mozambique. I was pretty much cut off from Western popular culture, but most likely I know a helluva lot more about Indonesian and Mozambican 20th century history than you do. You could’ve used a VPN… Hahaha. Point taken. Wow, this board is more worldly than I thought! Diverse peoples. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/17 "2025-06-30T02:48:04Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#): > > You could’ve used a VPN… A VPN in 1993? I had no need to hide my IP address. But the internet was in its infancy (wasn’t it still DARPANET then?) I’m not up on the details, I just know that I first “surfed the net” circa 1998, using YAHOO, and while it could be very entertaining it wasn’t exactly a good source of information. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/18 "2025-06-30T02:50:14Z")
In the 90s I was helping take care of my brother who had HIV/AIDS, taking care of a mentally ill son, helping my elderly father, getting a divorce, selling and buying a house, and getting used to a new career where I was working full time and going to graduate school part time. My life was a bit hectic and there was no time for television. ---
**Author:** ![MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ec9cab/32.png) [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/19 "2025-06-30T02:53:41Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > > [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#): > > > > You could’ve used a VPN… > > A VPN in 1993? > > I had no need to hide my IP address. But the internet was in its infancy (wasn’t it still DARPANET then?) I’m not up on the details, I just know that I first “surfed the net” circa 1998, using YAHOO, and while it could be very entertaining it wasn’t exactly a good source of information. Don’t certain countries block their citizens from gaining access to “western” sites? Today, not in 1993. (I was joking) I started surfing the net in 1997 via Sega’s netlink. Stopped. Grandpa got me a computer in 1999. I remember getting into flamewars with other students on my sociology 101 class’s listserve. Too bad I knew nothing about the SDMB then. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/20 "2025-06-30T03:05:06Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > The Beatles were more well-known than King of The Hill. It depends on your demographic. Stranger [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281.md?page=2)