# Do Czarcasm and I not speak the same language? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 4, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905 "2005-06-04T17:51:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/61 "2005-06-05T08:22:59Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > But if I leave, who will keep a finger in the dike? [Mindy] _ **Okay, I love you, buh-bye!** _ [/Mindy] ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/62 "2005-06-05T09:26:31Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > But if I leave, who will keep a finger in the dike? Nobody, we’d see hell on earth. Old Testament Hell, Mr. **Liberal** … real Wrath-of-God-type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies. Rivers and seas boiling! 40 years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanos. The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats, living together… mass hysteria! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/63 "2005-06-05T12:44:58Z")
Well, Liberal’s determined to make the thread about him. Good luck with that. If I may suggest an alternate way the seasons thread could have been started, trying specifically to avoid arrogance or the appearance of arrogance: > [@](#): > > The other day I was talking to a friend of mine, and the topic drifted to the seasons and what causes them. I just said “Well, it’s the axial tilt,” and he stared at me blankly. I tried to explain it, but not having a globe and flashlight handy, it was hard to get the concept across. > > I was a little surprised by this gap in his knowledge since I’d learned this when I was ten, as I would have thought just about everyone did. Has anyone else ever met someone who seemed to missing an odd bit of knowledge, or have **you** ever learned something as an adult, perhaps being told by a child who just learned it in school? I think that would effectively solicit anecdotes from Dopers (one of whom will make the inevitable Kessel Run reference) in which they talked about memorable moments where they imparted basic facts onto others, or had basic facts imparted onto themselves (perhaps by their own children). It would be by no means an actual “poll” of any statistical validity whatsoever, but frankly that was _never_ going to be the case where respondents can self-select and read the responses of others before voicing their own. Interestingly, there’s a GQ thread going on about this sort of thing right now [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=319769), though I suspect it’ll get shifted to GD or IMHO sooner or later, and the subject matter is university-level math and physics rather than “basic science”. As for the OP getting an apology, there would have to _quite_ the seasonal shift before I offer one, if you know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/64 "2005-06-05T13:12:53Z")
Cut the guy some slack, I say: hell, who _hasn’t_ posted some cringeworthy stuff when they first started? You find a board where no-one blinks when you use words like “egregious” and people can pun on your name, and you’re anxious to prove you can foot it with the best of 'em: you post show-off stuff, get slapped down a couple of times, and learn to fit in. Piling on the guy might be childishly satisfying, but isn’t particularly productive: do we really want to drive off someone who’s clearly smart, articulate and probably has something constructive to offer, or are we going to share our toys nicely with the new kid? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/65 "2005-06-05T13:21:41Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Well, Liberal’s determined to make the thread about him. Yeah, that’s why I’ve used my six other accounts to post questions and comments to myself. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/66 "2005-06-05T13:34:01Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Yeah, that’s why I’ve used my six other accounts to post questions and comments to myself. Whoops, better calm down before you post again, because as I understand it, even jokingly implying you have sock-puppet accounts is comparable to accusing people of trolling and both are the SDMB equivalent of telling an airport customs agent about the powerful explosive you’re carrying in your pants. Beyond that, I have no further comment on your activities in this thread except to repeat that they are designed to draw attention to yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/67 "2005-06-05T13:52:00Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > Cut the guy some slack, I say: hell, who _hasn’t_ posted some cringeworthy stuff when they first started? You find a board where no-one blinks when you use words like “egregious” and people can pun on your name, and you’re anxious to prove you can foot it with the best of 'em: you post show-off stuff, get slapped down a couple of times, and learn to fit in. Well, I’m kinda in favour of the trial-by-ordeal, myself, particularly when the person invites it by soliciting opinions of his posting style. Sure, there are things in my posting history (including some real doozies just in the last few weeks) which I regret, but I never started a thread in which I attempted to justify them. If I _had_ started such a thread, I’d be fully deserving of whatever scorn drifted my way, though I don’t expect there’d be much because I’m so fucking LOVABLE, GOD-DAMNIT! Ahem. IAMBIC doesn’t actually have to “fit in” in the sense that he disappears seamlessly into a well-ordered system. All he really has to do is avoid violating some fairly basic (though admittedly arbitrary) rules. I’ve suggested he refrain from starting new threads until he has a better idea where those boundaries are, and I stand by it. > [@](#): > > Piling on the guy might be childishly satisfying, but isn’t particularly productive: do we really want to drive off someone who’s clearly smart, articulate and probably has something constructive to offer, or are we going to share our toys nicely with the new kid? Well, if we want to insulate new arrivals from criticism, there may be ways to do so, including restricting guest options so they can only start threads in GQ and GD, which have the strictest rules against potshots. By starting a thread in the Pit, though, I daresay IAMBIC has deliberately put himself on the firing line. This is about as bad as it gets, though, and if he feels he can handle it and joins the SDMB, it shouldn’t get (much) worse. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/68 "2005-06-05T15:24:14Z")
A couple of questions for you, **IAMBIC** : Was **liberal** smart or dumb to pay $14.95 so as to be able to continue to interact with others on the SDMB in the manner displayed in this thread? Do you intend to pay $14.95 so as to be able to continue to interact with others on the SDMB in the manner displayed in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/69 "2005-06-05T16:05:48Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Whoops, better calm down before you post again, because as I understand it, even jokingly implying you have sock-puppet accounts is comparable to accusing people of trolling and both are the SDMB equivalent of telling an airport customs agent about the powerful explosive you’re carrying in your pants. Oooh, excited, Liberal has something powerfully explosive in his pants? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/70 "2005-06-05T16:22:50Z")
> [@Girl From Mars](#): > > Oooh, excited, Liberal has something powerfully explosive in his pants? Stand in line. He’s already asked me to [suck his dick](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6187743&postcount=122). I feel so lucky. 🙂 > [@Liberal](#): > > But if I leave, who will keep a finger in the dike? Darn competition. I wonder who she is? ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/71 "2005-06-05T16:55:53Z")
Don’t mess with the quote function, **Excalibre**. Your misattribution back in post #55 was a fairly clear commentary instead of an acutal quote but it’s still a no-no. Don’t do it again. Veb ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/72 "2005-06-05T16:59:00Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Yeah, that’s why I’ve used my six other accounts to post questions and comments to myself. No, but you posted quite a few times, and you resorted to bothering me when you didn’t get enough satisfaction - are you saying you don’t admit that your melodramatic declaration of how _very_ much you suffer was a plea for attention? Well, then, what was it? Because I can’t come up with any other plausible interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/73 "2005-06-05T17:00:40Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > Don’t mess with the quote function, **Excalibre**. Your misattribution back in post #55 was a fairly clear commentary instead of an acutal quote but it’s still a no-no. Don’t do it again. > > Veb Whoa, can I get some clarification? Are we allowed to alter them with brackets at all, as is normally done with quotes? My use of them left no doubt as to the fact that **Liberal** didn’t literally post the phrase “vapid nonsense.” ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/74 "2005-06-05T17:29:27Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Whoa, can I get some clarification? Are we allowed to alter them with brackets at all, as is normally done with quotes? My use of them left no doubt as to the fact that **Liberal** didn’t literally post the phrase “vapid nonsense.” As I said, your use was pretty clear, and this isn’t a horrendous mistake. But we don’t want any alteration of quotes at all. Otherwise we’d be right back to debating instance by instance: “But it was an obvious parody!” etc. etc. Veb ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/75 "2005-06-05T18:04:46Z")
**Veb** , could **Excalibre** have achieved the same effect if instead of using the quote box he’d formatted it something like this: “ **Liberal** replies: [vapid nonsense]” Would that be acceptable, or is that also too prone to be taken as distorting a quote? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/76 "2005-06-05T18:40:30Z")
Well using or implying the word “quote” at all is just a cheap rhetorical device. Why not just say “Your post was vapid nonsense”. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/77 "2005-06-05T18:54:31Z")
Yeh, that would work, too. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/78 "2005-06-05T19:17:31Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Fascinating. You’re almost like a Phaedrus who can spell, and who has figured out which asses to kiss…Popularity and acceptance must be very important to you, which explains your recent apology to the cat lady, offered suddenly and out of whole cloth, manufactured to derail an argument you were losing. And now, your teeth are firmly clamped to the ass of a Giraffe, as you describe to all the animals in the jungle just how tasty it is. None of this is intended as insult. The board needs a sentimental and foppish wordsmith. Since we can’t have Paul Harvey, you’ll have to do. **Liberal** , if you don’t mind continuing this hijack for a bit, I have a couple of questions for you. I’m actually genuinely curious about your posting habits. Are you aware that (for some people, anyway) you have a tendency to come across as being pretentious and argumentative? Do you have any particular theories on why you’re perceived that way? (I’m not referencing just the post I’ve quoted above, of course.) Do you care whether you’re perceived as being pretentious etc.? Why or why not? So who _is_ the intended audience for your posts? You’ve commented that your posting style tends to get a lot of negative reactions from other posters. Have you considered trying to modify your style to ameliorate this? If not, what _do_ you get out of continuing to post in this manner? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/79 "2005-06-05T19:44:37Z")
> [@Talon Karrde](#): > > So the thread was a poll to see what people know, **Iambic**? > > There’s the problem right there. The people here don’t like being guinea pigs, and I’m pretty sure that the mods don’t look kindly upon people using the SDMB for science experiments. I got that impression from the two linked threads (that we are being studied by Mr. **IAMBIC** ), so I decided to see if his posting history could shed any light on him. He has started eleven threads. Two of them are in ATMB, one of them is here. Eight of them are in IMHO. He has posted fifty-six times. One post is in an IMHO thread that he _didn’t_ start. Four of them are in one GD thread; one of them is in a second GD thread. The remaining fifty posts are in his self-started threads. Seven of them are here, three of them are in his two ATMB threads. Forty of his posts are in his IMHO threads. His two most recent posts are in his thread: [_Need help choosing appropriate forum_.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=319825) I draw no conclusions from my research. But my impressions of **IAMBIC** seem to be consistent with the following: He is curious about the Doper community, in an anthropological sense. He didn’t do much lurking before he signed on as a Guest. Nevertheless, he learned relatively quickly about getting his fingers burned with incautious OP placement. His experience thus far has resulted in some feelings of hostility toward the people who populate this message board. I note that, while I got a foreboding feeling regarding his intentions from reading his latest thread, he has not, as yet, opened the thread he’s been comntemplating. Welcome to the boards, **IAMBIC**. A field-work approach to learning about the board culture (such as it is) may not serve you well, but I think you have enough on the ball to learn to come here for the same thing most of us come here for: our own amusement. You might want to stay out of IMHO for a bit, and post some more to other people’s threads. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905/80 "2005-06-05T19:55:57Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > **Liberal** , if you don’t mind continuing this hijack for a bit, I have a couple of questions for you. I’m actually genuinely curious about your posting habits. > > Are you aware that (for some people, anyway) you have a tendency to come across as being pretentious and argumentative? > > Do you have any particular theories on why you’re perceived that way? (I’m not referencing just the post I’ve quoted above, of course.) > > Do you care whether you’re perceived as being pretentious etc.? Why or why not? > > So who _is_ the intended audience for your posts? > > You’ve commented that your posting style tends to get a lot of negative reactions from other posters. Have you considered trying to modify your style to ameliorate this? > > If not, what _do_ you get out of continuing to post in this manner? Hey, how about starting a new thread for it, rather than letting the hijack continue? \*\*Lib _said_, right in his first post to the thread, that he was initiating a hijack. Of COURSE, he doesn’t mind continuing it. Honestly, when we _let_ him do it as blatantly as that, he’s playing us like a, a (lessee, _concert piano_ gives us too much dignity, oh, I have it), like a cheap transistor radio. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-czarcasm-and-i-not-speak-the-same-language/306905.md?page=5)