# Haha- fuck you Oafrah!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [October 30, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606 "2007-10-30T18:25:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 16

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**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/301 "2007-10-31T18:08:33Z")

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[QUOTE=askeptic]  
Not your opinion but how you choose to express it. You can do what you want but we can laugh at you. And believe me I am.  
[/QUOTE]

May I ask, is there a topic that you, an intelligent adult, have an opinion on that differs from the masses here? Maybe you’re an ID believer, or Bush supporter, whatever. Now assuming there is, does that make you, an otherwise intelligent adult, an idiot? Now, you say, how you express it is what matters. Do tell how I should have expressed this opinion in a way that would be suitable.

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**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/302 "2007-10-31T18:09:31Z")

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[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]  
Wasn’t it Nazi Germany where everyone had to be and think exactly alike?  
[/QUOTE]

You said Nazi, you lose.

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**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/303 "2007-10-31T18:26:51Z")

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[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]  
Wasn’t it Nazi Germany where everyone had to be and think exactly alike?  
[/QUOTE]  
**Wee Bairn** , this isn’t about your having a contrary opinion (your Joe Torre-Money Grubber" thread _could_ have had merit), it’s about your:

a) having an _idiotic_ opinion, unsupported by how institutions are managed and the facts in the record;

b) not providing any cites to back of the facts you assert exist, stating no other poster had any factual basis for their opinion; when you finally did provide a cite, it didn’t prove what you think it did;

c) changing the goalpost when posters provided reliable cites to you;

d) deliberately pretending to misinterpret posts critical of your position from the very beginning;

d) changing your reason for the OP several times, including at one point saying your objection to the school was because these Black kids in SA were getting luxuries, that you, as a white man in America, weren’t); and

e) not knowing what references to the Algonquin Roundtable meant. This, by itself, is grounds for death by beheading.

Listen, **win-a-bree** , I don’t think you’re a racist. You do “pretend, quirky, bemused, missing-the-point, faux outrage” quite well; leave the attention whore/trolling schtick to the big boys.

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**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/304 "2007-10-31T18:32:42Z")

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[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]  
Do tell how I should have expressed this opinion in a way that would be suitable.  
[/QUOTE]  
And yet when **Diogenes** is held up as an example of how to express a contrary opinion without getting flamed (which is, like, a first for him), you dismiss it as, what, clique status?

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**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/305 "2007-10-31T18:34:13Z")

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[QUOTE=5-4-Fighting]  
**Wee Bairn** , this isn’t about your having a contrary opinion (your Joe Torre-Money Grubber thread _could_ have had merit), it’s about your:

a) having an _idiotic_ opinion, unsupported by how institutions are managed and the facts in the record;

b) not providing any cites to back of the facts you assert exist, stating no OP had any factual basis for their opinion; when you finally did provide a cite, it didn’t prove what you think it did;

c) changing the goalpost when posters provided reliable cites to you;

d) deliberately pretending to misinterpret posts critical of your position from the very beginning;

d) changing your reason for the OP several times, including at one point saying your objection to the school was because of these Black kids in SA were getting, that you, as a white man in America, wasn’t); and

e) not knowing what references to the Algonquin Roundtable meant. This is grounds for death by beheading.

Listen, **win-a-bree** : you do “pretend, quirky, bemused, missing-the-point, faux outrage” quite well; leave the attention whore/trolling schtick to the big boys.  
[/QUOTE]

Ok- that’s a post I can respond to:

a) none of us, me included, know anything at all whatsoever about the inner workings or anything to do with this institution. My OP is not a fact based one based on the school set up, its on her comments on her talk show, I’ve covered that.

b) my cite is “i watch the show. I hear her prattle on.” It’s hard to find transcirpts or video of shows online. But no one here has come back and said “I watch the show every day, and she does not do that”.

c) changed nothing, original OP stands. May have added to it, got off on a tangent, but no change to OP.

d) you’re joking right? find that post, see the rhetorical question mark at the end, followed by a big fat NO, meaning no, I don’t feel that way. Also note my gripe is that the school does not include ENOUGH poor black kids.

e) busted

and I claimed no outrage. I just was expressing an opinion, no anger at all.

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**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/306 "2007-10-31T18:36:13Z")

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[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]  
May I ask, is there a topic that you, an intelligent adult, have an opinion on that differs from the masses here? Maybe you’re an ID believer, or Bush supporter, whatever. Now assuming there is, does that make you, an otherwise intelligent adult, an idiot? Now, you say, how you express it is what matters. Do tell how I should have expressed this opinion in a way that would be suitable.  
[/QUOTE]  
I have posted, several times, on this board [and others](http://chud.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1655599&postcount=173), my opinion that the much-reviled Paul Verhoeven film _Showgirls_, far from being the incompetent turd which most people consider it, is in fact a fascinating film worthy of detailed study and respect. I express this opinion by providing a detailed explanation of why I feel the way I do, with careful distinction between what I feel to be _factual_ observations (how films are made, objective analysis of story structure, filmmaker history, etc) versus my _opinion_ (speculation, interpretation, etc).

Then, when people disagree with me, I stomp my feet, gather my skirts, and execute a high-speed tight-circle hissy fit, labeling my detractors with juvenile epithets, and basically making an embarrassing spectacle of myself.

Oh, wait. Sorry. That’s what **you** do.

What _ **I** _ do is to shrug, correct any bald-faced misrepresentations, and then **let it go.** Because I recognize that none of this is personal; and if somebody tries to **make** it personal, I ignore them. I engage the debate only to the extent that I feel my points have been made, and then I’m done. Further attention to somebody who doesn’t seem to be connecting with me will serve only to prolong the argument, for no purpose at all.

Because I, unlike you, apparently, do not wish to be perceived as an attention whore. I say my piece, make sure it accurately represents my point of view, and that’s it, over and out.

You are taking notes, right?

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**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/307 "2007-10-31T18:39:38Z")

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[QUOTE=Cervaise]  
. . . . You are taking notes, right?  
[/QUOTE]  
Why does he need to take notes when you’re giving him a compliment?

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**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/308 "2007-10-31T18:42:39Z")

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You know what- that makes perfect sense. I thought ignoring direct insults was viewed as chickenshit, but seriously, that makes sense. A bit odd though, that someone should insult you personally here becasue of a weird take on a topic, and then you should not respond in kind, but I honestly agree with this as a path I should have followed. And note, I asked the thread to be closed when it got out of hand.

If continuing the debate on and on as I did is seen as bad form here, then I do apologize. My goal here is to discuss topics of interest, not to annoy anyone.

But do note, no hissy fit, and any insults came my way first.

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/309 "2007-10-31T18:48:21Z")

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[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]  
My level of vitriol on the topic was about a 0.1 out of 10.  
[/QUOTE]

Bullshit. Your OP was as about a vitriolic Pit rant as I’ve ever seen.

And the reason for the subsequent pile-on is not merely because, as you are attempting to portray it, you were “going against the opinion of the majority”, and not merely because it was a dumbass Pitting, but because after pages and pages of people telling you, “This is a dumbass Pitting”, you refused to man up and post an Emily Latella “never mind, you’re right, this was a dumbass Pitting”. That, O Bairn, is why you’re getting the pileon. And no equally lame disclaimers you attempt to post now, no “gee, guys, I dint really mean it”, can save you. Get it through your head that you’re not being flamed because anybody here gives a rat’s ass about Oprah Winfrey–you’re being flamed because you have behaved stupidly in the Pit, and in the Pit, the punishment for behaving stupidly is eternal flames and the fire that quencheth not.

> [@Wee Bairn](#):
>
> 100 or so posts ago I said something about the thread pretty much being played out and that a mod could close if they liked, but that I was not asking for it to be closed to avoid taking shit?

Yes, indeed, you certainly did. On Page 4, you said:

> [@](#):
>
> _I know mods don’t close threads for one to avoid taking shit, but if a mod wants to close after anyone else gets their opinion in, please do. If not no problem, I’ll respond to anyone who wants me to address anything they post._

Which means that this…

> [@](#):
>
> _Frank, please officially close this thread._

…and this…

> [@](#):
>
> _And again, why haven’t you closed the thread?_

…make you look, oh, what’s the word I want? Oh, yeah–stupid.  
And whiny.

On Page 5, you said:

> [@](#):
>
> \*do not for a second take my deep thought upthread to be in any way shape or form a poor me plea- it was 100% not.
> 
> … I love a good flameout like anyone else\*

So, you gotcher flameout. Enjoy.

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**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/310 "2007-10-31T18:49:15Z")

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[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]  
You know what- that makes perfect sense. I thought ignoring direct insults was viewed as chickenshit, but seriously, that makes sense. A bit odd though, that someone should insult you personally here becasue of a weird take on a topic, and then you should not respond in kind, but I honestly agree with this as a path I should have followed.  
[/QUOTE]

I know you don’t care what I think but those two simple sentences completely changed my opinion of you. I still think this thread was silly but I no longer hold the opinion that you are a blithering idiot.

I do wish you would grasp that it is not your “weird take on a topic” that generated the insults.

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**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/311 "2007-10-31T18:55:02Z")

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[QUOTE=askeptic]  
I know you don’t care what I think but those two simple sentences completely changed my opinion of you. I still think this thread was silly but I no longer hold the opinion that you are a blithering idiot.

I do wish you would grasp that it is not your “weird take on a topic” that generated the insults.  
[/QUOTE]

Well I don’t know you personally, but no, in general I don’t want anybody thinking I’m an idiot. What about it exactly caused your particular strong reaction?

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/312 "2007-10-31T19:01:00Z")

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> [@Wee Bairn](#):
>
> And note, I asked the thread to be closed when it got out of hand.

This thread has yet to get out of hand. Threads are “out of hand” when they degenerate to nothing more than simple name-calling, a trainwreck of offtopic pointlessness. This thread remains squarely on topic, and any namecalling is peripheral to the discussion.

No, your thread didn’t get “out of hand” and you, the OP, nobly asked the mods to shut down a train wreck. You asked for the thread to be closed **as soon as Frank wondered aloud if you were simply trolling.** IOW, as soon as it suddenly looked like your amusing little 7-page tap dance might not come across as so amusing to TPTB. Props to you for at least having the brains to realize that, although you lose 5 points for needing to be whacked with Frank’s titanium clue-by-four in order for it to happen.

> [@Wee Bairn](#):
>
> If continuing the debate on and on as I did is seen as bad form here, then I do apologize.

Good. Now, file for future reference: the next time you post a rant, and the first 20 people **in a row** all tell you the same thing, that your OP is lame and non-merited, the only correct response is, “Yeah, you’re right, I withdraw the OP.”

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**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/313 "2007-10-31T19:07:48Z")

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[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose]  
This thread has yet to get out of hand. Threads are “out of hand” when they degenerate to nothing more than simple name-calling, a trainwreck of offtopic pointlessness. This thread remains squarely on topic, and any namecalling is peripheral to the discussion.

No, your thread didn’t get “out of hand” and you, the OP, nobly asked the mods to shut down a train wreck. You asked for the thread to be closed **as soon as Frank wondered aloud if you were simply trolling.** IOW, as soon as it suddenly looked like your amusing little 7-page tap dance might not come across as so amusing to TPTB. Props to you for at least having the brains to realize that, although you lose 5 points for needing to be whacked with Frank’s titanium clue-by-four in order for it to happen.  
Good. Now, file for future reference: the next time you post a rant, and the first 20 people **in a row** all tell you the same thing, that your OP is lame and non-merited, the only correct response is, “Yeah, you’re right, I withdraw the OP.”  
[/QUOTE]

Franks post meant to me that someone is accusing me of something I am not doing. I stated for certain I was not doing as he thought, and that he could close the thread to avoid any confusion. I asked that it be closed way before that as well.

And you are correct, if 199 out of 200 tell you your opinion is wrong, then maybe it is. But I can’t say its not my opinion though. I can say I presented it incorrectly. I beleive in Martians, many people don’t. I can’t prove they exist, but that doesn’t change my feeling on the subject.

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**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/314 "2007-10-31T19:13:17Z")

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[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]  
Well I don’t know you personally, but no, in general I don’t want anybody thinking I’m an idiot. What about it exactly caused your particular strong reaction?  
[/QUOTE]

I did not have a strong reaction. The problems with your OP have been pointed out. Most of them were valid points. If you had expressed you distaste for Oprah, even vitriolic distaste and that you dislike her attention whoring and claiming to be more involved than she probably is, I doubt you would have been the subject of this much ridicule. However your attempts to blame her and hold her responsible for the admittedly heinous acts of others is what created this mess. The analogy to the bench earlier in the thread, which you summarily and flippantly dismissed, was a valid analogy.

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/315 "2007-10-31T19:14:59Z")

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We can’t say what isn’t your opinion? That Oprah Winfrey is responsible somehow for the fact that a couple girls at one of her schools were abused? We’ve asked you this before; I’ll ask you again. What is it you want from her? What, in your opinion, should she have done, or do now? Your position, as far as I can tell, is that Oprah claims to be on top of her school’s daily doings 24/7, and that thus she should have known about the abuse as soon as it happened. However, you have provided nothing that shows that she claims this, except for your unsupported statement that she says it “all the time” on her show.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/316 "2007-10-31T19:15:16Z")

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I will allow that my general view of her being a brainless attention whore may be coloring my take on the subject.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/317 "2007-10-31T19:17:55Z")

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[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]  
I beleive in Martians,…  
[/QUOTE]

Wait a minute. Are you talking real live sentient beings living on Mars today?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/318 "2007-10-31T19:22:06Z")

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[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose]  
We can’t say what isn’t your opinion? That Oprah Winfrey is responsible somehow for the fact that a couple girls at one of her schools were abused? We’ve asked you this before; I’ll ask you again. What is it you want from her? What, in your opinion, should she have done, or do now? Your position, as far as I can tell, is that Oprah claims to be on top of her school’s daily doings 24/7, and that thus she should have known about the abuse as soon as it happened. However, you have provided nothing that shows that she claims this, except for your unsupported statement that she says it “all the time” on her show.  
[/QUOTE]

I have allowed that since 100 other people think I’m wrong, that my dislike of her may be affecting my take on the subject. What more do you want?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/319 "2007-10-31T19:23:58Z")

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[QUOTE=askeptic]  
Wait a minute. Are you talking real live sentient beings living on Mars today?  
[/QUOTE]

I mean that there may be life outside of Earth.

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**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/haha-fuck-you-oafrah/424606/320 "2007-10-31T19:27:45Z")

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[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]  
I mean that there may be life outside of Earth.  
[/QUOTE]  
Then wouldn’t that make them “extraterrestrials” and not necessarily “Martians”? 😃

Precision is everything on the Dope, you know.

Now, this thread is officially a trainwreck.

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