# Hostile Dialect; A Word, Please. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 27, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375 "2008-08-27T01:53:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/361 "2008-08-29T04:17:39Z")
[QUOTE=LurkMeister] I dare you to call [Babes With Blades](http://www.babeswithblades.org/) a bunch of pathetic losers. I saw them at a gasp! science fiction convention a few years ago and they put on a hell of a show. [/QUOTE] I’d have no problem telling them to get lives. What are they going to do, stab me with their toy swords? ---
**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:** [August 29, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/362 "2008-08-29T04:20:35Z")
The other day, Diogenes smashed a beatnik’s guitar and got sued. Successfully! ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/363 "2008-08-29T04:26:19Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] I’d have no problem telling them to get lives. [/QUOTE] What would getting lives entail? What’s missing from their current lives? ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/364 "2008-08-29T04:38:24Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] What would getting lives **comprise**? What’s missing from their current lives? [/QUOTE] Brain-fart minor wording error corrected in bold. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/365 "2008-08-29T04:48:50Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] What would getting lives comprise? What’s missing from their current lives? [/QUOTE] You don’t think that **DtC** would actually look at the link I provided and run the risk of finding out something that might contradict his preconceived notions, do you? They dress in costumes and fight with real (not toy) swords, therefore they are losers without real lives. So sayeth **Diogenes** , sole possessor of The Truth. > [@Carol Stream](#): > > How is silliness different than foolishness? They are synonyms. Silliness is doing something fun for the amusement of yourself or others. Foolishness is doing something stupid which makes other people laugh at you (as opposed to with you). ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/366 "2008-08-29T05:07:59Z")
[QUOTE=neutron star] Yo, what the hell is a “tyger,” and how does it differ from a “tiger,” or are you just bad at spelling? [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Terrifel] William Blake could never spell that word right either. He also couldn’t rhyme worth a damn. “Hand or eye” with “symmetry?” Hey Blake, where’d you learn to speak English, the 7-11? [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Miller] [Dumb fuck.](http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~keith/poems/tyger.html) [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Silver Tyger Girl] II use ‘tyger’ because I’m not a normal tiger and I’m a giant Thundercats dork. I got it from Tygra. [/QUOTE] BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That is way too fucking funny! ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/367 "2008-08-29T05:12:36Z")
It _is_ kind of funny, that series of posts ending the way it did. Still, she spelt it that way not out of ignorance, but as an homage; just not primarily to Blake. Still nothing wrong with it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/368 "2008-08-29T05:13:26Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] What would getting lives entail? What’s missing from their current lives? [/QUOTE] See, this is the point. What makes whatever Dio does in his spare time (from his post count, it mostly comprises telling people on the internet they’re wrong) or what anyone else does any more legitimate than someone else’s hobby? My mother collects antique sewing paraphernalia and makes beautiful purses and quilts. My father plays World of Warcraft and plays with his dogs. I know girls who knit, guys who play basketball, and gamers of all ages and genders who play all types of games. I ask again: what is less legitimate about drawing a guy with bunny ears or propelling an imaginary wizard around an imaginary world or spending hundreds of hours hand-sewing a re-creation of [the Maidstone jacket](http://extremecostuming.com/reproductions/themaidstonejacket.html)? You think it’s weird? Based on what, exactly? That it’s unusual? That not everyone does it or knows much about it? I’m still waiting to hear a real argument apart from “It’s just weird!” Someone said it bespeaks an inability to handle the real world, choosing a fantasy to fill it instead. That’s certainly a big assumption to make about teachers, professors, interior designers, administrators, managers, police officers, game producers, programmers, technical writers, copy editors, nurses, NASA engineers, EMTs, and at least one wacky cosmonaut. And I know weird folk listed in all of the above: there’s a lifestyle furry of my long friendship who administrates regional distribution for a textbook company. His personal predilections don’t reach beyond a Beanie Baby or two in his office. The current king in my area works in Mission Control. One of our finest event stewards in the SCA is also an event coordinator for conferences in Las Vegas, which rather fits. I assure you, these are all people who excel in their professional lives. While there will always be people who take anything too far and too seriously, it is counterproductive and intellectually dishonest to use their examples against their fellows. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/369 "2008-08-29T05:14:08Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > It is kind of funny. Still, she spelt it that way not out of ignorance, but as an homage; just not primarily to Blake. Still nothing wrong with it. Well, except that she’s not _any_ kind of a tiger. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/370 "2008-08-29T05:15:38Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Well, except that she’s not _any_ kind of a tiger. [/QUOTE] So what? **Little Plastic Ninja** is probably not any kind of plastic ninja, nor is **neutron star** any kind of neutron star. **Silver Tyger Girl** is, at least, actually a girl who is into tigers. (But, granted, I imagine your point isn’t meant to be about the username, as such, but her persona more generally. But then, it wouldn’t really have anything to do with the spelling **neutron star** was taking her to task over, either…) Incidentally, what is your answer to my question above about getting lives? ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/371 "2008-08-29T05:17:23Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] It _is_ kind of funny, that series of posts ending the way it did. Still, she spelt it that way not out of ignorance, but as an homage; just not primarily to Blake. Still nothing wrong with it. [/QUOTE] I think Thundercats is way funnier than plain old ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/372 "2008-08-29T05:20:06Z")
[QUOTE=neutron star] I think Thundercats is way funnier than plain old ignorance. [/QUOTE] I don’t, but I have no quibble with that. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/373 "2008-08-29T05:25:31Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] So what? **Little Plastic Ninja** is probably not any kind of plastic ninja, nor is **neutron star** any kind of neutron star. **Silver Tyger Girl** is, at least, actually a girl who is into tigers. (But, granted, I imagine your point isn’t meant to be about the username, as such, but her persona more generally. But then, it wouldn’t really have anything to do with the spelling **neutron star** was taking her to task over, either…) [/quote] I don’t care about the spelling, but she said, “I’m not a normal tiger.” She’s not a tiger, period. I think it’s ridiculous for someone to go around saying “I’m a tiger with wings.” Sue me. > [@](#): > > Incidentally, what is your answer to my question above about getting lives? **LurkMeister** answered it. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/374 "2008-08-29T05:30:39Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] I don’t care about the spelling, but she said, “I’m not a normal tiger.” She’s not a tiger, period. I think it’s ridiculous for someone to go around saying “I’m a tiger with wings.” Sue me. [/QUOTE] Sorry, I missed the part where she said “I’m not a normal tiger” and thus read more pointless antagonism in your reply than was actually there. I apologize. > [@](#): > > **LurkMeister** answered it. It’s a little difficult for me to extract from his post exactly what your answers would be, but I’ll give it a shot. My stab at your answer to “What would getting lives comprise?” would be “Stop dressing in costumes and playing with real swords, for a start”. I am at a greater loss for your answer to “What’s missing from their current lives?”, and cannot attempt to extract it from **LurkMeister** ’s post. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/375 "2008-08-29T05:33:27Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] She’s not a tiger, period. [/QUOTE] I bet you’re not Greek. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/376 "2008-08-29T05:34:04Z")
Maybe “get a life” is too harsh. I just can’t take people who go around playacting in period drag seriously I guess. I don’t _hate_ them. I don’t literally laugh at them or bother them in real life. I just privately think they’re a little off. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/377 "2008-08-29T05:35:31Z")
[QUOTE=Little Plastic Ninja] I bet you’re not Greek. [/QUOTE] I don’t go around saying I am. I don’t roleplay being a Greek philosopher. It’s just a username. It was actually chosen at near random. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/378 "2008-08-29T05:35:56Z")
The only way that they could have a life (whatever the fuck that means) is to permanently and totally cease whatever activity they are engaged in which **Diogenes the Cynic** has deemed makes them losers. Thus is The Way, The Truth, and The Light. All Hail **Diogenes the Cynic** , Sole Arbiter of All That Is Right In the Universe. Bow before His Wisdom, all you lesser creatures. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/379 "2008-08-29T05:36:07Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Maybe “get a life” is too harsh. I just can’t take people who go around playacting in serial drag seriously I guess. I don’t _hate_ them. I don’t literally laugh at them or bother them in real life. I just privately think they’re a little off. [/QUOTE] Alright, that seems reasonable. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2008, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375/380 "2008-08-29T05:37:29Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Maybe “get a life” is too harsh. I just can’t take people who go around playacting in serial drag seriously I guess. I don’t _hate_ them. I don’t literally laugh at them or bother them in real life. I just privately think they’re a little off. [/QUOTE] To anyone still arguiing with Dio - this is as close to him admitting defeat as you’re gonna get. I suggest you declare victory and go home. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hostile-dialect-a-word-please/461375.md?page=20)