# I can't take you seriously. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 21, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210 "2010-05-21T02:18:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [May 21, 2010, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/21 "2010-05-21T08:14:32Z")
Ooh, can I add one? See that key marked _shift_? 9There’s one on both sides of the keyboard, on the line above the space bar.0 Well, sometimes, it really does make a difference! 9Yeah, I do have someone in mind.0 (Given that there’s a perfectly good number pad on 'puter keyboards, there should be some box to check somewhere so that top row would require hitting the shift key to get numbers. I eagerly await one of y’all telling me there is an easy way to do it!) CMC fnord! BTW, I’ll freely cop to my, somewhat, excessive use of the comma. Everyone should have a favorite punctuation mark, the comma, is mine. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/22 "2010-05-21T08:33:22Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > That’d be “cousin’s”. Unless you have more than one of them aged six, in which case, “cousins’”. > > Shame - I was taking you seriously until that point. Naw, his hypothetical cousins could just be really poor. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/23 "2010-05-21T09:16:57Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Naw, his hypothetical cousins could just be really poor. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/24 "2010-05-21T12:36:00Z")
…and shit ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/25 "2010-05-21T16:00:02Z")
> [@kingbighair](#): > > Is this a comma splice, thus making it a run-on sentence? Just wondering. 😉 No. A comma splice is when you join two complete sentences with a comma but no conjunction. The only grammatical problem with that sentence was that it should have said “attempt **them** ” instead of “attempt **it**.” > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > There is also no need to use 10 separate ellipses in one paragraph (something I’ve seen in another thread), it makes what you are saying sound weak and halting. Or ominous. Also: Now _that’s_ a comma splice. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/26 "2010-05-21T16:11:18Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Or ominous. Or _ominous_… ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/27 "2010-05-21T16:15:26Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > I just can’t. It’s your fault, but I don’t blame you for it. You’re probably not that stupid, you might even be intelligent. But when you type without punctuation, and randomly hit the enter key to skip to the next line, you seem like a moron. > > It probably doesn’t help that you refuse to even attempt proper punctuation, and your grammar is poorer than my six year old cousins. Yeah, English might be your second language, and I’m willing to make some concessions on proper spelling, grammar and punctuation, but to not attempt it, while trying to be clever or witty, makes you look like a moron. > > Really, I promise, it’s not me, it’s you. And you know who you are. I feel no urge to “name names,” because I don’t want to make you feel bad, but c’mon… You really can’t tell that everyone else on a forum is typing in a certain way, and you’re typing like a jackass? > ETA: Not aimed at anyone specific, but in general. There are a few. +1 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/28 "2010-05-21T16:21:52Z")
I agree! ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/29 "2010-05-21T18:00:58Z")
This. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/30 "2010-05-21T18:24:25Z")
deleted. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/31 "2010-05-23T14:56:46Z")
Would someone please tell me what +1 means? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/32 "2010-05-23T15:40:16Z")
I was told there would be no math. ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/33 "2010-05-23T16:50:42Z")
> [@Mr.Duality](#): > > Would someone please tell me what +1 means? +1 post for this message. Consider your message, as stated, echoed here. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/34 "2010-05-23T17:42:23Z")
So it’s the equivalent of “what he said”. I was thinking maybe it meant “adds one to the post count but doesn’t contribute anything else”. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/35 "2010-05-23T17:57:16Z")
> [@Mr.Duality](#): > > So it’s the equivalent of “what he said”. I was thinking maybe it meant “adds one to the post count but doesn’t contribute anything else”. There are some sites where other posts can “rank” each other’s posts. If you like a post, you give it +1 point, and if you don’t like it you give it -1 point. The idea is that trolls and spam get a lot of minuses, and people can set thresholds so that they only see posts with a certain number of points,and thus avoid the trolls and spam. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/36 "2010-05-23T19:53:24Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > There are some sites where other posts can “rank” each other’s posts. If you like a post, you give it +1 point, and if you don’t like it you give it -1 point. The idea is that trolls and spam get a lot of minuses, and people can set thresholds so that they only see posts with a certain number of points,and thus avoid the trolls and spam. A common example is YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/37 "2010-05-24T01:45:23Z")
That was my take on what +1 meant as well. I never understood it to mean ‘ditto what the poster I’m giving the +1 to said’. As for the grammar thingy in the OP…personally I go more on the content than on how it’s written. I’ve seen some folks who write very well who I don’t take particularly seriously, while some folks who don’t writs parti’clar goodly who have interesting things to say from time to time. What I can’t stand is when someone (naming no names here) comes into a thread, drops a couple of (poorly written) cryptic lines and a drive by link. Not only is that hard to take seriously, it positively drives me batty (not that I have so far to go these days). -XT ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/38 "2010-05-24T02:15:51Z")
sometimes reading the internet feels like 1984 ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/39 "2010-05-24T02:16:22Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > It’s a conversational sentence. It’s not proper English, but it’s conversational English which is acceptable in pretty much any scenario that isn’t formal – namely, a forum. > > It’s also an _attempt_ at decent English, even if it’s not perfect. Which is all that I ask for in the OP. Not perfection, but the attempt at semi-legible non-garbage. > > Why aren’t you with me there? Hmm. I am shocked… SHOCKED! that you have not been called on your shit yet. Based on this post, (and the knee-jerk reacting on this board - and you know who \*\*YOU \*\*are), you are a racist, bigot, xenophobe, nazi, and oppressor of brown (or black, yellow, red, or any other crayola color other than white) people. Who are you to expect decent English? or for that matter, a semi-legible, non-garbage OP? You need to practice your goose-stepping. 🆒 ---
**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:** [May 24, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210/40 "2010-05-24T02:48:34Z")
> [@Mr.Duality](#): > > Would someone please tell me what +1 means? > [@Todderbob](#): > > +1 post for this message. > > Consider your message, as stated, echoed here. “+1” means “I concur with the message above. Please consider this an added vote for the sentiment.” **Todderbob** , I find it somewhat ironic that you needed it explained too, expecially when you used it perfectly. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-take-you-seriously/540210.md?page=3)