# If you don't know the answer, don't post in GQ **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 22, 2002, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401 "2002-10-22T17:15:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401/21 "2002-10-23T01:34:46Z")
You mean, Unclebeer lied to me?!? That bastard! He musta been drunk… ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401/22 "2002-10-23T01:40:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*I think **Bricker** is talking about a certain individual in the thread about Communion ettiquette who claims to have all this knowledge about Catholic protocol-and who insists that it is true no matter how many times said person is corrected. \*\* Are you sure he’s not talking about the person who made the funny cat story, trying to emulate Cecil’s wit, and who didn’t really answer the question? 'Cause that person’s already been called an asshole by mail, and has decided an occasional sense of humor in GQ is Just Not Worth It. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401/23 "2002-10-23T01:49:59Z")
> [@](#): > > 'Cause that person’s already been called an asshole by mail Maybe this **mail** guy oughta be nicer in GQ. That kind of crap only gets you somewhere in BBQ Land. Or, you know, in a “But, Butt, Butts! XXX” movie. Ahem. ---
**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401/24 "2002-10-23T02:03:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jarbabyj \* > \*\*I have to go with Bricker, and yet slighty alter the rant. Don’t seize on something you DO know in the GQ and run with that. > > About six months back I posted a question about whether muscle relaxants . . . I got maybe two answers to the question, and about sixteen people telling me how THEY deal with cramps. > > grrrrrrr \*\* It’s partly a conversational device, isn’t it? It goes something like this “I don’t know the answer specificially, but I’m interested in the general subject, in this other respect.” I just posted to a thread about the asteroid that follows Earth’s orbit, not answering the OP. Its horseshoe orbit was something I might have known about, but didn’t. I did have a little extra information that might have helped the next poster down the line (even if it meant disagreeing with my points). ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401/25 "2002-10-23T02:30:32Z")
Wow…lookit all the high post counts. Should I be in awe? ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401/26 "2002-10-23T02:46:08Z")
No, you should be in fear. (Or in a nice pink dress if it suits you.) Look upon this, my 302nd post in all of three and 1/2 years, and cower. Snivel, too. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401/27 "2002-10-23T13:34:11Z")
But if that rule were enforced a certain someone would lose thousands of posts. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401/28 "2002-10-23T14:37:59Z")
How about those that don’t have an answer at all? There has been a huge problem of people answering GQ questions with a lame joke or pun. It’s an especially crappy thing to do when a fresh newbie asks a legitimate though silly question and the first few responses are jokes and mockery. Once that happens you can pretty much say goodbye to a potentially fine new member of the Boards. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401/29 "2002-10-24T12:59:17Z")
Case for the Day: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=140963](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=140963) ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401/30 "2002-10-24T13:33:45Z")
I also concur with the **Polycarp Method** [sup]TM[/sup], and I rarely post in GQ because of it. Only the very few subjects I actually have knowledge of, or have verifiable proof to support, are subjects I post to. However, I also agree with **partly\_warmer** (for once) and have to agree that it is motivational to have additional voices in there. Even if they are not _completely accurate_, they open additional avenues of thought - brainstorming, if you will. It makes more people think and try harder to find the most accurate answer. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401/31 "2002-10-24T13:35:22Z")
Um. Oops. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401/32 "2002-10-24T13:52:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hajario \* > \*\*How about those that don’t have an answer at all? There has been a huge problem of people answering GQ questions with a lame joke or pun. It’s an especially crappy thing to do when a fresh newbie asks a legitimate though silly question and the first few responses are jokes and mockery. Once that happens you can pretty much say goodbye to a potentially fine new member of the Boards. > > Haj \*\* I think it’s OK to do this, but only after the question has been answered exhaustively. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401/33 "2002-10-24T13:55:51Z")
I share **Gorgon Heap’s** view. Sometimes, coming up with an answer in GQ is a _collaborative process_, not a one-shot, bing-bam-boom individual effort. Such collaboration is especially necessary for questions that are not easily Googled – Google does not tell all. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401/34 "2002-10-24T14:06:16Z")
Thank you, **bordelond**. While I have to note some exceptional people here, such as **Anthracite** , who are well-known for their intelligence and/or research abilities, this is _not_ and Ann Landers advice column. Most people who are here would rather like to get more than a single reply to their thread, even it the first is the “official” word. Not only because more answers offer more credence and support each other, but this is an internet _community_, and many vues and/or comments are a welcome must. If someone _didn’t_ want more posts and the occasional silliness, they would go to a damn library and look it up in solitude. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401/35 "2002-10-24T14:08:46Z")
“Vues.” [scoff] Good one, GH. It seems enlightenment is always an inch out of reach. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-the-answer-dont-post-in-gq/133401.md?page=1)