I can’t let that one pass. Gandalf the Gray was the Good Wizard that set in motion the Fellowship of the Ring and the Downfall of Sauron leading directly to the [Return of the King](The Return of the King ).
It was a quote from the Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Right, well, I was vaguely aware of who Gandalf was, but I don’t understand the context of the quote.
But don’t worry, Jim, I don’t need to know…I am an SDMB geek, but not THAT much of an SDMB geek! 
It’s just a message board, Sarahfeena. Sometimes we get too involved in threads to realize that. Someone said something that irritated you in a Pit thread. It happens all the time. My advice, for what it’s worth, is to let it go.
I know you’re right…it’s just that I don’t get it. Hostile Dialect has been a complete asshole to me for a couple of days now, and I don’t know why. To be completely honest, I don’t get irritated all that often…I find that I get along with people pretty well around here (at least, I think I do), and very very rarely do I have anyone give me a hard time. I have certainly never felt that anyone has gone out of their way to do so until now. So, I guess it’s not just this one event that has me riled up, but a series of comments and digs at me that I think are unwarranted and unexplained.
Not that I have a dog in this fight one way or the other…BUT…it’s a message board. On the internet. Where a STRANGER is busting your balls. Seriously. Take a breath and walk away. You’re not going to get your “retraction,” and you obviously rub each other the wrong way. It happens. Big whoop. If you care THAT much about strangers on the internet and what they are saying about you, well…I’m not sure there’s anything anyone here can say to change your mind.
Ignore it. Don’t stress. It’s bad for your skin. 
Well, not to put to fine a point on it, but I think that Hostile Dialect is kind of an asshole to EVERYBODY, not just you. I think it’s kind of his gig. Seriously, I’m not sure if I can recall him every saying anything kind, or generous, or forgiving about anybody. Frankly that says a lot more about him then it says about you and I would try not to let it get to you. Not always easy, but probably for the best.
Well I agree I would be annoyed too, but I am unsure why this couldn’t be addressed in the original thread. But, I am also glad this exists since I now realize that VCO3 became whatshisname. Why yes, I have been gone for several months and was wondering who the hell that guy was. Along with several other people, but I am sure I’ll catch up in good time.
Oh, I wouldn’t say that. I like him. But then, I think I just like assholes.
Huh…thanks, Alice. I guess I hadn’t noticed or seen that with HF. Maybe I AM taking things too personally.
Er… HD… 
Ohn for fuck’s sake, are you kidding me? I’m going to bed before I mess up again. Fucking Blackberry.
A mod could lock this thread if they wqnt…I think Hostile DIALECT and I, uh, kiSsed and made up in my other thread.
Heh. “Fixed poster’s name”.
I was actually ready to give you the retraction you asked for, until I read about your unfortunate “typo”.
On the plus side, now I know who it is who wants me to drive off a cliff.
Heh. I’m sure you do, Sarah. I’m sure you do.
Since you seem to interpret my every word as an attack, regardless of what I say, I will tread very carefully here:
I hope whatever is stressing you out right now ends soon. This can’t be good for your blood pressure. In spite of the evidence I’m sure you see to the contrary, I like you and I hope things work out for you. I mean that. You’re seriously going to break my heart if you take this as an insult too.
Actually, she was going to, until I saw “Fixed poster’s name”. I had a suspicion that it had to be fixed from one “typo” in particular, and I was not the least bit surprised to have that suspicion confirmed a few posts later.
Sorry, I can’t let this one go. I actually say kind, generous and forgiving things about people a lot. I said two such things about the OP of this thread within the last hour, IIRC (maybe one). I’ve said such things recently about Q.E.D., the person to whom I’ve probably been the biggest asshole (intentionally, anyway). I’ve also said such things recently about CarnalK, another poster I’ve been a real dick to. And right after Miller chewed me out recently, I told him how much I respected him and that I was going to make some major changes in my posting habits in deference to his opinion. I recently made a sincere effort to point out an error to eleanorigby by PM so she wouldn’t be embarrassed by it in a thread, and got a holy shitstorm unleashed upon me in return, in response to which I gave her my continued well-wishes. Twice, including this thread. That’s just in the last couple of weeks, just off the top of my head, and most of those people think I hate them with a burning passion.
My debate style is abrasive. Sorry. I got it from my dad. I’m working on it. I usually don’t realize when I’m being an asshole. On rare occasions, I know full well that I’m being a total dick, but I rationalize my behavior (“Everyone talks like this in the Pit” is the most common one, I think) and post it anyway. Sometimes I post something and then realize later that it was dickish. I do so much apologizing that I’m wary to apologize again, lest I become “that asshole who keeps saying sorry all the time”. (Some people have gotten pretty pissed off at me in real life for that very thing, actually.) For example, I could’ve sworn that I had actually apologized to Sarahfeena and retracted my implication, but when I looked back at the post where I thought I did that I realized that, no, I was actually a dick in that one too. It happens: sometimes I dig my heels in and still manage to convince myself that I’m conceding a point. I’ve probably done that to a lot of you. It’s a bad habit, and I apologize to those of you I’ve hurt, offended, angered, insulted, etc.
Damn, there goes that slippery finger again. Since this has become a pattern, allow me to observe that you’re not real convincing here.
Yeah, well, I can’t blame you, but I have to say that after todaya your name is kind of stuck that way in my brain. And I AM typing this on myBB, where the F is right next to the D.
Seriously, what would be tje point of continuing to do it on purpose?
To infer is to reason towards a conclusion.
To imply something is to say something which naturally leads to it as a conclusion.
There is no such word as “agreeance.”
Carry on.
-FrL-
In the spirit of love, harmony and reconciliation that has enveloped this Pit thread* (and because I just saw Sarahfeena’s PM from 30 minutes ago explaining the error 
), I’ll drop it and formally retract the implication, and the statement that made it. By that point I was just being pigheaded and digging in my heels. But it was dickish of me, and being myself a warm zealot for liberty (channeling Jefferson here–sorry, I really had to), I can understand that you’d lose your temper a little when you feel you’ve been accused of trying to squelch free speech rights.
- Funny–it used to really get my blood boiling when that happened. That seems really bizarre to me.
Good God, I don’t even feel any bile. I seriously don’t feel the descriptivist defender anger at all. Something must’ve changed in me. Bryan Ekers, a little help, please?
Wait…per Frylock’s post, was it an implication or an inference?
Seriously, Hostile Dialect, thank you. I was feeling a little sick just now about this misunderstanding, and I am very, very glad to have it cleared up. I will be extremely careful not to make username mistakes in the future…I never would have guessed what lkind of trouble could be ccaused.
Good night, and here’s to a better day tomorrow! 
Aww, isn’t it nice when a pit thread ends with a hug shared over a cup of cocoa?
Wait…I didn’t get any cocoa! :mad:
It was in your milkshake…
AND I DRANK YOUR MILKSHAKE!!!