# Is fighting ignorance no longer the mandate in General Questions? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 18, 2018, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745 "2018-11-18T22:18:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/61 "2018-11-19T22:02:36Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > I was really dismayed to see this post from a moderator on this message board. It feels like ignorance has finally triumphed. The SDMB is now officially a place where people who think “England, Britain, the UK, who cares, it’s all the same” can feel right at home, and anyone who does care about the differences can just keep their opinions to themselves. Snark is not helpful in GQ. More or less that same pedantic answer has been given dozens of times before. It has turned the thread into a hijack many times. But it has never rcvd a warning before as it wasnt that snarky and unhelpful. Most of the time, it was appended to a actual useful reply that contributed to the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/62 "2018-11-19T22:36:24Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > And here we cross another line: It isn’t pedantry to “correct” someone in a way that’s controversial. > > Or is Jerusalem properly in Palestine, then? And that’s exactly the kind of hornet’s nest nobody here wants to poke. You realize I was joking with the whole “American” thing, right? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/63 "2018-11-19T23:40:05Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > You realize I was joking with the whole “American” thing, right? I know you were joking, but I have to say something about the first part of your post: > [@](#): > > And that’s exactly the kind of hornet’s nest nobody here wants to poke. OK, tie this to my second post in this thread, specifically this part: > [@Derleth](#): > > Is it nitpicking to question the premise of a question if that premise is a political position? This question is about smuggling politics into a discussion in such a way that, if someone questions those politics, you can call them out for “nitpicking” or “dodging the question” or both. In short: You ask a question with a hook in it. If anyone questions the hook, _they’re_ the asshole. That’s the kind of trick you can play with an anti-nitpicking stance. Some people call it push polling. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/64 "2018-11-20T00:56:03Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Equating the UK with England is a pretty lazy, shitty thing to do. Sanctioned by a mod too! Next time it happens, just close your eyes and think of the United Kingdom. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/65 "2018-11-20T01:12:19Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > It might be an interesting bit of trivia if this annoying nitpick had not already been made fifty billion times previously. And yet the error is still made, and needed to be corrected for the fifty billion and first time. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/66 "2018-11-20T01:16:31Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Next time it happens, just close your eyes and think of the United Kingdom. Devastating. I’m devastated. I live in a pile of rubble now. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/67 "2018-11-20T17:50:02Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And yet the error is still made, and needed to be corrected for the fifty billion and first time. But the error wasn’t “corrected”, [it was only noted](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21329470&postcount=3). > [@](#): > > The last Queen of England died in 1714 and had not bend[sic] that title since 1707. So I would guess, no. Had the poster gone on to point out that the subject of the OP was officially styled _Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith_ - that would have been the kind of pedantic nitpickery so many here are jumping in to defend. Instead we got snark, followed by a fight over just how snarky the snark was. And I’d like to point out that in both the original thread and this one, I’m the first person _ **who actually bothered** _ to post the the Queen’s official title. Perhaps we should change our battle cry from “Fighting Ignorance” to “Just Answer the Question.”:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/68 "2018-11-20T18:01:45Z")
How about we just call her Liz? Now that Elizabeth Taylor is dead, there shouldn’t be much confusion who is being referred to. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/69 "2018-11-21T09:50:37Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Just call her Queen Elizabeth II. That’s pretty unambiguous, and shouldn’t be beyond the smart and hip people here. :rolleyes: Except, of course, it’s not technically correct (in the Wikipedia sense of the phrase). That is, she _calls herself_ QE II, as she has a legal right to do, but everybody knows that to the Scots she’s only QE I. Which is why, in Scotland, they sensibly refrain from marking government property ERII. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/70 "2018-11-21T11:49:36Z")
EIIR! Latin, _Elisabeth Secunda Regina_… Philistines, I tell you! ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/71 "2018-11-21T13:23:57Z")
I have been fairly busy the last couple of days and did not have time to respond. Most of what I have to say has already been said. I do have a few comments, though. We definitely do not want to discourage fighting ignorance in GQ. As was said upthread, **AK84** ’s post wasn’t fighting ignorance. It was just snark. If the post had instead said something along the lines of “technically her title is not the Queen of England and some folks in the UK find referring to her as such to be very annoying”, that probably would not have been moderated, unless it got to be too much of a hijack. Wisecracks are indeed a part of the board culture, and we don’t mind them in GQ as long as the wisecracks and joking around are done after the OP has been addressed factually. If the post in question was intended as humor though, the humor did not come through. We don’t want to discourage humor in GQ, though. Without it, the forum can be a bit dry. We also don’t want to discourage factual corrections. However, we do want to discourage pointless and annoying pedantry. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/72 "2018-11-21T14:28:45Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > However, we do want to discourage pointless and annoying pedantry. Sounds like something the Queen of England would say. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/73 "2018-11-21T14:40:52Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Sounds like something the Queen of England would say. We are not amused. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/74 "2018-11-21T17:57:26Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Which is why, in Scotland, they sensibly refrain from marking government property ERII. Well, apart from all the Royal Mail boxes marked EIIR. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/75 "2018-11-22T02:52:17Z")
Would it be fair to say the band, Queen, is of England? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/76 "2018-11-22T04:15:31Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > Would it be fair to say the band, Queen, is of England? Freddie Mercury was from somewhere in South Africa, wasn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/77 "2018-11-22T05:48:27Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Freddie Mercury was from somewhere in South Africa, wasn’t he? No, Tanzania. The other three were born in England, birthplace of The Queen. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/78 "2018-11-22T07:06:09Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > No, Tanzania. > > The other three were born in England, birthplace of The Queen. So one could say there are three of Queen of England. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/79 "2018-11-22T08:21:43Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Well, apart from all the Royal Mail boxes marked EIIR. They still have pillerboxes? I guess they’ve replaced those since I was there. They used to be marked with the Crown of Scotland, to avoid snark about QEII. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745/80 "2018-11-22T12:40:36Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > No, Tanzania Well, to be a comPLETE pedant, Freddie was born in Zanzibar. He left before it merged with Tanganyika and became Tanzania. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fighting-ignorance-no-longer-the-mandate-in-general-questions/824745.md?page=5)