# I've been gone from the SDMB for 20 years. What's happened? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 25, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625 "2024-01-25T14:31:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/61 "2024-01-26T14:40:45Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Unless you have platinum membership, of course. Well, of course, you also get the mods with padded jackboots. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/62 "2024-01-26T15:12:43Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > the new board software doesn’t let you post replies with less than 5 characters Fewer ! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/63 "2024-01-26T15:25:40Z")
Grammar pedants are still around, of course. 🥸 ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/64 "2024-01-26T15:27:52Z")
Wouldn’t be the Straight Dope without them! ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/65 "2024-01-26T15:41:19Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > I disagree! Well, it’s true that I didn’t show up at the demonstration; only in the thread about it. > [@Riemann](#): > > We didn’t see this kind of sloppy imprecision in the old days before these new people showed up. Was that precise enough? – I don’t know whether these boards were as nitpicky 20 years ago as they are now; but I suspect that that’s something that hasn’t changed. - thorny – occasional nitpicker – locust ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/66 "2024-01-26T16:12:19Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > Fewer ! > [@silenus](#): > > Grammar pedants are still around, of course. And there is no worse grammar nazi than the Fewerer. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/67 "2024-01-26T16:14:40Z")
Your right – its just to much. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/68 "2024-01-26T16:38:33Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Let me explain! No, there is too much. Let me sum up. > > We still quote from old movies and TV shows. I don’t think that means what you think. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/69 "2024-01-26T16:59:36Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I don’t think that means what you think. Inconceivable! ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/70 "2024-01-26T19:39:13Z")
The goat supply chain has been fouled up for some time and Mariah is getting _really_ hungry, so be sure to stay away from the pool. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/71 "2024-01-26T21:57:57Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I showed up. > > Opinions about this are likely to vary. I’m a fan, personally. I’m also probably a fan of thorny locusts in general. They sound like they look awesome. ETA: Whoa! Way cooler than I imagined. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/72 "2024-01-27T01:30:23Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I showed up. I remember when you and your pals arrived, I think. We’re you on the rigid inflatable boat that washed up from Snopes? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/73 "2024-01-27T01:48:33Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > The goat supply chain has been fouled up for some time Which has also caused a substantial backlog of initiations. The last few have been nothing like the Bacchanalias from the old days. First the new goats were unenthusiastic, and now nobody knows how to draw a pentagram properly . . . Anyway, welcome back! ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/74 "2024-01-27T02:18:34Z")
With the coming of things like Doordash, etc., the bringing of pie has sort of become an easily done chore, so that much is to OP’s benefit upon coming back. > [@chappachula](#): > > We’re all older now. So the site no longer has that atmosphere of being in a group of friends sharing a joint in a college dorm room, telling in-jokes, etc. Instead, we’re more like a bunch of old farts sharing a table in Starbucks with some newfound friends joining in. At times I worry we are becoming the cast of a mid-afternoon commercial for some medication or insurance product. And oh yes ignorance has been pugnaciously fighting back, and dirty. But OP already knew that just from living in this world. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/75 "2024-01-27T03:37:01Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I’m a fan, personally. 😊 > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > ’m also probably a fan of thorny locusts in general. They sound like they look awesome. > > ETA: Whoa! Way cooler than I imagined. I was actually thinking of [black locust](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinia_pseudoacacia); which is indeed thorny, and sometimes called that at least around here, but I suspect you’re looking at an even thornier version. The version I’m thinking of can be quite thorny on the branches but doesn’t usually have thorns on older trunks. It’s a nitrogen fixer that enriches the soil, including for other plants; it makes fantastic long lasting fenceposts and firewood; and it’s next to impossible to get rid of once it’s got its roots in the ground somewhere. > [@kayaker](#): > > I remember when you and your pals arrived, I think. We’re you on the rigid inflatable boat that washed up from Snopes? I was indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/76 "2024-01-27T04:04:22Z")
I knew you could be prickly.😊 In a nice way. You taught me a thing or two without being mean or hurtful. I appreciate you. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/77 "2024-01-27T04:08:34Z")
😊 😊 (hi, discobot. no, I’m not going to do five emoticons to fill the post up. Even if that counts.) Oh yeah – we now have discobot jokes. Put an @ in front of discobot to be annoyed by it. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/78 "2024-02-01T18:41:06Z")
Oh, and don’t but the Don’t Bump This Thread! thread. Just let it die. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625/79 "2024-02-02T03:06:37Z")
I always thought it was short for t(he) horny locust. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-gone-from-the-sdmb-for-20-years-whats-happened/996625.md?page=3)