It was the most obvious thing someone could possibly do, but we have a whole bunch of posters here who think they’re being funny when they give waitresses or cashiers a hard time with their incredibly lame jokes, so I guess perhaps it was well-played in their annoying world.
I agree wholeheartedly with Chimera’s example. (jeez, I had to spend 10 minutes coming up with a form of agreement that didn’t use “this”.)
The thing about this sentiment is that I see the same posters using it as a shield over and over again whenever they get called on their bullshit.
Rule of thumb:
By the third time you use this phrase or its myriad variations, it should be obvious that you did a piss-poor job of stating your position. Start again if you actually have any interest in making yourself understood.
By the fifth time, it’s obvious to everyone that you don’t actually have a leg to stand on, and are simply hoping the debate will die down before you have to back down.
How appropriate! I just taught a class today where we learned different English phrases to use when making a persuasive argument! Perhaps I should setup a workshop for Dopers?
[del]This.[/del] ------> “I agree with you completely. In addition, I think…”
I have used “This,” once or twice, to try it on for size. I decided it wasn’t really for me. However, whenever I did use it, I tried to come up with something to add in addition.
I thought of another one that’s been bothering me for a while. It drives me nuts when you’re talking about something a family member or close friend did that annoyed you and the responders to the thread freak out and tell you that you should cut them out of your life or have them arrested. And I’m not talking about physical/emotional abuse, property destruction, alcoholism, drug addiction or anything remotely serious - just posting an irritation can result in recommendations of absurdly strong measures.
A good example was when I had posted in a thread mentioning that my cat nipped my mom because she tugged on its tail. It wasn’t a true bite, didn’t draw blood and wasn’t unprovoked. My mom didn’t swing the cat by its tail or anything, just lightly tugged one too many times. When I mentioned it, one poster freaked out, stating that I should have thrown my mother out of my house because she was abusing my pets. Another told me that I should cut my mother out of my life or call the police. Still another one told me I should have my cat put down for taking a nip at my mom for pulling his tail. I thought I was being wooshed, but apparently they were serious because I got flamed when I asked if it was a joke.
I agree wholeheartedly, THIS is the worst. It’s especially bad in The Pit where people think it’s funny to be a pedantic contrarian asshole just because it’s the only place they won’t get banned for their assholishness.
Yeah, people are quick to tell you to excise someone from your life because they’re unhealthy for you, you precious little thing you.
Look, with thousands of dopers, there will always be 1 or 2 of the exceptional cases to a given situation. Doesn’t it make sense that these would naturally want to post in such threads? Of course there is a silent majority, but why would they post if it were only to say ‘this’? SDMB is not a small cocktail party. It is a poll of thousands. The outliers will naturally have a greater voice per capita. This isn’t because Dopers are exaggerators; it is just the nature of a message board of this size.
At least those comments are well-meaning.
What I can’t stand is condescending assholery for no reason at all. Like if you make a comment stating your opinion, or something you believe is a fact, and the immediate response is, ‘‘WTF are you smoking, you obviously know nothing about this, blah blah.’’ There are a lot more civil ways to disagree with someone. It’s pretty much the main reason I avoid Great Debates–come to think of it, it’s also one of the main reasons I dropped philosophy as a college major.
I remember the first time I ever tried to provide input in Great Debates. It was a thread on immigration (a particular interest of mine) so I shared my observations from having spent the summer in Jalisco, a Mexican state strongly impacted by emigration. I talked about what a neat experience it was to discuss these issues with actual Mexican citizens. Some poster responded that my short time in Mexico ‘‘did not qualify’’ me to share these observations and then went on to criticize my Spanish, even though their grasp of the English phrase dirty war was clearly lacking because they rather rudely accused me of claiming Mexico was in the middle of some kind of massive armed conflict. (hello? Spain? Guerra sucia? Anyone?) I suppose the fact that I had just finished a Spanish course entitled Culture and State in Contemporary Mexico, and written a research paper on NAFTA’s impact on the agricultural sector and manufacturing sectors of Mexico didn’t qualify me either. That’s when I realized that a great deal of people go into those threads not to actually learn anything or be exposed to new ideas, but because they have to prove themselves right over and over.
breathes
One of my other biggest pet peeves is when, in the middle of a debate, people talk about a poster as if they aren’t right there. ‘‘Oh you’ll have to forgive her. She’s just disappointed nobody’s paying attention to her anymore.’’ That is some snarky bullshit right there. If you want to insult someone, have the balls to do it directly. (I’m not saying I’m never guilty of this… sometimes it’s unintentional. But there are posters where it seems very clear they are just being mean-spirited cowards.)
Since you asked… For some reason, it really grates on my nerves when everyone welcomes a new poster or someone says, “Hi, I’m new here,” and everyone feels it necessary to trot out the old where’s-the-goat-look-out-for-the-squid-did-you-bring-pie-watch-out-for-PosterX-etc-etc-etc. It just sounds way too precious and look how clever we are you don’t even know what we’re talking about tee hee hee. Drives me up a wall, it does.
(i never got any kind of welcome…
) 
Someone asks for advice. Then never thanks the responders. Or worse, they thank some of the responders.
The sanctimonious preaching about not letting your cats outside. I have two cats, one is always kept inside. The other one is 20 lbs of muscle and gets mean if we don’t let him out for a couple of hours each day. He shows his displeasure by attacking the 5 lb. cat. He’s healthy and has all his shots. When he comes back in, he’s a giant ball of love.
I admit that some people make the wrong choices with their pets. But unless you know the full background of the situation, don’t condemn them just because it’s not what YOU would do.
Ghosts / God - If someone starts a thread about ghosts, god or anything else they believe in, don’t enter the thread just to shit all over their belief.
And using “fighting ignorance” as your excuse is just you being an asshole.
I’m an atheist. But as long as nobody is shoving god down my throat, I don’t care what they believe.
But a “Thanks, everyone” is okay, isn’t it? I got a lot of good suggestions in a recent thread but I didn’t acknowledge everyone individually.
Oh, perfectly! It makes so much more sense to read all of the responses through, first. That’s what I usually do. Then, if it’s warranted, I’ll pm or give an extra shout out to a particularly helpful post.
“long time lurker, first time poster” gets my sockdar going every time.
It’s probably just my sockdar that’s out of sync with reality.
I, too, have just about had it up to here with the good folks in Doper Town. In my defense, I must admit that I didn’t learn to read until I was six, never learned to use chop sticks, wear my shoes inside of my house, and happen to have a penis that looks like a Milk Dud with hair around it.
There’s also another subset of Doper denizens that I notice poking their heads out from time to time. I call them The Frozen Ones. I call them this because they’ve apparently been frozen in a fucking iceberg for the last 40 years or so, but have been recently thawed. They have a dim knowledge of modern technology, but are baffled by the simpler things in life. They pop in with gems like this:
“How should I wash my car?”
“How should I organize my DVDs?”
“How can I tell if my Chicken is bad?”
Are you shitting me? You can’t wash a fucking car?
Then there’s my least favorite sub-group of all. I call them Captain Obvious. Their threads start like this:
“Was I too…” Yes, you were.
“Do you think that I…” Yes, we do.
“Am I overeacting…” You bet your ass you are.
Makes me want to dig up my dead Aunt, and fuck her in the ear.
Can someone help me out? I seem to have a Milk Dud stuck in my ear.
I’d like to help, but I just developed a bad case of Snot monitor.
Stop making me laugh. This is a thread for rants!
Yeah, that’s what I meant.
I never thought of it before, but it is odd now that you mention it. Why would somebody lurk for a long time, and not post?
My mini-rant for today: Umbrellas, canes, etc., that refuse stay put when leaned against something, and don’t have any kind of hook, strap, or handle to make them easier to manage. Golf umbrellas afford great protection in heavy rains, but are usually the worst offenders in this regard.
(Sadly becoming reacquainted with this issue for the first time, now experiencing heavily rainy weather for the first time since I started wearing glasses again a few months ago. And the parking at my new apartment is outdoors, dammit!)
Internet memes make me pissy.
Geez, step away from the keyboard then, fercrissakes!