# "Misquoting" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 24, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395 "2006-01-24T15:31:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/41 "2006-01-25T00:33:38Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > I have only ever argued for higher standards for GQ. Ahh. So in other places you are free to go apeshit whenever it suits, and attack others without provocation. Okay, at least we’re clear on that. You will certainly agree that my having started a pit thread about something completely different has a far more tenuous relationship to arguments about how to use quotes (that, once again, I never actually made - though it hasn’t stopped you for condemning me for making them) than your behavior in GQ has to your behavior elsewhere on the boards. > [@lissener](#): > > Look. I wish that GQ had a more grownup tone. I wish that posting a non-responsive response to a direct, factual question was against GQ rules. I wish that posting uninformed opinions was frowned upon, and that jokey non-responses was subject to moderator warning. I wish that potential future contributors to this board, who often enter first through GQ, weren’t subjected to an administration-condoned (at least connived at) hazing. I wish that the GQ forum was sophisticated enough that it could be considered a relatively valid cite for information seekers. It has the potential to out-Wikipedia Wikipedia. > > But that’s not the way things are, my wishes notwithstanding. If it were, I’d probably be more disciplined in posting there myself. If that makes me a hypocrit, well then whatever. [A](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7013799#post7013799) [quick](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7013774#post7013774) [search](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7004034#post7004034) [revealed](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6982983#post6982983) [some](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6938286#post6938286) [recent](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6934731#post6934731) [instances](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6924389#post6924389) [of](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6912677#post6912677) [WAGs](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6861222#post6861222) [and](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6839468#post6839468) [opinion](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6839419#post6839419) in your GQ postings, **lissener**. But I guess you’ve declared in this quote that you’re not going to hold to your own standards until everyone else does first. Hmm. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/42 "2006-01-25T00:34:28Z")
> [@Starving Artist](#): > > I’m posting this for whatever encouraging effect it may have (though I doubt **lissener** will be much comforted by the idea of support from **SA** 😛 ) as I’m somewhat afraid that this thread may lead to a relapse, which I for one would hate to see happen. > > Good on ya, **lissener**. I hope you stick with the new you, it becomes you well. Likewise, on all counts. And I do mean _all_. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/43 "2006-01-25T00:45:57Z")
Hey **lissener** , everybody does it to piss you off. Because you’re fat. And gay. And we hate you. So blow me. ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/44 "2006-01-25T00:47:46Z")
Oh yeah…and because you, for some unknown reason, like Showgirls. And you’re an asshole. And a moron. And an idiot. Should I continue? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/45 "2006-01-25T00:50:06Z")
:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/46 "2006-01-25T00:51:09Z")
> [@Xploder](#): > > Should I continue? Probably not. The irony is I probably would have agreed with **Lute Skywatcher** and **Starving Artist** up until this thread. But here we see his disregard for reality, his tendency to respond to perceived attacks with irrationality, and his all around assholishness once again. ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/47 "2006-01-25T00:54:12Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Probably not. > > The irony is I probably would have agreed with **Lute Skywatcher** and **Starving Artist** up until this thread. But here we see his disregard for reality, his tendency to respond to perceived attacks with irrationality, and his all around assholishness once again. Sorry. I was channeling Dickhead McChoad who you will ALWAYS find here on the board. Nothing to see here. But I still think lissener is a fucking tool. ---
**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:** [January 25, 2006, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/48 "2006-01-25T01:03:09Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Ah. The preemptive “if you participate in this thread any more you’re irrational” gambit. Nope, not remotely what I said. You’d think **I** would have learned my lesson by now :). Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/49 "2006-01-25T01:03:13Z")
> [@Xploder](#): > > Oh yeah…and because you, for some unknown reason, like Showgirls. It’s not an unknown reason, it’s because it “is a wicked piece of satire that went over everyone’s head–including mine–on its first release in 1995.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/50 "2006-01-25T01:04:35Z")
> [@Go You Big Red Fire Engine](#): > > It’s not an unknown reason, it’s because it “is a wicked piece of satire that went over everyone’s head–including mine–on its first release in 1995.” > > :rolleyes: Wait! Maybe that’s what **lissener** is doing here! This is a brilliant, thought-provoking bit of satire he’s engaging in right now! The joke’s on us, that’s for sure! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/51 "2006-01-25T01:09:08Z")
Ah, but if you decided that from now on to reinvision any movie which…well no let’s expand this: Any movie which has no point PLUS contains scantily clad babes, is a satire of the pointlessness of life–well then all those movies will be wickedly good satires…with scantily clad babes. Win win. [I have not seen Showgirls] ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/52 "2006-01-25T01:09:41Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Wait! Maybe that’s what **lissener** is doing here! This is a brilliant, thought-provoking bit of satire he’s engaging in right now! The joke’s on us, that’s for sure! Wait! You mean like ALWAYS??? Damn. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/53 "2006-01-25T01:10:34Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Ahh. > > . . . > > Hmm. As I acknowledged above, I participate in the GQ we have, not the GQ I wish we had. I guess you think that makes me a hypocrit. Seems thin to be, but whatever. Also, just to note: the reason those “cites” were so easy for you to search out is because whenever I \*do \*express an opinion in a GQ thread, I try to make it explicitly clear that it \*IS \*an opinion. Many GQ threads have a simple concrete answer; many require a process of discussion to approach such a thing. Those kinds of threads necessarily include some educated opinions–i.e., hypotheses–as part of the process. I didn’t think my “wishlist” would be subject to scrutiny for final language, so I didn’t give it that kind of effort. Nonetheless, I did specifically mention “uninformed opinions.” Now, this is of course open to debate, but personally I wouldn’t qualify any of the opinions I expressed in your list of cites as uninformed. The kind of opinion I was wishing away is the kind where an uninformed person drops an ignorance bomb into a GQ thread and everything has to be put on hold while we bring that person up to speed. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/54 "2006-01-25T01:11:52Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > here we see his disregard for reality, his tendency to respond to perceived attacks with irrationality, and his all around assholishness once again. True, the new **lissener** could use a bit of polish but he’s much better than the old one. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/55 "2006-01-25T01:26:49Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > As I acknowledged above, I participate in the GQ we have, not the GQ I wish we had. I guess you think that makes me a hypocrit. Well, _in this very thread_, you called me a hypocrite for much less. You don’t even measure up to your own standards for GQ - though you seem free to condemn others for what you perceive as rudeness there. You call me a hypocrite - repeatedly - but you yourself are bitching and moaning about the content of GQ while contributing to what you complain about. Not only are you a hypocrite for doing so, but you’re hypocritical about that, by being quick to lay the charge on others while freely engaging in hypocrisy yourself. You’re a metahypocrite! > [@](#): > > Seems thin to be, but whatever. Not much of a counterargument here. > [@](#): > > Also, just to note: the reason those “cites” were so easy for you to search out is because whenever I \*do \*express an opinion in a GQ thread, I try to make it explicitly clear that it \*IS \*an opinion. Nope! The reason those instances were so easy to find was because I looked through a list of your most recent posts in GQ. I’m sure there were many more; 30 pages came up, and I only looked at the first three. So it’s not as though it took a great deal of effort to find those; were they rare exceptions, it would have required far more searching to find the same number. But I guess everyone _really_ needed to hear about how much you hate beige. > [@](#): > > Many GQ threads have a simple concrete answer; many require a process of discussion to approach such a thing. Those kinds of threads necessarily include some educated opinions–i.e., hypotheses–as part of the process. I didn’t think my “wishlist” would be subject to scrutiny for final language, so I didn’t give it that kind of effort. Nonetheless, I did specifically mention “uninformed opinions.” Now, this is of course open to debate, but personally I wouldn’t qualify any of the opinions I expressed in your list of cites as uninformed. The kind of opinion I was wishing away is the kind where an uninformed person drops an ignorance bomb into a GQ thread and everything has to be put on hold while we bring that person up to speed. So it’s not uninformed guesses - like your guess about dogs’ surface area to volume ratio (cuz it ain’t like you had any reasoning behind that) - what you really get upset about is people being wrong in GQ. So you think that, instead of just having an entire message board to say, “No, that’s wrong, and I’ll prove it”, moderators should police this place for accuracy. Why, how dare anyone ever be _wrong?_ I guess we need to follow your shining, infallible example, right? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/56 "2006-01-25T01:26:52Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > But that’s not the way things are, my wishes notwithstanding. If it were, I’d probably be more disciplined in posting there myself. If that makes me a hypocrit, well then whatever. Ever heard of “leading by example”, mate? ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/57 "2006-01-25T01:39:12Z")
For what it’s worth, I was a bit surprised at the mod intervention, but then the whole concept of ‘intervention’ has changed over the years, and now one sometimes gets involved where in the past he or she just lived and let live. Whatever, I didn’t feel misquoted, or unduly or unfairly ‘derogated’. After all, I was the one charging into a 3-week old thread with some controversial reflections, vividly put. _However_…(always one of these at the dope!) > [@lissener](#): > > I mildly snarked at roger thornhill for suggesting that a comedian’s misunderstanding of the standards of scientific notation and publication should negate most of the history of science. I can’t let **lissener** get away with the manipulative use of presuppositions. No, **lissener** - and pray be as good as your name for a moment - _I_ never suggested that Gervais misunderstood anything; _you_ did. The so-called misunderstanding of “the standards of scientific notation and publication” (as if there was _one_ agreed set of standards! - another presupposition, achieved through the use of the definite article, cf. “the Soviet threat”, “the War on Terror”) is not one I suggested Gervais had, not one Gervais claimed he himself had. The notion is all yours, in your head. Be man enough to say what you say, and, um, listen to what others say. Otherwise, it’s like a boxer who punches below the belt. No one likes him -especially fellow combatants - and sooner or later he’ll get himself disqualified. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/58 "2006-01-25T02:36:14Z")
> [@Go You Big Red Fire Engine](#): > > I don’t believe that Giraffe is a good authority to go to on this. He is the newest mod (I think?), and in that pit thread, he was only making excuses for his own stupid mistake. > > [A much more decisive thread on the topic.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=309771) Pardon the interuption: I think \*\*Frank \*\* and \*\*Fluid Druid \*\* are the newest Mods. I am not sure but I think \*\*Rico \*\* is also newer than **Giraffe**. Resume ranting. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/59 "2006-01-25T02:40:12Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > Pardon the interuption: > I think \*\*Frank \*\* and \*\*Fluid Druid \*\* are the newest Mods. > I am not sure but I think \*\*Rico \*\* is also newer than **Giraffe**. > Resume ranting. > > Jim Frank isn’t new. He just had a name change. (He was originally This Year’s Model) ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395/60 "2006-01-25T02:56:12Z")
> [@Go You Big Red Fire Engine](#): > > Frank isn’t new. He just had a name change. (He was originally This Year’s Model) But him, **fluiddruid** , and **Rico** (I think) _are_ all newer than **Giraffe**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misquoting/341395.md?page=4)