# Misread thread titles **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 11, 2017, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093 "2017-09-11T22:38:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 108
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2143 "2026-11-11T13:24:09Z")
As @LSLGuy said, the intentions of the threads are different. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2144 "2026-11-11T13:50:53Z")
Are you reading the OPs, or the many recent posts by people who’ve lost the thread about what the threads are for? There is no thread that will stay on topic if enough people don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2145 "2026-11-11T13:58:43Z")
I’m confused: Yeah, we have _misread_ thread titles, and _misinterpreted_ thread titles-I, at least, am fully square on the crucial distinction between the two. Are the “two” threads being alluded to those? Because I cannot find a SECOND **jeans** thread on any searches. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2146 "2026-11-11T14:30:40Z")
I as the author of the misread post am just as confused, but I think the general confusion arose because some posters didn’t notice the difference between the words “looser” and “loser”. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2147 "2026-11-11T14:43:36Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Yeah, we have _misread_ thread titles, and _misinterpreted_ thread titles-I, at least, am fully square on the crucial distinction between the two. Are the “two” threads being alluded to those? Because I cannot find a SECOND **jeans** thread on any searches. It’s that there are two “Misread thread titles”, this one from 2017 and one from 2010 which differs from this thread title only in capitalization. There is _also_ the “Misinterpreted thread titles” which is a completely separate thread. Here’s the other actual “Misread Thread Titles” thread: > [@Misread Thread Titles](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/530457): > > Do the laws of the Old Testament apply to Christians? in GD Becomes Do the laws of the Old Gods apply to Christians? Uh, no… I don’t think so. Any others? (Misread sequential is welcome too) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2148 "2026-11-11T14:46:58Z")
Ah, that clears it up, I wouldn’t have thought that this is possible in Discourse. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2149 "2026-11-11T15:05:05Z")
[Misread thread titles](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093) I misread ‘[Misread thread titles](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093)’ as ‘Misinterpreted thread titles’. Then I misinterpreted ‘[Misinterpreted thread titles](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360)’ to mean ‘Misread thread titles’. Man, I think need more coffee this morning! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2150 "2026-11-11T16:00:45Z")
I had no idea there was a clone thread, didn’t notice it got rezzed. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2151 "2026-11-11T16:54:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Are you reading the OPs, or the many recent posts by people who’ve lost the thread about what the threads are for? I’m reading the OPs. As @solost points out, there is a _third_ thread called **Misinterpreted thread titles**. I’m not talking about that one. I’m talking about the two duplicate threads. If you think there’s a distinction between those two in the OPs, I encourage you to read them more closely. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2152 "2026-11-11T17:03:48Z")
Huh? I was just trying to make a joke about the perceived misunderstanding between the ‘Misread’ and ‘Misinterpreted’ threads, not to point out a second, or third ‘Misinterpreted’ thread. @Ludovic pointed out a few posts up that there are two ‘Misread’ threads, but I know nothing about two, let alone 3, ‘Misinterpreted’ threads. I think I’m going to go do something simpler now, like try again to understand the plot thread of the movie ‘Primer’ 😏 ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2153 "2026-11-11T17:27:07Z")
This is the most confusing thread ever. I was agreeing with you. I think @LSLGuy didn’t realize there are two “misread thread titles” threads, and thought I was talking about “misinterpreted thread titles”. And now I’m going to start a fourth thread called “Misread Threads.” ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2154 "2026-11-11T18:24:48Z")
Not a misread _thread_, but at the experimental garden at the lake this morning I saw a placard. The tops of the letters were obscured by the placard frame, so I read “CALIFORNIA HAS NAIVE BEES!” …NATIVE BEES ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2155 "2026-11-11T23:22:06Z")
You’re right; I was confused too. Thanks for setting out the whole story, not just one slice of it as I had. Upon reading here & now about there being two mis_read_ threads, I kinda sorta remember that at one time I knew that there was also an ancient misread thread. But I sure couldn’t / didn’t recall that unassisted here and now. But to me that falls into the category of zombie. We have lots of old threads on topics and new threads with functionally identical titles are a commonplace. Yes, in the last ~10 years we’ve all gotten a lot more relaxed about zombies. But if there is a newer thread, the old one ought just be left to rest in the ooze. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2026, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2156 "2026-11-12T14:30:53Z")
Okay, now that i understand the issue, several people have suggested the two threads be merged. Vote here: _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2156))_ It’s tidier to combine the threads, but there’s always some confusion from combining threads, either posts get listed out of order, or posts from the two threads can get interleaved in confusing ways. I’m happy to merge them, if that’s the preference, though. I suppose another option is to close the older one. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2157 "2026-11-12T17:57:27Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I suppose another option is to close the older one. I voted to merge the threads, but perhaps closing the older one would be the better option. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2026, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2158 "2026-11-12T18:24:12Z")
Agreed, maybe with a note and a link leading to the newer thread. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2026, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2159 "2026-11-12T20:20:20Z")
There are _three_ threads in play. 1. The ancient misread titles thread 2. The modern misread titles thread 3. The modern misinterpreted titles thread Which two does your poll address? Which are you proposing to merge or change or whatever? My POV is that now that the ancient one (my #1) has been revived, it’s too hard for ordinary posters to tell it from #2. So close #1, move the very few recent posts from #1’s end to the end of #2, add a modnote about the reason for the closure as the final post of #1 with a link to the OP of the new thread #2. So just like how an ongoing thread automatically closes and restarts as “Whatever … [part 2]” when it hits 10K posts. But implemented manually. And perhaps put a mod comment at the top of #2 & #3 highlighting their different criteria and reminding folks to be careful to pick the correct one. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2026, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2160 "2026-11-12T20:44:04Z")
1 and 2. I had planned to leave 3 alone. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2161 "2010-02-26T00:11:56Z")
**Do the laws of the Old Testament apply to Christians?** in GD Becomes **Do the laws of the Old Gods apply to Christians?** Uh, no… I don’t think so. Any others? (Misread sequential is welcome too) ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misread-thread-titles/796093/2162 "2010-02-26T22:26:18Z")
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