So should we just PM you to make sure the answer we give meets your standards first?
No degree of incorrectness WILL BE TOLERATED!
I think I know what Czarcasm is bitching about, like once I asked if anyone knew what obscure live action scifi show I was thinking of with space pirates and a girl with pink hair. The answers were so all over the map it was bonkers.
Outlawstar?(animated but good match otherwise)
Jake And The Neverland Pirates?(uh a kids animated show based on Peter Pan?!)
You get the idea.
But man Czarcasm you are coming off HARSH, who cares if someone misses one tiny parameter of the question? I hope it doesn’t count as insulting a poster but this thread reminded me of this guy:
“One parameter overlooked? UNACCEEEEEEEEETABLE!”
There is a common type of thread on this board. Someone will give a description of a movie plot and ask what movie it is. A long discussion will ensue in which nobody can figure out any movie that really satisfies the description. Finally someone will suggest that the OP has combined the plots of several different movies and some random fantasies of their own. This will turn out to be the case.
People do things like this all the time. It is more common for a person to have an inaccurate memory of something that they need to ask about than an accurate memory. You’re now going to say, “But I don’t have inaccurate memories.” Fine. You, unlike the rest of us, are perfect. The rest of us have to fumble around for the answers to questions. This is how real life works. We have to start with vague clues, some of which aren’t quite right, and only slowly work toward a correct answer.
Yes, it would be best if the first few replies to any OP try to assume that the memories of the poster are accurate. As the thread would go on, the suggested answers should slowly get further and further from the description given in the OP. That would be how it ideally should happen. That way the OP could get answered in the most efficient way. Things don’t happen in the ideal way in the real world. For instance, people shouldn’t post utter nonsense on this board, but they do. (This isn’t intended as an attack on the posters to this thread, who are pretty coherent.)
Since Czarcasm has gone to such lengths to explain how he is always right and the high standards he holds other people to, I’ve reassessed my views. I now feel this is a more accurate representation of what happens:
Czarcasm: “I am doing a crossword puzzle. I have, of course, solved most of it. But there is one clue which eludes me. I require a response from you that answers this precise question and nothing else. What is a seven letter word for an alcoholic drink with the first letter being “m” and the fourth being “t”?”
Other guy (thinking): ‘Martini’
Other guy: “Manhatten”
Because people want to be right and we reward for guessing and give partial credit.
Because some people are willing to take a risk in being wrong to be right on the chance that your criteria are misstated (you miscounted your crossword puzzle boxes, you thought the actor was taller than he was).
Because people don’t put all the criteria in their head (although in your first example, they did and didn’t care, in the second, seven letters had slipped out of the remembered criteria, or they miscounted).
Because when we are wrong, frequently our first reaction is not a sheepish - “oh that has more than seven letters” but a belligerent defense of our position.
What’s with the roll eyes? You presented a heavily slanted hypothetical that doesn’t accurately represent the issue you, yourself, raised in the OP. Little Nemo reworked the hypothetical to actually relate it to the issue you’re complaining about. If you don’t want people fighting your hypotheticals, try to write better hypotheticals. Or else, don’t be surprised when people rework them so that they actually describe the situation under discussion.
I’m looking for a film from the late 70’s early 80’s about this tall handsome Air Force pilot who at the end comes into his girlfriend’s office in full dress uniform and literally sweeps her off her feet and carries her out as the others in the office cheer.
Any idea what I may be thinking of or who this actor is?
Manhattan?
I wrote hypotheticals to clarify what I meant the topic to be about, which was situations where a multi-part question drew responses that fulfilled only part of of said question. Solution requiring elements A, B and C is requested-Soutions containing only one or two of the required elements are offered. Now, if such a solution containing all the elements requested can’t be found, say so and then offer a possible alternate solution. The people I am complaining about are the ones that seem to think that I am asking for a solution that requires elements A and/or B and/or C, and present a partial answer as if it were the one being sought. Grude’s example a couple posts up highlights this problem very well, in my opinion.
I apologize for any harshness on my part in this thread, and I’ll try better to ignore personal attacks in the future.
So, your topic is, “Why do people respond to questions about crosswords with answers that provide only part of the answer?” Because that’s a much, much narrower concern than the one you raised in your OP.
Firefox? It’s from that era, and it has Clint Eastwood as an Air Force pilot.
It’s definitely Top Gun. Air Force, girlfriend, offices, cheering, gotta be it!
ETA: I sincerely hope Czarcasm is just screwing with us now.
See post #49, which further clarifies my post. See Little Nemo’s posts for the topic you seem to want to talk about.
Now, if it isn’t the answer, then Spud has given us a bad example of what this thread is about, because he then has given us a problem where multiple answers fulfill all the requirements, whereas I am talking about offered solutions only fulfill some of the requirements.
Just giving an example of what this thread is about-giving answers that fulfill only part of the question asked.
I just looked it up and that couldn’t possibly be right… it was made in 1986 not the early 80’s, Tom Cruise is short, he was a Navy pilot, the girlfriend worked in a factory.
Why do you waste my time… I’m not even going to watch this to see if it may be what I am thinking of.
The NERVE of some posters.
Oh wait… I guess I got most of the facts wrong. You are right after all.
By Czarcasm’s rules though you should not have even responded.
I gotta say that I totally disagree with the premise.
I’m an accountant. Even when I’m talking with other accountants, any answer we provide to any question is going to be a guess because it would take a ream of paper to give us all the relevant information. We take what’s there and pick some options that might or might not work based on what we know.
But we also have to step back and question some of the assertions. Is something really a business, or can we call it a hobby to take advantage of provision X? The family says their move was a planned move, but does a tax provision fit with some life event to allow us to call it unplanned, or due to an emergency? (i.e. you fulfilled your life-long dream of moving. But you lost your job a month before you moved. So maybe you really moved for employment reasons - wink, wink, nudge, nudge.)
Now, when we’re talking to the public, we have to take it a whole step further. When someone asks “How much property tax do I owe on the capital gains on my W-2 if I own a house?” I’m not going to assume that any part of that question is even remotely correct. Are they really talking about property tax, or income tax? Is it a capital gain or some other type of income? Is it a W-2, or do they mean 1099? Is the house even relevant?
If I just provide them with the literal correct answer (as this thread would have me do) then I can almost guarantee you that I’ve actually made the situation worse. Not only is my answer wrong, but I haven’t even educated the person on how to ask the question to get a right answer.
Now, it could be that Czarcasm just the one person on the entire planet who is always 100% precise with their questions, but I’m going to answer in a way that would benefit the other 7 billion.
Have you considered starting a thread titled “Is it right for people to correct me when I don’t know jack shit?” There are no “Czarcasm’s rules”, just preferences in certain situations which I have described repeatedly. In other situations where the requirements are fuzzy or my memory has been shown to be wrong, those preferences do not apply, of course, so can the “Czarcasm is right 100% of the time!” cheapshots be put aside, please?
Taking the OP at face value, I also disagree with the hypothetical. Here’s a thread I started: Help me find a comedian - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board
Notice I got some of the parameters wrong - I misremembered. Disregarding my failed memory, I was provided the correct answer by someone who gave an answer that failed to hit on all the touchstones I provided.
I submit that that is far more common on this board than the OPs supposition the question askers get every other detail exactly right.
Also, I’m wondering what the big deal is if someone takes a flying guess.
Another very good example are radio contests where the hosts says something like, “The fifteenth caller who can name the song we just played and the band who played it will win today’s mystery prize!”. I have been on the phone, song and band on the tip of my tongue, been put on hold and listened(the radio using their own feed as on hold music) as some collars would give either the band or the song. Now, these people are on hold just like I am, so the latter ones have heard the original instructions and the operator telling callers that they needed both to win…but they stay on the line any way to give their partial answer. Why? Do they think someone is going to say, “That’s not right, but we’re still going to give you the prize.”?