# revisiting old deamons **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 15, 2002, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180 "2002-05-15T11:20:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180/81 "2002-05-17T10:32:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bj0rn \* > \*\*bj0rn - og \*\* Ahhhh - _now_ I understand. pan - SMASH ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180/82 "2002-05-17T13:07:44Z")
I would absolutely, positively bubble with excitement to see **The Ryan** perform vivisection by vB code on **bj0rn**. Until then… > [@](#): > > yes, i have intentionally been obfuscating the subject spoken So you admit to trolling? > [@](#): > > true, everybody has room for improvement…and i hope everybody knows that. Are you implying that we are idiots? > [@](#): > > back to this one way street…now that i have been on both ends i belive myself to have a clearer vision on how things transpired in days past… Me too. On one end you got hit by a car and suffered brain damage. You continue to post to this very day. > [@](#): > > but more importantly, i knew that acting in the same manner people treated me would prove disasterous. > > how so? > > well, perhaps i can explain better with an example: No, I don’t think you can explain it at all, because I don’t think you have anything to say. And as long as you hand us a line about “deliberately obfuscating” your point, you can even convince yourself that you have one. When you don’t. > [@](#): > > i eat my english language with my fingers, they might be fat and clumbsy, but your fork manners should understand what they are doing. if not ignore me…dont tell me im doing the wrong thing. We cannot ignore the slob who eats his soup with a fork because he fucking splashes it on us all throughout the meal. > [@](#): > > the problem is that people that dont understand me are taking me seriously… Oh yeah, we’re all taking you very, _very_ seriously. :rolleyes: I think you are the only person who is taking you seriously. The rest of us wish you would just spill your food on your lap so you can get up from the table already. ---
**Author:** ![bj0rn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@bj0rn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bj0rn)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180/83 "2002-05-17T13:54:15Z")
ok, ill play along > [@](#): > > So you admit to trolling? no, but if you wanted to you could propably make it sound like i did. > [@](#): > > Are you implying that we are idiots? no mister perfect…i am not, but perhaps you are. > [@](#): > > We cannot ignore the slob who eats his soup with a fork because he fucking splashes it on us all throughout the meal. so i guess metaphors arent your cup of tea… bj0rn - … ---
**Author:** ![Aristides](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Aristides](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aristides)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180/84 "2002-05-17T16:09:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by erislover \* > \*\* > > When you don’t.We cannot ignore the slob who eats his soup with a fork because he fucking splashes it on us all throughout the meal. \*\* What if its Chunky soup? ---
**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:** [May 17, 2002, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180/85 "2002-05-17T17:11:03Z")
> [@](#): > > well, perhaps i can explain better with an example: > at kindergarden: “yes, you are supposed to eat your food, but you are supposed to use your fork to eat it” > > how can this explain my situation? > > well, i couldnt just go and say: “use your fork”, because “how to use it” is not automatic knowledge. > > so, likewise with communication…be it written, spoken, drawn or whatever…we are not supposed to act like everybody are using forks, some people use their fingers and some people use chop sticks. > > you could say that we are all trying to use the english language…but in this metaphor it is the food…not the tool Eureka! When I worked as a writing tutor in college, there was this one student whose papers were, and I shit no one, incomprehensible. But since then, I’ve had trouble explaining to people exactly how they were incomprehensible: though I have a good memory, I couldn’t remember a single one of his sentences. They were atrocities like, “The ears of my head conveyed me singing of the nightblack which was the crow,” only much worse. Now, I’ve copied bjOrn’s text. Even he’s not as bad as this one student was, but he’s close enough to use as an example. Thanks, man! In return, lemme edit your metaphor: > [@](#): > > As a child, you’re taught to eat food with a fork. This doesn’t come naturally: children who aren’t trained to eat with a fork will eat with their fingers. And there’s nothing about eating with a fork that is innately superior to eating with fingers. > > English is a complex language. When I speak it, you can “consume” it, just as a child consumes food. You use the tools of grammar and punctuation to consume it, just as a child uses a fork or uses fingers. But one method of consuming the language is no better than the other. Christ, that’s a bad metaphor. Lemme rework the metaphor. > [@](#): > > Ideas are food for the brain, and communication is analogous to a chef bringing out his creation to be consumed by the diner. If the idea is the food, then language is the shape of the food and the utensils with which it’s served. > > A dinner might be nutritious and satisfying, but if it’s served with utensils incomprehensible to the diner, it’s useless. Similarly, an idea put forth in incomprehensible language is useless. Even that’s pretty bad, but honestly, food doesn’t make a good metaphor for language. This is the best I could do. Thanks again for the great example of muddled writing, though! Daniel P.S. Try, from now on, capitalizing the word “I.” Simple to do, and it’ll help make your posts easier to read. ---
**Author:** ![deball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@deball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deball)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180/86 "2002-05-17T17:50:28Z")
(Hijack) Iceland, ah memories of horse meat burritos, fantastic salmon fly-fishing, abysmal wind, the semen and comdom filled blue lagoon, volcanic rocks, northern lights, willing nubile beautiful blonde local viking girls, and scads of whiny annoying peons. (end Hijack) Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180/87 "2002-05-17T21:00:41Z")
Listen, cowboy - I’ve got a job to do. It may be a bloody stupid pointless job BUT AT LEAST IT KEEPS ME OUT OF ICELAND! It’s dark nine months of the year, and it’s cold enough to freeze your wrists off. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180/88 "2002-05-18T11:24:47Z")
> [@](#): > > I would absolutely, positively bubble with excitement to see The Ryan perform vivisection by vB code on bj0rn. I had exactly the same evil thought, except that I also wished **bj0rn** had returned before our friend **POWER\_Station** left us… ---
**Author:** ![bj0rn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@bj0rn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bj0rn)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180/89 "2002-05-21T11:39:20Z")
> [@](#): > > And there’s nothing about eating with a fork that is innately superior to eating with fingers. well, all i know is that the food i eat doesnt taste the same as when you eat it… it might be to salty or to spicy for your flavour… bj0rn - … ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180/90 "2002-05-21T11:51:06Z")
That’s why you’re supposed to wash your hands after you take a dump, **bj0rn**. ---
**Author:** ![bj0rn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@bj0rn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bj0rn)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180/91 "2002-05-21T12:31:21Z")
harharhar…if only sarcastic remarks would equal reason… bj0rn - … ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180/92 "2002-05-21T19:31:37Z")
If only metaphors would guatantee substance. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180/93 "2002-05-21T19:32:40Z")
If only metaphors would guarantee substance. ---
**Author:** ![bj0rn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@bj0rn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bj0rn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180/94 "2002-05-22T14:48:57Z")
…then the world would be a happier place bj0rn - … ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180/95 "2002-05-22T14:51:28Z")
… and when you have nothing to add, you can always uselesly bump a thread c0ldfire - … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-old-deamons/109180.md?page=4)