# SDMB shout-out in NYT op-ed? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 29, 2021, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574 "2021-09-29T11:32:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/1 "2021-09-29T11:32:38Z")
Ross Douthat, [Instagram Is Adult Entertainment](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/28/opinion/instagram-social-media-children.html) (_New York Times_, 9/28/21): > A key problem with social media, from this perspective, isn’t just its online-ness but its scale. As Chris Hayes puts it in a recent essay for The New Yorker, the contemporary internet universalizes “the psychological experience of fame” and takes “all of the mechanisms for human relations and puts them to work” seeking more of it. But that happens in a much more profound way on a network like Instagram, with all its **teeming millions** of users, than it would in a message board or chat room for some specific niche identity or interest. Granted, it’s a common enough phrase, but you never know… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/2 "2021-09-29T13:32:16Z")
I very much doubt it,. It’s a _very_ common phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/3 "2021-09-29T14:14:16Z")
Eh. Wake me when they mention 1920s-style death rays, masturbating like a motherfuck, or the number of K’s of G that come in a F P D. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/4 "2021-09-29T15:06:45Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > **teeming millions** According to [Google ngrams], going back to 1900, looks like Ed’s use of teeming millions [sent the use of the term off a cliff](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=teeming+millions%2Cstraight+dope&year_start=1900&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3#). Not many chances of shout-outs there. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/5 "2021-09-29T15:33:21Z")
Once again, nothing from this message board or the Cecil columns has gained traction outside of here. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/6 "2021-09-29T15:34:10Z")
“Teeming Millions” goes back in literature at least as far back as the 19th century, with the publication of _ **The Teeming Millions of the East** : Being a Popular Account of the Inhabitants of Asia : the History of Existing and Extinct Nations, Their Ethnology, Manners, and Customs_ in 1889 by George Thomas Bettany. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/7 "2021-09-29T15:54:28Z")
For a true SDMB shout-out, check out this CBS News article. We are mentioned in it at one point. > **[Email Mistakes at Work: How to Survive Them](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/email-mistakes-at-work-how-to-survive-them/)** > > You just accidentally sent an email skewering one of your colleagues to everyone in the company. Can you save your bacon? It’s the line “there are whole message boards devoted to them” - even though we, uh, aren’t that. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/8 "2021-09-29T16:21:29Z")
Hayes Brown, MSNBC contributor, was a Doper back in the early 2000s. Refused to tell me his screen name, lol. I link to my SDMB stuff all the time on Twitter and will get the occasional ‘oh, is the sdmb still around?’ or ‘I used to visit there!’ There have been a couple of other ‘blue check marks’\* on Twitter who have also been Dopers, but the one I definitely remember is Hayes. \*Verified accounts ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/9 "2021-09-29T20:09:53Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Once again, nothing from this message board or the Cecil columns has gained traction outside of here. Did “Gaudere’s Law” originate here? I could swear I have seen it mentioned a few times outside of these boards. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/10 "2021-09-29T20:15:17Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Gaudere’s Law At least one citation to that effect: > **[Gaudere’s Law](https://ianferrel.wordpress.com/2005/05/19/gauderes-law/)** > > Named after a moderator at the Straight Dope Message Boards in this thread, Gaudere’s Law states: Any post made to point out a spelling or grammar error will invariably contain a spelling or … From this thread: > [@Gaudere's Rule](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gauderes-rule/36379): > > From this post: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=798602#post798602](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=798602#post798602) I propose we name this phenomenon after Gaudere herself. What say the teeming millions? Although the internal thread ref (Threadception!) seems to go noplace. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/11 "2021-09-29T20:18:00Z")
For those who don’t want to click through, the link goes to this thread: > [@Ahhhhh...the accidental email!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ahhhhh-the-accidental-email/263028/3): > > I tend to get a few accidental emails from strangers. One was of a very naught nature, but I don’t remember the specifics. I just replied, “I don’t think big boy got your message. Please try again.” The most recent was someone trying to coordinate travel plans with their mate in Australia. I just let him know that he needed to try again if he wanted his mate to meet him at the train station. Boring stuff, I know. slight_smile ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/12 "2021-09-29T21:07:08Z")
Yeah, that one citation is from the blog of a long time Doper. The concept of Gaudere’s Law is also known as Muphrey’s Law and the latter goes back to at least 1992 on the Usenet. > **[Muphry's law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry%27s_law)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Muphry's law is an adage that states: "If you write anything criticizing editing or proofreading, there will be a fault of some kind in what you have written." The name is a deliberate misspelling of "Murphy's law". > Names for variations on the principle have also been coined, usually in the context of online communication, including: > Further variations state that flaws in a printed ("Clark's document law") or published work ("Barker's proof") ... ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/13 "2021-10-31T20:35:22Z")
Anyone else remembers that for a while people thought “asshat” originated here and would start threads like this when they saw it elsewhere? I _think_ it was “asshat”, but it might have been something else. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2021, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/14 "2021-11-02T22:02:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Then I stopped and looked at the Count. There was a mocking smile on the bloated face which seemed to drive me mad. This was the being I was helping to transfer to London, where, perhaps, for centuries to come he might, amongst its teeming millions, satiate his lust for blood, and create a new and ever-widening circle of semi-demons to batten on the helpless. The very thought drove me mad. - Dracula, Bram Stoker (1897) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2021, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/15 "2021-11-02T22:34:20Z")
Sweeeeet… Stoker was a Doper! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2021, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/16 "2021-11-02T22:53:54Z")
This thread seems especially odd to me, given that the article is quite specifically clear about what online platform they’re referring to with “teeming millions”: “…Instagram, with all its teeming millions of users”. I hardly think that Douthat was referring just to those members of Instagram who happen to be Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2021, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/17 "2021-11-02T23:01:46Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Sweeeeet… Stoker was a Doper! And the Dracula character sounds a lot like Cecil Adams. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/18 "2021-11-04T21:05:49Z")
My “Alternate Ending to Big” thread has been cited elsewhere, but I forget where now. I have one of the older discussions findable on that particular Mandela Effect. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2021, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-shout-out-in-nyt-op-ed/951574/19 "2021-11-04T22:36:12Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > And the Dracula character sounds a lot like Cecil Adams. Who in turn sounds a lot like The Count on Sesame Street.