# Talking about code-switching is now considered trolling? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 29, 2019, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798 "2019-07-29T05:45:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/21 "2019-07-29T23:04:33Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I believe the mods considered the poster’s entire body of work. That’s no doubt where I went wrong. Or one of the places, anyway. Thanks to all who clarified. . ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/22 "2019-07-30T13:35:04Z")
Let’s get real here. Mike was not actually banned for “trolling”, unless we are twisting the meaning of the term completely past recognition. He was banned for being a thoroughly unpleasant person. And I don’t dispute that he is exactly that. But I don’t think that should be a bannable offense. If it is, there are a lot more people who need to be banned. (And of course many of them would say the same about me.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/23 "2019-07-30T14:10:19Z")
Short of a poster literally saying, “yes, I am trolling you guys,” it’s nearly always going to be a judgement call whether somebody is actively trying to get a rise out of a community or whether they’re posting in good faith and are just a loathsome moron. In this case, his online persona is so thoroughly unpleasant that calling him a troll is the simpler (not to mention more charitable) conclusion. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2019, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/24 "2019-07-30T15:01:38Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Let’s get real here. Mike was not actually banned for “trolling”, unless we are twisting the meaning of the term completely past recognition. He was banned for being a thoroughly unpleasant person. And I don’t dispute that he is exactly that. But I don’t think that should be a bannable offense. If it is, there are a lot more people who need to be banned. (And of course many of them would say the same about me.) Thoroughly unpleasant person = jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/25 "2019-07-30T15:17:41Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Let’s get real here. Mike was not actually banned for “trolling”, unless we are twisting the meaning of the term completely past recognition. He was banned for being a thoroughly unpleasant person. And I don’t dispute that he is exactly that. But I don’t think that should be a bannable offense. If it is, there are a lot more people who need to be banned. (And of course many of them would say the same about me.) It’s like, you have a dinner party and one of the guests takes a dump on the living room floor. You’re like, what the hell man? They go, there’s no rule against it! So you clean it up, and then put up a sign with the rules - no shitting on the floor. They say fine. Then proceed to take a dump on the sofa. Geez man, can you like, not shit on the furniture? They go, there’s no rule against it! So you say fine, I guess that’s accurate. So you add to the list of rules, no shitting on the furniture, no shitting anywhere in the house. Or the yard. Then they protest, saying, well…hey, what about in the toilet? Okay yeah, the toilet is fine, obviously, but if you need it spelled out, then yes the toilet is okay. Then they proceed to drop an upper decker. Banned from the house. And the guests complained he was just following the rules - said no one ever. Stuntman Mike took too many shits that we were tired of cleaning up. And his shits were all trolling. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/26 "2019-07-30T15:20:36Z")
Cool story, bro. But that’s not what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/27 "2019-07-30T15:27:06Z")
Proving yet again that opinions can differ, he certainly seemed like a troll to me. The fart thread alone was evidence of that. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/28 "2019-07-30T15:37:52Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > It’s like, you have a dinner party and one of the guests takes a dump on the living room floor. You’re like, what the hell man? They go, there’s no rule against it! So you clean it up, and then put up a sign with the rules - no shitting on the floor. They say fine. Then proceed to take a dump on the sofa. Geez man, can you like, not shit on the furniture? They go, there’s no rule against it! So you say fine, I guess that’s accurate. So you add to the list of rules, no shitting on the furniture, no shitting anywhere in the house. Or the yard. Then they protest, saying, well…hey, what about in the toilet? Okay yeah, the toilet is fine, obviously, but if you need it spelled out, then yes the toilet is okay. Then they proceed to drop an upper decker. Banned from the house. And the guests complained he was just following the rules - said no one ever. > > Stuntman Mike took too many shits that we were tired of cleaning up. And his shits were all trolling. That’s more than a cool story; that’s really funny! The upper-decker part made that one go to eleven. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/29 "2019-07-30T15:47:01Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Proving yet again that opinions can differ, he certainly seemed like a troll to me. The fart thread alone was evidence of that. I would bet a lot of money that the thread you referred to was 100% sincere. He’s just kind of a redneck tool, as he has pretty much openly admitted. In the code switching thread, the way he imitated those women was cringe-inducing. But he also acknowledged that they were very intelligent and professional when they were on the job, and that he himself talks and acts like a redneck when he is off the clock. If anything, that was a case of him talking through out loud (in MPSIMS, let’s keep in mind) how he shifted his perspective in a good way. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/30 "2019-07-30T15:50:52Z")
It would be a true shame if, in our zeal to eradicate trolls, we lost a redneck tool. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/31 "2019-07-30T15:54:53Z")
You are entitled to see it that way, and it’s an understandable position. But lets, as I said in my first post ITT, at least be honest about what we are really doing. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/32 "2019-07-30T16:04:43Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > You are entitled to see it that way, and it’s an understandable position. But lets, as I said in my first post ITT, at least be honest about what we are really doing. This has nothing to do with honesty. You just have a different opinion as to whether he was a troll or not. Having a different opinion than you does not make one dishonest. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/33 "2019-07-30T16:20:12Z")
I was responding to Vinyl Turnip, who seemed to acknowledge that he may well be sincere, but that it is no great shame to get rid of redneck tools. And it’s rich for me to be chastised for saying other people are being dishonest in the way they describe Mike, when calling him a troll is saying that he is dishonest about sincerely holding the opinions he states. So someone must be judged dishonest here. And I think it is those who claim he is being dishonest. They may be mistaken, I suppose, but more likely I think they really understand that he is just kind of a thoroughly unpleasant person, as I said. ETA: And actually, I take back the “thoroughly”, given what I noted about his showing growth as he thought through the code switching thing. So just _mostly_ unpleasant. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/34 "2019-07-30T16:44:39Z")
You keep saying let’s be honest. We are being honest. He really was banned for trolling. The code switching thread is a good example. If you look at the first post, maybe you can take it as not trolling, but in a subsequent post he admitted that he made up or exaggerated the entire conversation. Why? He was intentionally posting something that he exaggerated just to get a rise out of people, because he thought it was funny. Maybe you missed this: > [@"Ain't no female fix my man a plate. Mmmm, mmmmm..."](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aint-no-female-fix-my-man-a-plate-mmmm-mmmmm/837629/15): > > Busted. I did stretch the truth. \ And this post was made solely for the purpose of getting a reaction. > [@I absolutely LOVE the stench of my own gas.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-absolutely-love-the-stench-of-my-own-gas/837555/1): > > Reeks like sweet garbage. I just ruined a woman’s lunch here in the office. Again, he posted these because he thought that trolling was funny. So I put it to you. Let’s be honest, do you not see those as trolling? ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/35 "2019-07-30T17:02:33Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > And it’s rich for me to be chastised for saying other people are being dishonest in the way they describe Mike, when calling him a troll is saying that he is dishonest about sincerely holding the opinions he states. To be clear - honestly held opinions does not necessarily negate trolling behavior. One can inform the other, but a person can be completely truthful in their opinions and behavior, and still behave as a troll. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/36 "2019-07-30T17:42:17Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > You keep saying let’s be honest. We are being honest. He really was banned for trolling. > > The code switching thread is a good example. If you look at the first post, maybe you can take it as not trolling, but in a subsequent post he admitted that he made up or exaggerated the entire conversation. Why? He was intentionally posting something that he exaggerated just to get a rise out of people, because he thought it was funny. > > Maybe you missed this: > And this post was made solely for the purpose of getting a reaction. > Again, he posted these because he thought that trolling was funny. > > So I put it to you. Let’s be honest, do you not see those as trolling? I did miss his admission of dishonesty. But that should have been cited in any accusation of trolling. I don’t see the fart thing as trolling. Do you post things in MPSIMS hoping _not_ to get a reaction? Does anyone? ---
**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:** [July 30, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/37 "2019-07-30T17:47:00Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I did miss his admission of dishonesty. But that should have been cited in any accusation of trolling. > > I don’t see the fart thing as trolling. Do you post things in MPSIMS hoping _not_ to get a reaction? Does anyone? To be honest, I don’t go boasting about the stench of my farts or about getting a classmate beaten up. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/38 "2019-07-30T18:12:35Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Maybe you missed this: Uh, not that I disagree necessarily with the banning, but that was obviously meant as a joke. > [@](#): > > Busted. I did stretch the truth. Only one of them gals is smart… the other is a dolt. Nice enough, though. He ‘stretched the truth’ by calling both gals smart. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/39 "2019-07-30T18:37:37Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > To be honest, I don’t go boasting about the stench of my farts or about getting a classmate beaten up. Because you are not that sort of person. Good! Neither am I. Still doesn’t make him a troll. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798/40 "2019-07-30T18:40:01Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Because you are not that sort of person. Good! Neither am I. Still doesn’t make him a troll. Then what would? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-about-code-switching-is-now-considered-trolling/837798.md?page=3)