# The Sincerest Form Of Flattery **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 15, 2000, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331 "2000-02-15T15:48:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/1 "2000-02-15T15:48:00Z")
I wasn’t sure between MPS or the Pit, but I figured it might wind up here anyway. The point of the exercise is to assume the character of any poster and post within that character, even if you are posting a response to someone who has imitated you. Try to capture, not just the subject matter they would post about, but nuances: their attitude, their syntax and grammatical style, their spelling and their choice of words, and the way they structure their posts. The only rule is that you have to be someone else. Hopefully, we can all take it in fun. (I expect to see some really merciless ones of me.) Even if we can’t, we might develop a very entertaining flame fest as we step into other characters to flame one another. I’ll start it off in the next post with an impersonation of one of my favorite people here. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/2 "2000-02-15T15:50:00Z")
**In the manner of Polycarp** I do not see myself as an accusative plural feminine noun, but as a future conditional preterit subjunctive pronoun. Let us assume, for the nonce, that I am what you say I am. Then wouldn’t what I am be contingent upon your subjective _per_ception (not _con_ception) of me? And if you are subjective, then am I not subjunctive? If I am I, and I believe that I am, then am I not a pronoun? And since anything I haven’t yet said will be in the future, and will be conditioned upon my saying it, then am I not a future conditional? But if I will have known that which I would have said, not what I **will** say, but what I **did** say, am I not justified in speaking of it as in the past – a preterit, if you will? I’m not saying this is true of everyone. Gaudere and the other atheists can speak for themselves. But I am saying that, after much soul searching, I believe that this is true for me. As a _sine qua non_ of a _post hoc erratum_? Maybe, but I see it more as a _posse comitatus_, or a simple _ergo sum ego_ identity state. Am I wrong about this, or is it just me? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/3 "2000-02-15T16:02:00Z")
**In the manner of RT Firefly** > [@](#): > > I think peaceful honest people should be free to pursue their own happiness in their own way. So do I. Doesn’t everybody? 🙂 But we have to weigh our principles against whether they can be practically applied. I don’t see any reason a person can’t be peaceful and honest just because other people aren’t. If a government is taxing Mr. Jones, can’t Mr. Jones just take it peacefully and be honest with himself that his fate is inevitable? I do think, on the one hand, that no one has a right to make decisions for anyone else, but I also think, on the other hand, that some people have a right to make decisions for some other people. 😉 I think it’s all right for you to be a libertarian if you want to, but why do you feel like you are compelled to force the rest of us to pursue our own happiness in our own way? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/4 "2000-02-15T16:10:00Z")
**In the manner of jodih** Oh, Lib, put a sock in it. I try my best to get along with you, but that’s kinda hard to do when you’re ignoring all my questions and won’t even read my posts. How would your libertarian government work if everybody on earth was retarded and blind? I want to see numbers. Show us what your libertarian budget would be, and don’t skip the details. Who would be elected to your libertarian offices, and what would the offices be? How many libertarians can dance on the head of a pin? What would the world be like right now if Rome had been libertarian? I want to see a doctoral thesis on the problems with privatizing roads. No links. I want to see it in your own words. Also, please describe how libertarianism would be implemented in every city of every state. I’ll cut you some slack on this one by letting you skip cities with populations under 10,000. But I don’t see why you can’t put your hands on an atlas, and identify all the larger cities. Also, show me a detailed budget and infrasctructure plan for each one. Frankly, this is the last time I am going to be patient with you. If you don’t answer these questions, I will consider it proof that your fantasy pie-in-the-sky utopia just can’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/5 "2000-02-15T16:19:00Z")
This thread is going to be CLASSIC, that’s for sure. I was playing with the idea of starting one myself the other day. Ooooh boy this will be good 😃 **In the manner of kellibelli** FUCK. my roof is leaking again. here i am, the electricity’s off, i’ve got my hamster running like crazy in the treadmill to keep the computer running, and i’m all out of food. c’mon guys, post some stuff to cheer me up. i’m goin crazy over here. _(No offence, kells bells 😉 )_ * * * **Coldfire** * * * _ **"You know how complex women are"** _ - Neil Peart, **Rush** (1993) ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/6 "2000-02-15T16:21:00Z")
**In the manner of batgirl** The bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/7 "2000-02-15T16:22:00Z")
**In the manner of Sake Samurai** > [@](#): > > The bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it. Oh, bite my crank, you vaccuous whore. If I find your god, I will personally push him over my desk and butt fuck him. Hell, I won’t even give him a reach-around. ---
**Author:** ![Oblio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c4cdca/32.png) [@Oblio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblio)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/8 "2000-02-15T16:26:00Z")
I shall be posting a Phaedrus emulation shortly. ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/9 "2000-02-15T16:48:00Z")
**In the manner of Libertarian** This thread is a perfect example of the principles of the noncoercion principle. Doesn’t this thread say, quite implicitly, that peaceful honest people should be allowed to find happiness in their own way? Whether it is in the Pit, or MPSIMS, or Great Debates, diverse people are allowed to seek their own happiness however they choose so long as they do not coerce, subject only to the regulations that they have contractually assumed. What a beautiful example of how peacful honest people can interact. [standing and applauding for the OP…] ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/10 "2000-02-15T16:56:00Z")
**In the manner of bj0rn** what the sodding flob are you tlkin about? iceland has no volcaneos, you molg. i don’t give a rats bodypart about you american hamburger eaters. o and rouseau you ar just a fuckin sod for caling me incomrbehendisable. also i want to talk about anoter thing: i belive the calandar we using is rong. i mean, if the 0 is relly a 1 then all you facist american sods are 0 years behind the first year after the next millenium, wich wont start untill last week. bj0rn - a sod ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/11 "2000-02-15T17:02:00Z")
I’d do Krusty Opinionated, but I aint feeding the troll anymore [bold] Eve [/bold] Well, I was sitting around the Algonquin listening to charlstons on 78’s, reading Oscar Wilde and planning my next book on Jean Harlow… ok… that wasnt very good… * * * J “_Attempted_murder? pah, you dont get the Nobel Prize for _Attempted_ Chemisty” Sideshow Bob ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/12 "2000-02-15T17:04:00Z")
**In the manner of Gaudere** Lib, I’m really concerned about you. I see you interpreting everything through your principles. I’m not saying that’s bad. I’m just saying that consistently relying on good, simple principlescan lead to intolerance, bigotry, and even murder. I think that if you gave it some thought, you could come up with a way to express yourself without using words. Think like an artist. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/13 "2000-02-15T17:06:00Z")
**In the manner of Satan** Dammit, Coldfire! I wanted to do bj0rn. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/14 "2000-02-15T17:08:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Coldfire, posing as bj0rn: > **i don’t give a rats bodypart about you american hamburger eaters.** Crap. An apostrophe made its way through my bj0rn-masquerade… that would be **dont** 😃 * * * **Coldfire** * * * _ **"You know how complex women are"** _ - Neil Peart, **Rush** (1993) ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/15 "2000-02-15T17:11:00Z")
**In the manner of Drain Bead:** You wanted to do bj0rn? Brian, we need to talk. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/16 "2000-02-15T17:19:00Z")
ROFLMAO Lib, thanks for starting this. ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/17 "2000-02-15T17:30:00Z")
In the manner of **ChiefScott** I have decided I am tired of the lies and regret I feel over the smilies, so it is time for me to cut loose :+) :+( :+D Ahh, much better. I am now ready to accept my title as Smiley-Master proudly. * * * Have you voted for your favorite, huggable Mullinator today? ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/18 "2000-02-15T17:56:00Z")
Great idea for a game, Lib. I wonder [where](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000664.html) you got such a terrific idea… So under Libertarianism, I could legally shoot you for stealing my thread ideas, right? As long as I’m good-hearted. 😃 * * * **Marge** : Your father is… resting. **Bart** : “Resting” hung over? “Resting” got fired? Help me out here. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2000, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/19 "2000-02-16T06:27:00Z")
**In the manner of Erratum** I tell you, **Alphagene** , I can’t speak for **Lib** , but I will anyway. I don’t see any but the most tenuous connection, if that, between your thread and his. In your own words, the object of your game was “to translate a joke, famous quote or anything recognizable and simple into the bizarre and confusing language known as ‘Nanobytese’”. And that’s not what we’re doing here. What we’re doing here is emulating other people. Well, that’s what _we’re_ doing. You’re doing God knows what. Now, as to whether you can shoot him, since he really never stole your thread idea, I’m not sure you’ll ever get an answer. I asked him if taxes were bad, and he went on a rant about how they were an evil, rotten means of extortion — never _did_ answer my question. So I don’t see why he’d answer yours. ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331/20 "2000-02-15T19:16:00Z")
In the manner of **Wally** : So you started a thread and have yet to mention me. I have a distinct posting style, you know. I am quite upset at this oversight. Putz. * * * Yer pal, Satan [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/4331.md?page=2)