# "The Usual Suspects" **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 21, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961 "2010-12-21T15:41:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/201 "2010-12-23T14:28:46Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > If you’re not willing to say who you mean by the phrase “the usual suspects” you shouldn’t use it. And “everyone knows who they are” is not a legitimate argument. Put up or shut up. I’ll take the bait. In ATMB, bitching and moaning so endlessly about the moderators and board moderation that I couldn’t care less if they had a valid argument (for a change): SfG, prr, and Garfield Most likely to hijack a Dio post to precipitate a Dio show: guin…, and one other whose handle eludes me at the moment Most likely to appear when discussing the NY Giants (who don’t get their usual uppercase, bolding, and blue after last Sunday’s performance): Hal Briston, What Exit, and Ellis Dee It’s not always a bad thing. Others may have longer lists, but I don’t tend to remember names. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/202 "2010-12-23T16:29:23Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Mods, can we ban the use of italics in ATMB? I’m sorry if you find it obnoxious. It’s just the way I write. I don’t intend to condescend; merely emphasize phrases that I feel are important (to avoid TL;DR) or could otherwise be confusing or ambiguous to read. > [@fluiddruid](#): > > 1 - Helpfulness. Why did you bring up the helpfulness issue at all, and ask us to prove why this statement is helpful several times, if that isn’t important to your argument? It isn’t the essential hinge, is my point. I’m bringing it up to offer people any excuse at all to justify using “the usual suspects” or any other dismissive phrase. Not one person has been able to offer a meaning of “the usual suspects” that isn’t a personal insult (“these people are whiners/trolls”) or threadshitting (“this topic is stupid/pointless”). I ask again the questions that no mod has answered: What do you think it means, if not the personal insult and/or threadshitting examples I’ve given above? > [@](#): > > Insulting-ness. Pretty much the whole point of what we’ve discussed here is that we don’t feel that this is a personal insult. You disagree. I understand that. But obviously neither the staff nor the general board populace agrees with you here. Here’s my problem: I’ve explained, in detail, why I feel it’s a personal insult. The reponse has been, as I’ve said, the Monty Python argument sketch: “No it isn’t.” There’s been \*\*\*no one \*\*\*addressing the actual, valid points I’ve raised, which if it \*isn’t \*a personal insult should be very, \*very \*easy to do. Can we \*also \*please drop this bullshit about the “general board populace” disagreeing with me? I’ve already given you evidence that many people \*\*\*agreed \*\*\*with me. Again, I invite you to scroll back up to my reply to \*\*Shodan \*\*with the spoilered quotes and see a slew of posts that agree this is a problem. The only way that anyone could possibly have the impression that I’m the only person who thinks that this should be considered against board rules (in the way it’s used that I’m objecting to) is if they have a bunch of people on ignore or aren’t reading the thread. > [@](#): > > Should the staff moderate you for threadshitting because your response to my explanation was (in my opinion, anyway) unhelpful and dismissive? Hell no. “The usual susupects” is not dismissive of the _argument_–it’s dismissive of the _person_. It’s a **personal attack**. It’s not saying, “\*Your argument \*is crap,” it’s saying “\*You \*are crap.” And that has \*always \*been the distinction for what is and isn’t acceptable here. > [@](#): > > In any case, “personal attacks against a group of posters” to me doesn’t really make sense. If it’s against a group, it’s not personal by definition. “Personal attack” means, to me, an attack against a \*person \*rather than against an _argument_. So, for example, if I were to say “All of the mods here are rapist scumbags,” that would presumably be against the rules, right, even though it’s against a _group_? How about, “Everybody in this thread who disagrees with me is a retard?” (Standard disclaimer: I do not think this is the case; I’m pointing out that **fluid** ’s argument isn’t valid by taking it to its logical conclusion.) > [@](#): > > the general direction of trying to moderate against people for saying something dismissive/unhelpful/whatever is **impossible to moderate**. Well, to do it effectively and fairly, anyway. I’m not asking for moderation against things that are dismissive or unhelpful. I am asking for moderation of existing rules: against attacking a poster instead of their argument (“you’re a whiner/troll”) and against threadshitting (“this topic is stupid/pointless and so is anyone who wants to discuss it”). Coming into a thread to do nothing but eyeroll about “the usual suspects” fits \*both \*of these criteria. > [@Suil\_Dubh](#): > > So while some of the people in this thread are perceiving the phrase “the usual suspects” with a dismissive intent, others are obviously not. You cannot unequivocally state that the the general use of the phrase is a definite insult, even in the relatively limited context of “About this Message Board” (or even this thread). Thanks for reading the OP and skipping the rest of the thread. I’ve clarified over and over that I’m specifically asking for moderators to enforce the rules as to personal insults and threadshitting, \*not \*that I believe we should instaban anyone who so much as says the words “usual suspects.” [quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:186, topic:564961”] I’m starting to think you’re misunderstanding on purpose. Either that or you’re saying that you’re incapable of complaining about action taken by a moderator without personally insulting said moderator. [/QUOTE] Why are we still talking about this? It’s irrelevant to this discussion. (I’ve since realized that your reply was to a side discussion that IIRC \*\*Giraffe \*\*started, which isn’t germane to the actual topic here). This is not a thread about me wanting to call mods morons or something like that–it’s a thread about wanting the mods to enforce the rules about personal insults and threadshitting. > [@billfish678](#): > > The word suspects is rarely IME used in a positive fashion. The fact that they are the usual ones doesnt improve the conotation much IMO. Exactly. As I’ve said before and apparently need to repeat: “the usual suspects” has a negative connotation. When someone is using it positively, they are using it _in an ironic way_. > [@AnalogSignal](#): > > Bob is not implying that the meeting attendees are potential criminals under police surveillance. Bob is saying the same old crew that goes every week attended the meeting. Yes, because he is using it _ironically_. He considers it an amusing turn of phrase becuse he doesn’t actually think poorly of the people he’s using it against. _In the usage where I’m objecting to it here_, it’s meant in an entirely negative, unflattering, insulting, and threadshitting way. > [@Irishman](#): > > There are posters who take any incident and turn it into an excuse to blast all mods, to claim the moderation of this board is inept or whatever. And I’m saying that if those people exist, they should be named and examples should be given. Otherwise we’re back to, “There are posters who stalk other posters and rape them in their sleep, and they’re the people in this thread who disagree with me.” > [@Gyrate](#): > > Since I see my original post has been quoted I thought I should mention that my suggestion that there should be an official moratorium on the phrase was not meant in earnest and I’m surprised that it’s still being genuinely debated. That’s a step onto a very slippery slope. And I’ve already conceded that the OP was poorly phrased. I don’t have a problem with the phrase itself as with how it’s used by certain people in certain context, along with similar attitudes. My problem is with personal insults and threadshitting, not with a couple of words. All I want is for the mods to recognize and act against personal insults and threadshitting, and I’m attempting to draw their attention to this particular form of it. > [@D\_Odds](#): > > In ATMB, bitching and moaning so endlessly about the moderators and board moderation that I couldn’t care less if they had a valid argument (for a change): SfG, prr, and Garfield See, and now I can provide evidence that you’re wrong that I do nothing but complain about the mods in ATMB. Some example threads… Giving assistance on using the board: > **[No more blank quotes?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=588316)** > > I used to be able to remove all the text of a quote, but still leave the little blue chevron that would allow people to click and see the post. Now I can’t do that–not even if I leave a space in between. There seems to be a trend in board... > **[Forum Page Length Issue](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=586732)** > > I use the Forum Jump at the bottom of each forum page ALOT. It’s the easiest way to get from forum to forum. Annoyingly it is only located at the bottom of the page and even though I’ve asked for a second forum jump to be inserted at the top of the... > **[This forum requires that you wait 120 seconds between searches.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=575637)** > > If it’s not hard to program, a 240-second delay every second search would serve your purpose just as well, I think, and be much less annoying. I do an average of, perhaps, two searches per week. But the two searches are often back-to-back, due to... Calling out good moderation: > **[Good Moderating](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=586167)** > > Lately I’ve been accused of being a whiner or a troublemaker because of some of the things I’ve said in ATMB. I want to be clear: I think that most of the moderation that happens on this site is well performed and accurately reflects the rules of the... In support of a mod’s decision: > **[Twickster, you're full of it.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=584958)** > > This is bullshit. What did I state as a fact that wasn’t a fact? > **[widening of "restricted speech" prohibition?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=572700)** > > In this thread, \*\*Miller \*\*admonished \*\*Guinastasia \*\*for a comment, as follows: Guin, using a synonym for “fuck” doesn’t get you around the ban against telling posters to fuck themselves. Don’t do this again. No warning issued. Wha? So we... > **[Marley and lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=558795)** > > Yes, yes, and yes. Look, I don’t know what the deal is with lekatt. Evidently, he’s some sort of evangelical. That’s fine, it doesn’t matter to me one way or another. But whenever people post questionable claims here, they’re expected to be able... Suggesting a new feature or reporting an issue: > **[Disable auto-italics in quotes?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=581704)** > > Two related questions: 1.) Is there a reason that an attributed quote is always italicized? 2.) Is there any way to disable this “feature”? I find it obnoxious for two reaons: 1.) It does not apply to all quotes. A quote that is attributed by... > **[Dropped multiquotes?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=574016)** > > A couple of times recently (in a thread this morning and in at least one thread last week, IIRC on Friday), I’ve had problems getting multiquote to work properly. One or more posts that I’ve selected don’t appear in the text for me to reply to. I was... ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/203 "2010-12-23T16:52:24Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > See, and now I can provide evidence that you’re wrong that I do nothing but complain about the mods in ATMB. Some example threads… > > Giving assistance on using the board: > [No more blank quotes? - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=588316) > [Forum Page Length Issue - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=586732) > [This forum requires that you wait 120 seconds between searches. - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=575637) > > Calling out good moderation: > [Good Moderating - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=586167) > > In support of a mod’s decision: > [Twickster, you're full of it. - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=584958) > [widening of "restricted speech" prohibition? - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=572700) > [Marley and lekatt - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=558795) > > Suggesting a new feature or reporting an issue: > [Disable auto-italics in quotes? - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=581704) > [Dropped multiquotes? - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=574016) I could give an airborne rodents buttocks for those links. Those posts didn’t get me to say internally, “Gee, what poster made all these helpful suggestions?” (assuming they were helpful - my religious memory seems to recall a suggestion that I didn’t care for that was dismissed with a ‘you don’t like it, don’t use it’ when it was just being pointed out the suggestion was not universally liked and no, I’m not looking it up). The endless bitching and moaning made me look and say, “Who is this PITA?” And then I noticed a pattern that when I looked at who was the PITA, 3 names came up repeatedly. Not just once or twice, which I would easily forget, but repeatedly. So those three names are the usual suspects. (P.S. The names on my Giants list aren’t the only Giants fans, just the ones I’ve come to remember off of the top of my head). ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/204 "2010-12-23T16:57:22Z")
Every time I see the phrase (😛 GAH!:p) “threadshitting”, it makes me think someone’s looking at the toilet paper after they pinch a loaf and wipe.:p:p:p Q ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/205 "2010-12-23T17:06:41Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I ask again the questions that no mod has answered: What do you think it means, if not the personal insult and/or threadshitting examples I’ve given above? I’d be happy to answer that question if you’d like, but please be aware I am speaking for myself and not for the entire staff of the SDMB. To me, the phrase, “the usual suspects,” is a funny toss-away line from _Casablanca_. Who’s coming to the party this weekend? The usual suspects. Who missed today’s staff meeting? The usual suspects. Who contributed to this week’s Mac vs. Windows discussion? The usual suspects. Who’s bitching and moaning about moderators in ATMB this time? The usual suspects. It’s no more insult or threadshitting than “Hi, Opal,” “I can has cheezburger,” or “1920’s-style death rays.” > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Why are we still talking about this? It’s irrelevant to this discussion. (I’ve since realized that your reply was to a side discussion that IIRC \*\*Giraffe \*\*started, which isn’t germane to the actual topic here). This is not a thread about me wanting to call mods morons or something like that–it’s a thread about wanting the mods to enforce the rules about personal insults and threadshitting. Why are we still talking about this? Well, it’s pretty straightforward. You directly addressed me in a post, so I responded to you. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/206 "2010-12-23T17:11:51Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > I could give an airborne rodents buttocks for those links. I just love the smell of willful ignorance in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/207 "2010-12-23T17:25:31Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:205, topic:564961”] To me, the phrase, “the usual suspects,” is a funny toss-away line from _Casablanca_. [/quote] So you missed the post where [someone who’s actually used the phrase said that he meant it pretty much exactly as I suspected](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13277170&postcount=77), which is, shockingly, \*not \*as a lighthearted reference to _Casablanca_? > [@](#): > > Why are we still talking about this? Well, it’s pretty straightforward. You directly addressed me in a post, so I responded to you. [I directly addressed you](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13279084&postcount=107) in a post that did nothing but be confused as to why you were talking about it in this thread and clarify that we can’t Pit mods, since you seemed to be confused about that. That’s all. I didn’t make an argument for or against being able to Pit them (I’m on the record as being ambivalent about it). ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/208 "2010-12-23T18:24:04Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > So you missed the post where [someone who’s actually used the phrase said that he meant it pretty much exactly as I suspected](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13277170&postcount=77), which is, shockingly, \*not \*as a lighthearted reference to _Casablanca_? Oh, for cryin’ out loud. Instead of looking only at the sentence you quoted, read my whole damned post. You were griping that no mod would answer your question, so I answered it, specifically saying that I am speaking only for myself. And your response is to complain that my interpretation of the phrase is different from someone else’s? No, I didn’t miss **bucketybuck** ’s post. The phrase just happens to mean something different to me. If you didn’t want to know that, why did you ask? Here’s what I said, since you obviously weren’t paying attention the first time. [quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:205, topic:564961”] I’d be happy to answer that question if you’d like, but please be aware I am speaking for myself and not for the entire staff of the SDMB. To me, the phrase, “the usual suspects,” is a funny toss-away line from _Casablanca_. Who’s coming to the party this weekend? The usual suspects. Who missed today’s staff meeting? The usual suspects. Who contributed to this week’s Mac vs. Windows discussion? The usual suspects. Who’s bitching and moaning about moderators in ATMB this time? The usual suspects. It’s no more insult or threadshitting than “Hi, Opal,” “I can has cheezburger,” or “1920’s-style death rays.” [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/209 "2010-12-23T18:27:56Z")
That’s what you would mean when \*you \*use it. I’m talking about what other people mean when they use it in the way I’m finding offensive. So if you seem to think they’re making a \*Casablanca \*reference, and I can show clear evidence that they’re not, can you appreciate why I’m frustrated when your response is, “Well, it means this to _me_”? ETA: Imagine, to use an extreme example, we had somebody wandering around the board calling everybody “nigger.” Would it become acceptable if somebody popped into a thread complaining about it to say, “Well, my other Black friends and I call each other ‘nigga’ all the time!” The problem isn’t how the expression \*could \*be used (i.e., it’s not the expression _per se_), it’s the \*specific \*way it’s being used _in these contexts_. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/210 "2010-12-23T18:31:42Z")
Really, I can’t help but feel that a bunch of people are reading the OP, saying, “It’s stupid to outlaw a phrase!!!” and then skipping straight to the end without reading any of the intervening posts where I clarify that it’s not the specific phrase taht I think as the problem so much as certain uses of it where it’s used to insult and/or threadshit, i.e., where the intended meaning is “You (and other people like you) are a whiner/troll” and “this topic is stupid/pointless.” ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/211 "2010-12-23T18:36:29Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > (to avoid TL;DR) Too late. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/212 "2010-12-23T18:39:16Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Really, I can’t help but feel that a bunch of people are reading the OP, saying, “It’s stupid to outlaw a phrase!!!” and then skipping straight to the end without reading any of the intervening posts where I clarify that it’s not the specific phrase taht I think as the problem so much as certain uses of it where it’s used to insult and/or threadshit, i.e., where the intended meaning is “You (and other people like you) are a whiner/troll” and “this topic is stupid/pointless.” That’s even worse. Sometimes “Usual Suspects” is ok. Sometimes it is not. And the deciding factor is your whim. Yeah. Not enough hookers and blow on the planet to get me to attempt to moderate that situation. No sane person would. Completely unworkable. And no matter how hard you try, this molehill ain’t never gonna be a mountain. Let it go already. The mods have ruled. You lost. Game over. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/213 "2010-12-23T18:51:48Z")
> [@srzss05](#): > > Too late. Thanks for posting just to tell everyone that you didn’t read anything. Maybe you can do that for every thread you haven’t read. I’m sure the mods would love it. > [@Oakminster](#): > > And the deciding factor is your whim. No, the deciding factor is the clear intentions of the person making the statement. I bet you we could put any use of “the usual suspects” up to a vote and have the vast majority of people come to exactly the same conclusion as to whether it was meant positively (e.g., to a group of coworkers) or negatively (e.g., to the people in a thread who disagree with you). > [@](#): > > Let it go already. The mods have ruled. You lost. Game over. And you’ve made your opinion of the merits of this thread very clear. So what does that make you that you’re still here telling me my topic is stupid and pointless? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/214 "2010-12-23T18:54:04Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > So what does that make you that you’re still here telling me my topic is stupid and pointless? It makes me correct. There is no circumstance barring divine intervention or you buying the Dope outright that will get you what you want. Every mod/admin that has spoken on this issue says no rule change is happening. You are not a mod/admin. You do not make rules here. At this point, you are accomplishing nothing but making yourself look bad. You should stop that. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/215 "2010-12-23T18:57:28Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > And you’ve made your opinion of the merits of this thread very clear. So what does that make you that you’re still here telling me my topic is stupid and pointless? One of the usual suspects? ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/216 "2010-12-23T18:58:54Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Thanks for posting just to tell everyone that you didn’t read anything. Maybe you can do that for every thread you haven’t read. I’m sure the mods would love it. I’ve read most of the thread, and skimmed the parts I didn’t actually read. You’re beating a dead horse, and it was my way of using your own words to point it out. Perhaps you are taking this too seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/217 "2010-12-23T19:02:51Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Thanks for reading the OP and skipping the rest of the thread. I’ve clarified over and over that I’m specifically asking for moderators to enforce the rules as to personal insults and threadshitting, \*not \*that I believe we should instaban anyone who so much as says the words “usual suspects.” So you are asking the mods to subjectively moderate the situations to suit _your_ interpretation? > [@](#): > > See, and now I can provide evidence that you’re wrong that I do nothing but complain about the mods in ATMB. Except the statement was **not** that you do nothing but post complaints in ATMB. The complaint was that certain posters such as yourself bitch and moan endlessly about the moderators and board moderation. This thread being a case in point. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/218 "2010-12-23T19:04:40Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > It makes me correct. There is no circumstance barring divine intervention or you buying the Dope outright that will get you what you want. Every mod/admin that has spoken on this issue says no rule change is happening. You are not a mod/admin. You do not make rules here. At this point, you are accomplishing nothing but making yourself look bad. You should stop that. You’re welcome to your opinion. Personally, I’m going to continue discussing this as long as there are people engaging me. Then we can all have our own opinions about who looks bad; I happen to think it’s the mods and admins who are brushing me off, ignoring my arguments, and outright misrepresenting my position and the support for it, though you obviously disagree. If you think I’m wasting my time, the proper response is to walk away from the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/219 "2010-12-23T19:07:10Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > So you are asking the mods to subjectively moderate the situations to suit _your_ interpretation? I’ve asked \*again and again \*for another interpretation of examples of “the usual suspects” that I have claimed to be offensive. \*Nobody’s \*given one, and the person I quoted in the OP confirmed my interpretation. The closest I’ve gotten is a general observation that \*sometimes \*people use it in a friendly fashion with their _friends or colleagues_. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961/220 "2010-12-23T19:47:53Z")
Usual suspects: a group of people, usually the same people but not always, that are known for doing a certain thing. How about this scenario for non-offensive: Fred: “Hey Bill wanna go shoot some hoops?” Bill: “Sure.” Fred: “Who do you think will be out there?” Bill: “Oh you know. The usual suspects. Except Joe because he’s out of town this weekend.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usual-suspects/564961.md?page=12)