# Valete, Vox Imperatoris **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 22, 2009, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419 "2009-01-22T06:23:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/13edae/32.png) [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interconnected_Series_of_Tubes)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/221 "2009-01-24T20:28:40Z")
That’s because it serves no purpose whatsoever and annoys a large number of people. Yet, you (and everybody else who signs their fucking message board posts) continue to do it, because you’re either an arrogant prick, or a stubborn child. I couldn’t really give a shit what the content of your posts are. Really, it’s not a big deal. It’s just completely pretentious and gives me the mental image of you adjusting your monocle with a haughty, self-contented expression every time you post. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/222 "2009-01-24T20:32:50Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Plus, don’t you find it a trifle ironic - a board which will snow you under with lectures about being tolerant of different points of view when people post about sado-masochism or wife-swapping is the same board that fills up five pages with variations on “but I don’t liiiiiike it!” when I add a two line sign off. > > Regards, > Shodan That’s it. Message boards need a whole new mindset. They’re not like real life. Posters behave in a way, and have priorities that they’d never have in real life. They have the freedom, for example, to be insulting in a way that I’m certain they wouldn’t ever feel they could face to face. What matters here wouldn’t matter in everyday life. It’s like learning to live in a new country and culture. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/223 "2009-01-24T20:42:16Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > As a former conservative who enjoys your analysis and opinions on many issues, I want to tell you that your sig comes off as obnoxious and makes people discount what you say. What makes us discount what he says isn’t his _sig_. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/224 "2009-01-24T20:47:34Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > That’s because it serves no purpose whatsoever and annoys a large number of people. Define “large number.” I count fewer than 20 [del]weenies[/del] people in this thread with a strong opinion against signoffs. ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/225 "2009-01-24T22:43:05Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > …gives me the mental image of you adjusting your monocle with a haughty, self-contented expression every time you post. Heheheh. This came immediately to mind. [http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/02/01/canst-thine-hath-milk-curd-and-minced-beef-sandwhich/](http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/02/01/canst-thine-hath-milk-curd-and-minced-beef-sandwhich/) ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/226 "2009-01-24T22:51:06Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > If a few words at the bottom of a post well away from the body text “obscures the message” then I might suggest that reading is not for you. Play the game, Hardon. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/227 "2009-01-24T23:14:11Z")
Oh, sorry. I’ll try harder. Stiffly, Q ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/228 "2009-01-25T02:38:17Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > No, it’s not - it’s like saying good-bye after every sentence you say in a phone conversation. > > それをの敗者吸いなさい > featherlou A succinct and accurate reply. Operor Santorum, ~Name In Upper Left Corner ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/229 "2009-01-25T02:39:46Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > That’s because it serves no purpose whatsoever and annoys a large number of people. Yet, you (and everybody else who signs their fucking message board posts) continue to do it, because you’re either an arrogant prick, or a stubborn child. > > I couldn’t really give a shit what the content of your posts are. Really, it’s not a big deal. It’s just completely pretentious and gives me the mental image of you adjusting your monocle with a haughty, self-contented expression every time you post. The extended version – and very well put as well. Operor Santorum, ~Name In Upper Left Corner ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/230 "2009-01-25T03:03:32Z")
> [@Vox\_Imperatoris](#): > > Not this again! In the other thread about this exact same subject, **Ed Zotti** personally came out and okayed a one- or two-line signature as an acceptable exception to the one-sig-per-thread rule. > > Valete, > Vox Imperatoris I joined when I was… what? 15, 16? Something like that. I said some very 15ish sounding things back then. I believe my first post was something about how Homer Simpson is awesome. I was a 15 year old idiot. (I’m not saying you’re an idiot.. I’m saying _I_ was one (Some might differ on the tense 😉 ).. I only know you from that sig I see _over and over again_). I’m 100% sure I’ve said some other stupid things on the several years I’ve been here on and off. Feel free to look. I do give myself a :smack: when I think back about stuff that sadly is public record for anyone that cares to look. But that’s the past.. And this is just a message board. So :shrug: I figure I’m posting and learning a lot at this place and enjoy the unique atmosphere here. Someday you’ll look back and do the same. And maybe you’ll get rid of that annoying sig and join the rest of us that just post without a sign that screams “I took a semester of Latin! I’m awesome for knowing this! I don’t care _who_ this bothers! Here is my $0.02 and I shall bid you good day.. In a _dead_ language!” ## Its ridiculous. Drop it. And just post your ideas like the rest of us.. Everyone will enjoy your company a hell of a lot more no matter what you’ve got to say. 7h4n|{ ¥0µ, 4nÐ 900Ðn19h7 70 4££, b3$7 w1$h3$, h0p3 ¥0µ £1|{3Ð 7h3 w1n3, wh3r3 Ð1Ð 1 pµ7 m¥ h03, Clayton\_e ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/231 "2009-01-25T03:28:24Z")
> [@clayton\_e](#): > > Someday you’ll look back and do the same. And maybe you’ll get rid of that annoying sig and join the rest of us that just post without a sign that screams “I took a semester of Latin! I’m awesome for knowing this! I don’t care _who_ this bothers! Here is my $0.02 and I shall bid you good day.. In a _dead_ language!” > > Its ridiculous. Drop it. And just post your ideas like the rest of us.. Everyone will enjoy your company a hell of a lot more no matter what you’ve got to say. Forizzle Yo do you people who put a sign off on every single post sign all your sticky notes with a signature and printed name as well? You’re a Dumas Whats a Dumas? It’s French for Dumbass Dumbass Crit ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/232 "2009-01-25T04:00:07Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > um… No, I’m not? I would be [making an argument from authority] if I said “I say that you shouldn’t post your name because I say so and I’m such a nice guy that you should obey me”. Methinks you don’t know what it means to make an argument from authority. ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/233 "2009-01-25T04:34:44Z")
I just don’t understand how this topic continues to produce 5+ page threads. As for why I don’t put it in the sig box, I’m not supposed to post my regular signature every post, and even if I were, they won’t both fit in the sig box at the same time, not that I know why, because it says “maximum of four lines” and my sign-off plus my regular signature is four lines. I have tried it to check when it became against the rules for a short time to post sign-offs at the bottom of every post. I guess it’s possible that the links are messing with it. I guess I could eliminate the once-per thread part of my signature, but I don’t want to. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/234 "2009-01-25T04:44:33Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > If this seems pedantic to you, why are you joining in? I find it a mildly amusing diversion, and Sr Siete seems to be playing along. My point was not to sing the praises of standard business letter formats, but to clarify a point he made that seemed a non sequitur. I come from a long line of endless and trivial debaters. Dinner time was a real laugh in my house when we were kids, since no one was ever, ever wrong. You think it’s pedantic? Ignore it, would be my advice. That’s what my mom did (my dad screamed at us to shut up). This I can relate to, which perhaps answers your first question. 😉 I’m having fun here. My panties are as yet untwisted. > [@](#): > > And I do not at all concede that I’m grasping at some dying protocol. There are standard business letter formats, you can look 'em up yourself. But sender info in the header is not some crazy notion. Nothing hypothetical about what I’m describing. If you’d prefer, I’ll call this a “commonly accepted business format.” Feel free to maintain the affection you seem to have for your own protocols. Well, I’m just going on what you linked which said if you have letterhead, skip it, and the fact that all the business correspondence I’ve seen a) was on letterhead and b) skipped it. I’d say the ‘protocol’ you are using in your hypothetical is as good as dead, if it ever existed within the context of letterhead use. I said hypothetical because what business doesn’t use letterhead these days? Precious few, I’d imagine. Again, they aren’t my protocols: I quoted your cite, my dear. > [@](#): > > And your bullets do not clarify Sr Siete’s point, so I’d respond as I did to him. The point is that each section of the letter may have its own noble objectives, but that does not–sorry, it just doesn’t!–mean that there is any real need to repeat the name. It’s there at the top of the page, just as it is at the top of the post. In your hypothetical. But even if it were repeated on letter in that manner, which I’m saying is not the case, it’s still not redundant as the signature block serves a purpose the address block does not. Whereas, on a message board post, your post is all the validation one needs to attribute your comments to you. As per the terms of message board, allowing others to post on your name is not even an option, so we already know from the top of the post that it’s really you. Message board post signing, outside of designated sig lines, is nothing more than an affectation. It’s not even a standard. > [@](#): > > My point to Sr Siete is not that there’s anything wrong with objecting to its use in a post as a matter of taste or aesthetics–that’s completely subjective, of course. But if your argument is that there’s no need for it, no strong need, then you should feel the same way about business letters prepared in the “commonly accepted business format” I describe. If you do, good on ya for your consistency. If you don’t, then your objection is probably founded on something else, whether you thought so or not. One more volley of “But the second time it’s repeated on _the same @#$%ing page_ it’s for a different reason!” without recognizing how this is analogous to Sr S’s objection to sigs in posts will tell me that this point is simply impossible to communicate. Because it seems self-evident, for Pete’s sake. Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I guess we are at loggerheads, because it seems impossible to communicate that it’s completely unnecessary and actually takes away from the free-flow conversation for many participants. In the end, people are going to hate it and say so. Others are going to cling to it and ignore the naysayers. But we’re all going to move on until the next flare-up. My vote is everyone should put their sign-offs in the sig lines and leave the body of the post for content, but everyone’s probably just going to do whatever the hell they want anyways and I can’t really get riled up too much over it. If it makes you look like a jackass, at least be a man (like Shodan) and get jiggy with it. Hell, add that to your signature. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/235 "2009-01-25T05:25:03Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > Well, I’m just going on what you linked which said if you have letterhead, skip it, and the fact that all the business correspondence I’ve seen a) was on letterhead and b) skipped it. I’d say the ‘protocol’ you are using in your hypothetical is as good as dead, if it ever existed within the context of letterhead use. I said hypothetical because what business doesn’t use letterhead these days? Precious few, I’d imagine. Again, they aren’t my protocols: I quoted your cite, my dear. **Brown Eyed Girl** is correct. The usual practice at this point is company letterhead with address and contact information, but no individual names. Therefore, an address block with the sender’s information is not included. The sender’s name is typed about 4 lines below the “Sincerely,” (or equivalent) so that the sender can scrawl his or her signature in the space. As **BEG** notes above, if additional information specific to the sender is needed, such as their title, it can be included below their typed name. > [@Q.E.D](#): > > Define “large number.” I count fewer than 20 [del]weenies[/del] people in this thread with a strong opinion against signoffs. Not every weenie has posted in this thread. Look, I have no huge objection to most post signatures. They are, as **Auntbeast** noted above, the propellor beanies of this message board. What I do have an objection to is people who insist on continuing to engage in a wholly unnecessary behavior when they know it annoys other people. I used to rather enjoy the whole “Regards, Shodan” thing, especially when it was put on the end of a wholly inappropriate post. A nice little juxtaposition, you know. But now I find it annoying because I know that he knows that it annoys people and he does it anyway. Because he “wants” to. Well, I want to march down Fifth Avenue with my tits hanging out while playing “I’m a Little Teapot” on the trombone. But I don’t. Because I know it will annoy people. And because I can’t play the trombone. Mit Freundliche Grussen, Gruene Bohne ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/236 "2009-01-25T05:36:59Z")
> [@BJMoose](#): > > You’ve nailed it! > > Message board threads really all conversations - bull sessions, if you please, if somewhat more awkward than the face-to-face kind. That being the case, a formal close at the end of every contribution seems kinda weird. The only proper palace for a valedictory in a conversation is that point where your contribution actually ends and you exit stage left. > > I never understood why this practice here was vaguely annoying to me. Now I understand. > Bugger off, > Bullwinkle > P.S.: Care to explain the “unprintable characters”, **featherlou**? Just copy it into babelfish and use Japanese to English. 🙂 Sorry, forgot my signoff - succhilo, perdente featherlou ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/237 "2009-01-25T05:41:56Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > But now I find it annoying because I know that he knows that it annoys people and he does it anyway. Because he “wants” to. So basically you just dislike Shodan, and that’s why you object to his sig. And you’re willing to give other people passes if you like them. Semper fudge, Jeff ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/238 "2009-01-25T05:43:35Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Because he “wants” to. Well, I want to march down Fifth Avenue with my tits hanging out while playing “I’m a Little Teapot” on the trombone. But I don’t. Because I know it will annoy people. And because I can’t play the trombone. Dang. My own aspirations seem wholly inadequate now. I’m obviously going to have to think outside the bra. I think I see what you’re saying though. A **Green Bean** marching down Fifth Avenue, tits abounce, playing Teapot on a trombone is so uniquely intriguing. But once it becomes a small, trickly parade of tits and teapots and trombones, it does become a bit less interesting and more mundane and, hey, I don’t really like trombones much. FWIW, we always hold a special appreciation for the first, **Green Bean**. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/239 "2009-01-25T05:48:21Z")
I just wanted to add… It’s stuck in my pooper, Cuckoorex ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/240 "2009-01-25T05:59:19Z")
Well for god’s sake don’t go digging after it. It’ll come out when its good and ready. Until then you’ll just have to do without a cell phone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419.md?page=13)