# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/121 "2009-01-23T19:28:00Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > This whole topic seems so weird to me. Those of you who find the signoffs unavoidable irritants, do you find yourselves stuck reading postage stamps and bar codes and other small, predictable, repeated markings? No. Those markings do not flow logically from the text surrounding them. Postage stamps are physically separate from whatever I’m reading by a few inches, and small print is, well, smaller. To my mind’s ear, it’s like he’s acting like he’s communicating via ham radio, and saying “Over” after everything he says. Threads are the internet’s version of a conversation. You don’t indicate you’re done talking with a verbal cue if you intend on continuing the conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/122 "2009-01-23T19:29:59Z")
> [@RetroVertigo](#): > > Correct me if I’m wrong. > > I took it as a line from Boondock Saints, and not as a dig at you. Yeah, it was, and I only didn’t offset it as such because it was in response to another presumably humorous correction (albeit not having to do with BS.) So theoretically the “word you are looking for is **sarcasm** ” could be seen as yet another in a sequence of humorous corrections. Or a double whoosh. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/123 "2009-01-23T19:32:45Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > Perhaps, but were there two of them for Shodan, like there have been for Vox? Honestly, I can’t recall. I’m thinking the 18+ posts per day is a bigger factor than the sign-off. **Vox Imperatoris** has pushed a lot of buttons in a lot of forums in the two months since he started posting(he’s been registered since March 08 but only began posting in December 08). He’s posted his sign-off less than 1/12th of the absolute number of times **Shodan** has posted his, but with far greater frequency. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/124 "2009-01-23T19:40:43Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Thirdly, I see now that the signoffs are tolerated despite having [recently been told they are not](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10600066&postcount=58). But not tolerated with any enthusiasm. The rule cited in that link was changed. Here is the new rule: > [@](#): > > I like to sign my name at the end of each of my posts. Is that OK? > You can do a simple signoff of the form: > > [complimentary close - optional] > [your name] > > … at the end of each post. By “complimentary close” we mean some brief valedictory such as “regards,” “peace,” etc. Please don’t push the envelope. [FAQ - Rules for Posting at the Straight Dope Message Boards - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=384736) The linked post predates the modified rule. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/125 "2009-01-23T19:50:49Z")
> [@Lord\_Ashtar](#): > > I’m right in both theory and practice. The fact that you, and a small but vocal handful of others, are letting something so trivial irritate you so much proves your weenieness. Most people don’t let something so insignificant affect them so deeply. what is so deep about being annoyed? the fact that I burned a tenth of a calorie posting about it? or the part where I dropped it in the pit where it clearly belongs? also most people dont continue to do things so obviously lame, stupid, and irritating after being told that what they are doing is lame, stupid, and irritating. > [@Ethilrist](#): > > That’s pretty much it: either way, somebody is being identified as annoying, obnoxious, stupid or intolerant, and that’s against the rules. forgive me if I am wrong here but isnt this the pit? the place where thread titles are often things like “PosterX you stupid fucknugget come on down”? I thought the board was for adults and if you dont like the attitude you get in the pit you stay out? it just seems like a kind of silly rule to have in the pit of all places, anywhere else on the board and I can totally understand and support it but in here? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/126 "2009-01-23T19:59:35Z")
There’s also the point that it’s kind of an attention-whore thing to do. Rather than just blocking the user and saying nothing, pointing out that somebody’s going on your ignore list is like ending a conversation by saying “BLAH BLAH I’M NOT LISTENING, NEENER NEENER.” Which, again, is kind of being a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/127 "2009-01-23T20:04:01Z")
Sorry, my math was bad in the previous post. It seems the “find all posts for this poster” link on a person’s profile no longer finds all posts for that poster. Just the most recent 750. All 750 of **Vox Imperatoris’s** posts returned by that search have been since Dec 1 08. Thus a ~13 PPD rate. The past two months have seen a large jump in his participation, although he was active back in March. Starting threads like “Posters you can’t fucking stand” tends to start the wheel of karma and when you do something to irritate people you can’t really expect them to overlook it when you’ve been so petty about things which irritate you. YMMV. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/128 "2009-01-23T20:09:46Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > There’s also the point that it’s kind of an attention-whore thing to do. Rather than just blocking the user and saying nothing, pointing out that somebody’s going on your ignore list is like ending a conversation by saying “BLAH BLAH I’M NOT LISTENING, NEENER NEENER.” > > Which, again, is kind of being a jerk. well that is true enough, although in this thread hes already done that by pointing out the mods said he could and bailing out of the thread without any actual discussion. In my defense I wasnt trying to end the conversation with him since there wasnt one, but whatever. its not like I got banned just mildly scolded. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/129 "2009-01-23T20:27:27Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > what is so deep about being annoyed? the fact that I burned a tenth of a calorie posting about it? or the part where I dropped it in the pit where it clearly belongs? > also most people dont continue to do things so obviously lame, stupid, and irritating after being told that what they are doing is lame, stupid, and irritating. Because the mere fact that you don’t like it does not make it obviously lame or stupid. I post a lot of things, many of them political, that Dopers find irritating. But I post them for much the same reason I sign my posts. I like doing it. It amuses me to post on the SDMB. And the minor pleasure of doing it outweighs (in my mind) the minor irritation you may feel at seeing it. This is not like slurping your soup or snapping your gum. It is more like telling your next door neighbor that his hair is too long. That is a conflict easily resolved by shrugging my shoulders and not giving much of a rat’s heinie about your opinions on my coiffure. You like it? Good. You don’t? It doesn’t hurt anything for you to look the other way. For me, it is part and parcel of my whole persona on the SDMB. There are a number of Dopers - not all - who are offended at the mere presence of conservative opinion on this message board. No worries - they tend to be the kind of whiny little pussies who it is the most fun to debate, both because they often are inexperienced in confronting arguments from any point of view other than those of their cohorts, and because of the entertaining little tantrums they throw when they wind up receiving what they were rather hoping to dish out. You can’t be a conservative on a message board like this one without developing a thick skin and a cheerful indifference to being piled on by idiots. For better or worse, that attitude tends to slop over into how I feel when people complain about my sign offs. “The dogs bark, but the caravan marches on.” If how I sign my posts is the worst thing you have to complain about, I wish I had your problems. FWIW, I protested when first the rule against signoffs and sigs was - resurrected? Started to be enforced? Not sure what its status was before. And then was pleased to be informed (hi, **Stratocaster**!) that the Powers That Be had reconsidered and allowed it. I think that was rather nice of them. I have been doing it for a long time, and it is pleasant to be heard. Think of it as my quirk, like homosexuality or voting Green. Or don’t think of it at all - that’s what the scroll wheel is for. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/130 "2009-01-23T20:37:57Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > well that is true enough, although in this thread hes already done that by pointing out the mods said he could and bailing out of the thread without any actual discussion. In my defense I wasnt trying to end the conversation with him since there wasnt one, but whatever. its not like I got banned just mildly scolded. You know a lot of posters complain about other posters that fail to capitalize. You should probably make sure you are diligent in not missing the capital letters at the beginning of the sentence especially. As so many posters complain about this it kind of makes you a jerk for not doing so. Disclaimer: I don’t really give a shit but you know stones and glass outhouses and all that jazz. ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/131 "2009-01-23T20:38:02Z")
The name and signoff make me think of a kid who got lost on the way to an Age of Empires forum or something. Not someone on a forum for real grownups. ---
**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 23, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/132 "2009-01-23T21:21:24Z")
> [@Lama\_Pacos](#): > > The name and signoff make me think of a kid who got lost on the way to an Age of Empires forum or something. Not someone on a forum for real grownups. Ah yes, the forum for “real grownups”, where we talk about pan fried semen and how to wipe one’s ass. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/133 "2009-01-23T21:23:24Z")
> [@Lord\_Ashtar](#): > > Ah yes, the forum for “real grownups”, where we talk about pan fried semen and how to wipe one’s ass. And post under usernames like Lama Pacos. Undistilled 100% well-adjusted maturity. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/134 "2009-01-23T21:25:58Z")
[QUOTE=olivesmarch4th] But uneccesary pretention really gets on my nerves. If I wanted to deal with that shit I would have finished my philosophy major. [/quote] I can understand your preference for _necessary_ pretension, but I assure you my own ostentation is a moral imperative. I did finish my philosophy degree, with two years of Latin, and the less I use it the less value society gets for supporting my higher education – _dulce et decorum est pro patria simulare_. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/135 "2009-01-23T21:31:31Z")
The OP mentions part of what specifically annoyed them about this habit… Seeing a thread that is less than 2 pages long, with multiple posts ending with the signoff. Some posts which that were less characters in total than the signoff itself. I still don’t like 'em, but if the mods said they’re not going to enforce the previous rule about requiring them to remain in the signature block so we could turn the signatures off, there’s not really much I can do about that. But it would be nice, if the pro-signoff posters felt the need to respond to say, 3 posts in the same page, they considered what they were doing and only put the signoff at the end of the first post on that page. You know, meet others halfway. Then if you’ve got a multi-page thread, they can still post it every page, but try limiting it to once a page. Then it might feel a little less like a five year old sitting there singing “I’ve got a song that’ll get on your nerves” every two minutes. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/136 "2009-01-23T21:32:58Z")
> [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > But it would be nice, if the pro-signoff posters felt the need to respond to say, 3 posts in the same page, they considered what they were doing and only put the signoff at the end of the first post on that page. You know, meet others halfway. Then if you’ve got a multi-page thread, they can still post it every page, but try limiting it to once a page. Then it might feel a little less like a five year old sitting there singing “I’ve got a song that’ll get on your nerves” every two minutes. That’s a reasonable compromise.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/137 "2009-01-23T21:40:54Z")
> [@Jeff](#): > > …Semper fudge, > Jeff I love you, Dude! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/138 "2009-01-23T21:53:53Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > This is not like slurping your soup or snapping your gum. It is more like telling your next door neighbor that his hair is too long. That is a conflict easily resolved by shrugging my shoulders and not giving much of a rat’s heinie about your opinions on my coiffure. Look. Even if I complain here, in a post devoted to the subject, I won’t care at all or mention it in any other thread. It doesn’t actually bother me that much. But please, I don’t want you to get the idea that the sig/no sig struggle comes down to an aesthetic choice or as a matter of opinion. Text is structured in a certain way and not in another because it has to adapt itself to a determined medium: it makes sense to write your name when you are writing a letter, and therefore I will advise you to use the proper form whenever you are doing so. Message board posts also have a proper form. You shouldn’t, for instance, forgo paragraphs and write everything in a wall of text, and that’s not really arguable: it actually makes reading a post more difficult, or breaking down your message in random lines like it was some sort of modern poem, you may feel very creative doing that, but it’s still making communication unnecessarily complex. And that’s why, I respectfully advise everyone to use the proper form when posting. There is no need to tell me that you are Shodan, because I already know that from reading the header at the top of your post. You don’t care about that? Good for you. Do whatever you feel like. I’m just saying that it’s not some arbitrary pet peeve from my part, there is an actual reason for my complaint, and that’s that you are being structurally incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/139 "2009-01-23T21:56:29Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > This is not like slurping your soup or snapping your gum. It is more like telling your next door neighbor that his hair is too long. That is a conflict easily resolved by shrugging my shoulders and not giving much of a rat’s heinie about your opinions on my coiffure. You like it? Good. You don’t? It doesn’t hurt anything for you to look the other way. > > You can’t be a conservative on a message board like this one without developing a thick skin and a cheerful indifference to being piled on by idiots. For better or worse, that attitude tends to slop over into how I feel when people complain about my sign offs. “The dogs bark, but the caravan marches on.” > > Regards, > Shodan youre right, its not like snapping ones gum or slurping soup, its like every time you finish a sentence you say, “regards, Shodan” only try that in real life and tell me its not irritating as fuck also while your name has been mentioned in this thread my bitch was specifically about one poster with 5 of those sign offs in a single thread not even 2 pages long, and I am positive I could easily find him doing the same thing only worse if I really wanted to look for it. if you are going to sign off then sign the fuck off and while you are at it fuck off, as in you signed off so doesnt that mean you are you know done with the thread? and wtf does this thread have to do with you being conservative? ah nothing of course. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > You know a lot of posters complain about other posters that fail to capitalize. You should probably make sure you are diligent in not missing the capital letters at the beginning of the sentence especially. As so many posters complain about this it kind of makes you a jerk for not doing so. > > Disclaimer: I don’t really give a shit but you know stones and glass outhouses and all that jazz. true, I am going through a phase right now where most of the rules for written english just get on my nerves. I do use the occasional cap, usually for posters names and things like that, but the lack of a cap or perfect punctuation doesnt seem to = useless and pointless stuff added (according to a poster upthread) 13 times per day. > [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > But it would be nice, if the pro-signoff posters felt the need to respond to say, 3 posts in the same page, they considered what they were doing and only put the signoff at the end of the first post on that page. You know, meet others halfway. Then if you’ve got a multi-page thread, they can still post it every page, but try limiting it to once a page. Then it might feel a little less like a five year old sitting there singing “I’ve got a song that’ll get on your nerves” every two minutes. QFT ---
**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 23, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419/140 "2009-01-23T22:14:34Z")
God damn it. It’s sort of like the dripping faucet I don’t even notice until somebody points it out, leaving me in agony for the remainder of the night. Now I can’t stop seeing it everywhere. EVERYWHERE. God damn it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/valete-vox-imperatoris/482419.md?page=8)