# What does RO mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 23, 2007, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098 "2007-06-23T04:07:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/1 "2007-06-23T04:07:33Z")
I only see it in the pit, which is why I’m posting it here. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/2 "2007-06-23T04:09:22Z")
Recreational Outrage. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/3 "2007-06-23T04:10:08Z")
What a stupid fucking thing to turn into an acronym. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/4 "2007-06-23T04:16:52Z")
[QUOTE=Mosier] What a stupid fucking thing to turn into an acronym. [/QUOTE] What is the official criteria for acronymization? ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/5 "2007-06-23T04:24:24Z")
acronyms are supposed to make conversation easier. making an acronym for a goofy term without a meaning (other than maybe a farcical, comic one) is bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/6 "2007-06-23T04:26:49Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/7 "2007-06-23T04:27:29Z")
[QUOTE=Mosier] What a stupid fucking thing to turn into an acronym. [/QUOTE] Interesting comment. Odd one too. It’s from this thread. [Can we please ban “recreational outrage” posts?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=411800) and others subsequent to it. It was suggested that people label their threads as RO so that others didn’t have to click on them if they weren’t interested in RO. If you’d like to suggest that they write out recreational outrage all the time for your benefit in the small title space, please feel free. On preview, conversation is made easier by the fact that writing out recreational outrage in each thread title where it is contained is more work. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/8 "2007-06-23T04:28:24Z")
WGaDWYT ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/9 "2007-06-23T04:29:25Z")
So what’s “recreational outrage” about the couple that’s holding their fetus hostage for 50,000 dollars, then? ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/10 "2007-06-23T04:35:21Z")
You didn’t read the linked thread, did you? Or you must have taken a special speed reading class. The thread you mentioned is classic RO. (I just read the OP. I didn’t click on it before) It’s basically outrage over a news story where the basic OP is just premised on the link to the story. They’re quick to create and they generally don’t have any personal involvement with the OP. The OP author just read it in the news. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/11 "2007-06-23T04:35:29Z")
The fact that none of us have any personal stake in the situation. I don’t know these people, won’t know them; their behavior has no effect on me. And the whole thing might be a farce. It’s so outrageous, it’s not worthy of personal anger. Just a vague “how fucked up is this?” kinda Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/12 "2007-06-23T04:36:20Z")
**Mosier** , if you don’t customarily spend much time in the Pit, then you probably missed the last few months’ worth of communal discussion, during which time a consensus was reached that the SDMB Pitizens are collectively tired of people posting threads about the various and sundry horrors that Drudge and Fox serve up every 15 minutes like clockwork. Things like toddlers being tortured, global pedophile rings, kittens being nuked in a microwave, things like that–how are we supposed to respond when someone posts an OP that consists of nothing but, “I read this news story [link]. OMG those poor dogs!”? The Pit is a place for ranting about how one’s personal life sucks, not for merely posting a bit of hand-wringing over yet another atrocity of the 21st century. Which is boring. And we can forgive practically anything at the SDMB as long as you’re entertaining. So this posting of non-personal “OMG, this news story is horrible!” topics came to be known as Recreational Outrage: some guy cutting the head off a girl’s dog and mailing it to her in Minnesota doesn’t concern you personally, but you’re still outraged, so you post an “OMG, that poor girl!” OP. And it’s abbreviated “RO” because it takes up fewer characters in the thread title, duh. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/13 "2007-06-23T05:22:07Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] **Mosier** , if you don’t customarily spend much time in the Pit, then you probably missed the last few months’ worth of communal discussion, during which time a consensus was reached that the SDMB Pitizens are collectively tired of people posting threads about the various and sundry horrors that Drudge and Fox serve up every 15 minutes like clockwork. Things like toddlers being tortured, global pedophile rings, kittens being nuked in a microwave… [/QUOTE] But…but…what if it comes from a proper and respectable news outlet like CNN (_“Son charged with killing mom over dirty dishes”_; _“Woman kidnapped, ‘snitch’ branded on face”_; _“Drop-tower rides shut down after teen maimed”_? _Then_ is RO okay? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/14 "2007-06-23T05:51:38Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] But…but…what if it comes from a proper and respectable news outlet like CNN (_“Son charged with killing mom over dirty dishes”_; _“Woman kidnapped, ‘snitch’ branded on face”_; _“Drop-tower rides shut down after teen maimed”_? _Then_ is RO okay? :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Your question is unclear and your emoticon is, therefore, useless. _Are you asking whether it is still OK to post threads concerning the topics you listed?_ Sure. _Are you asking whether it is appropriate to label them “RO,” thus warning those posters with little interest in such topics to avoid the thread?_ That would seem appropriate. _Were you suddenly overwhelmed with a need to express scorn at other posts, even though you could not be bothered to explain which posts had earned your scoern?_ Apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/15 "2007-06-23T06:22:44Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] _Were you suddenly overwhelmed with a need to express scorn at other posts, even though you could not be bothered to explain which posts had earned your scoern?_ Apparently. [/QUOTE] Oh, come on now, **tomndebbster**. Surely you must have noticed…and I’m assuming you actually read my post…that **Duck Duck Goose** chose to single out Fox and Drudge as the source of the type of RO posts that the ‘SDMB Pitizens’ have decreed to be unworthy of pitting. I simply wondered, as clearly stated in my post, whether RO posts coming from a news source seemingly more acceptable to the aforementioned Pitizens than the glaringly right-wing Fox and Drudge would be more acceptable for RO threads in the Pit…given, you know, that these types of stories are hardly exclusive to Fox and Drudge, which my recitation of some of today’s CNN headlines bears out. In other words, are RO threads frowned upon solely because of their subject matter…or simply because they are erroneously thought to originate primarily from right-wing news sources? Hope that clears everything up for ya. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/16 "2007-06-23T06:41:40Z")
**Starving Artist** , I suspect that you are being a bit hypersensitive. While **DDG** mentioned Fox and Drudge, (despite the many protests I have seen that Drudge is politically neutral ( :rolleyes: 😃 )), she did not mention World Net Daily or the Washington Times. Her point had to do with the outfits that did the “best” job of providing the sort of stories intended to shock, regardless of the quality of their overall news program. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/17 "2007-06-23T06:50:02Z")
Perhaps you are right. My point essentially is that this type of story is pretty typical of news organizations as a whole, not just right-wing ones. I just wanted to set the record straight. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/18 "2007-06-23T07:15:07Z")
You mean you wanted to get it Right? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/19 "2007-06-23T07:20:28Z")
😃 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098/20 "2007-06-23T08:04:54Z")
**Mosier** , I believe “RO” would be spelled out when pronounced, so it’s an abbreviation not an acronym\*. Anyway, your handy cut out and keep RO template for whenever you require it: * * * **[Insert ghastly news headline]** OMG!!! I am so [insert hyperbolic statement of impotent rage] about this [insert link to obscure local news source]!!! [Someone I’ve never heard of] in [somewhere I’ve never been] did [something unspeakably unpleasant] to [someone or something more vulnerable than the perpetrator, whom I also have never met, nor ever had anything to do with]. :eek: I’m so [insert hyperbolic statement of upset] that I want to [insert hyperbolic suggestion of violence equal to or worse than the original misdeed]!!\>%! :mad: :mad: :mad: * * * Follow-ups to include:[list=a][li]Comparison of ROer to perpetrator due to hyperbolic suggestion of violence[_]Defense of hyperbolic suggestion of violence as “blowing off steam”[_]Half-hearted agreement at fucked-upness of the worldComplaints about RO threads in general[/list]This free gift brought to you by **jjimm** ’s kitten-raping cabal.[/li] \*Knowledge gained on SDMB. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ro-mean/409098.md?page=2)