# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 172
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3717 "2024-12-04T01:15:59Z")
Some amount, sure. But we’re almost 50 posts into another Trump discussion. You’re not arguing if someone is being stupid or not. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3718 "2024-12-04T01:25:47Z")
Again, to be fair, if the reason for the stupid _is_ Trump, it’s going to get argued, for better or for worse. Unless we want this thread to be just venting about other posters without allowing the posters called out to “defend themselves” if another thread is available to do so in. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3719 "2024-12-04T01:43:51Z")
You have a good point. Sorry. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2024, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3720 "2024-12-04T01:47:18Z")
Everyone debating/arguing over trump in this thread is being an ass. There are dozens of threads for it. Take it there. @TroutMan is correct. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3721 "2024-12-04T12:23:34Z")
With Miller’s blessing, I’ve moved 46 posts to their own thread. > [@Fascism, hope(lessness) and Trump's America](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascism-hope-lessness-and-trumps-america/1011150): > > Hoping I have the purpose of this thread right, but as I said in [this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-democrats-would-rather-have-fascism-than-bernie-sanders-populism/1010953/105), I find the extended back and forth today (December 2) there darkly amusing, given the two posters involved, the meat of their current discussion, and their established politics and beliefs. Might just be me, though. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2024, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3722 "2024-12-04T12:24:31Z")
Nice, thank you for that. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3723 "2024-12-09T03:09:03Z")
And now for something completely different, it’s such a shame that this board limits the number of characters per post, thus forcing us to use ambiguous abbreviations like “UHC” instead of using the words “universal healthcare” or “United Health Care”. Alas, we are forced to rely on the good sense of our readers to distinguish the various contexts. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3724 "2024-12-09T05:06:04Z")
Ok, whatever you say, **ILMVI**. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3725 "2024-12-09T06:21:38Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > And now for something completely different, it’s such a shame that this board limits the number of characters per post, thus forcing us to use ambiguous abbreviations like “UHC” instead of using the words “universal healthcare” or “United Health Care”. I’ve never run into a character limit (though I have many times had a post less than the minimum of 5 characters and had to add more 😡). Whatever the limit is, it is going to be big enough that if you are at risk of exceeding it, I’m skipping your insane wall of text. (I know you were sarcastically chastising people who use the UHC abbreviation but still, mega posts do happen sometimes, ugh.) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3726 "2024-12-09T13:09:05Z")
IOW TIL YMMV w TLAs. ETA: as I prove just below, you don’t ever need extra words or characters for Discourse. The 5-char minimum is an easy one to outsmart. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3727 "2024-12-09T13:09:29Z")
A     ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3728 "2024-12-09T19:29:07Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > IOW TIL YMMV w TLAs. I think you meant to end that ”WRT TLAs.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3729 "2024-12-09T19:32:08Z")
ISWYDT. And I approve! 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3730 "2024-12-09T20:56:42Z")
I’m not sure if I should be relieved or concerned that I had no problem with any of those abbreviations, and I understood it as easily as I could have if it was fully written out. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3731 "2024-12-09T21:24:34Z")
QED.  ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3732 "2024-12-09T21:27:55Z")
What does quantum electrodynamics have to do with it? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3733 "2024-12-09T21:29:29Z")
Or Quentin Everett Deverill? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3734 "2024-12-09T21:32:00Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > QED. I’ve tried to quit eating dairy but cheese is so delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3735 "2024-12-09T21:34:12Z")
What astounds me is people actually speaking these abbreviations. O-M-G and L-O-L spoken outloud is odd sounding. UHC is commonly known to be United Health Care. Jeez, it was allover TV for weeks for Medicare sign ups. Now in the news because of the murder. The term universal healthcare is not as common in the US. We say ACA or Obamacare. I don’t see universal healthcare in our near future. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3736 "2024-12-09T22:06:45Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > The term universal healthcare is not as common in the US. We say ACA or Obamacare. That’s because we don’t have universal healthcare. ACA (Obamacare) is not universal healthcare; it’s what the US passed in an attempt to take a baby step toward such a thing. But you’re right that UHC can reference different things. There is a danger of relying on abbreviations without providing enough context. If I said that the IRA destroyed a family decades ago, you might think I was talking about an Independent Retirement Account causing financial ruin, when I really meant that they were blown up by the Irish Republican Army. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=171) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=173)