# 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:** 289
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6063 "2025-12-18T06:42:52Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > We had to recite by heart – what was it? – the first 18 lines of the General Prologue with proper Middle English pronunciation in my Chaucer class. I enjoyed it. Same here! I still remember the first couple of lines 50 years later. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6064 "2025-12-18T06:53:06Z")
We focused on “The Miller’s Tale” which was quite racy for a bunch of teenage boys in a single sex boarding school… “a berd, a berd!” ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6065 "2025-12-18T06:59:21Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Same here! I still remember the first couple of lines 50 years later. I do too, and it’s been about fifty years in my case also. I had an English teacher at high school who loved Chaucer, and got us all reading the Prologue using the Middle English pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6066 "2025-12-18T08:11:55Z")
We read nothing of the sort!!! I feel left out. I had given up on the blessed day thread early on. Just looked again and I haven’t missed anything. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6067 "2025-12-18T08:32:27Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > We had to recite by heart – what was it? – the first 18 lines of the General Prologue with proper Middle English pronunciation in my Chaucer class. I enjoyed it. Hmmm…we had to do [Hamlet’s Soliloquy](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56965/speech-to-be-or-not-to-be-that-is-the-question) (and no, I can’t get far into it anymore - though for some reason the line with quietus and bare bodkin randomly sticks). Longish, but easier than memorizing Middle English I’d imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6068 "2025-12-18T08:53:50Z")
Middle English wasn’t difficult to pronounce. It uses the same sounds we use in today’s language. You can make a good first try at reading just what you see, though you may not understand it. The trick lies in understanding that some words have morphed into more modern ones (“swich” became “such”) or that today’s “silent” letters were once pronounced (a final “e” in a word was pronounced as “ay”). Learn those rules, and a few others, and you can sound just like Chaucer. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6069 "2025-12-18T11:20:07Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Learn those rules, and a few others, and you can sound just like Chaucer. Yes, well… try that with a Zimbabwean accent. Even though my mum is English and my accent is English/Zimbabwean\* it sounds like a foreign language when I speak in normal conversation. We had a record of one Chaucer story when I was a kid, I listened to it a few times but had no idea what was being said. Reading (at high school level) was much easier. \* and now, even worse, Cape Town style Zimbabwean/English/South African, too. People often think I am Irish for some reason, although. ---
**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 18, 2025, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6070 "2025-12-18T14:34:32Z")
Getting mostly back to this thread’s purpose, overnight we had a usual suspect pull a typical-for-them stupid. With prompt consequences. For once. Bravo @What_Exit! See here for the blessed event: **[SDMB Search results](https://boards.straightdope.com/search?q=%40magiver%20after%3A2025-12-18%20before%3A2025-12-19%20%23in-my-humble-opinion%20order%3Alatest_topic)**. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6071 "2025-12-18T14:40:05Z")
Yeah, I also caught that. And for one time, bravo to the dopers, none of us took the bait. And although @What_Exit in his warning note wrote that the hijack wasn’t done by a troll, it was one of the most blatant acts of trolling I ever saw here. ---
**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 18, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6072 "2025-12-18T14:48:16Z")
It got locked pretty quickly after it was posted. The Mod note came later. The post was near midnight eastern US time when US Doper traffic was tapering off for the night. Whether that notice was from a flurry of reports, or @What_Exit just happened on it quickly I can’t say. ---
**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 18, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6073 "2025-12-18T14:55:00Z")
A poster flagged it and I close the thread for about an hour\*. I had reviewed **Magiver** ’s record and considered if another warning was due or 1st suspension. As it was IMHO and not GD or P&E, I let him off with just a warning, but damn, that was a hijack attempt worthy of posters we’ve ended up banning. He has a lot of warnings, some for hijacks and far too many modnotes it appears. Hijacks and insults outside of the Pit are especially common. Most of the time he contributes well to threads, but he pulls these stunts a lot. - Partially due to not having my coffee yet and partially the thread has been problematic. Once I had my coffee and did my review, I made my decision and reopened the thread. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6074 "2025-12-18T16:44:18Z")
High praise coming from you, @Spice_Weasel ! > [@CairoCarol](#): > > Same here! I still remember the first couple of lines 50 years later. Moi, aussi. I used to say it in my head to pass the time if I was somewhere I didn’t have anything to read. It really reinforced it in my memory. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6075 "2025-12-20T10:01:48Z")
Are we allowed to comment here on another **Pit** thread? Because right now, **Smapti** and **Banquet\_Bear** are going at each other in the **Smapti** Pit thread with a relentless ferocity that one rarely sees. It’s really moderately entertaining. The concept of “just let it go” seems alien to both of them. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6076 "2025-12-20T10:23:33Z")
What, _Smapti’s_ a poster we think is worth saving, now? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6077 "2025-12-20T10:31:45Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I used to say it in my head to pass the time if I was somewhere I didn’t have anything to read. It really reinforced it in my memory. Something the TikTok generation will never do. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6078 "2025-12-20T11:52:16Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > is it any less frustrating if someone posts the exact same thing that was previously posted in said zombie? I would think there IS value, given the “active posting-population of the 2010 SDMB” is vastly different from the (entering) 2026 population … both circles are/were smart cookies but the overlap in _personas_ is minimal - so any debate might run a completely different way today. Second reasoning: a lot of shit that has happened between 2010 and ‘26 and that will def. have colated into our collective minds. → possibly the more interesting aspect … I for one, enjoy\*) reading the odd zombie (I wished the SW could have the text of zombies at a different color to tip you off) … esp. if dealing with politics, as it goes to show how things have ~~deteriorated~~ changed (e.g. the tan suit scandal) enjoy\*) = a net positive ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6079 "2025-12-20T12:14:04Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > We have another few posters who love to respond to threads of any length having read the OP title and OP body, but none of the existing replies, be there 10 or 1000. And then make the most obvious observations imaginable. Virtually guaranteeing they’re simply repeating what’s already been said a few times before. I am probably guilty of that - and let me explain: _(process of introspection)_ It happen’s to me “sometimes”, when I have been off-the-board for a couple of days/weeks and start diving into it again, thusly reading a backlog of days-or-week-old posts. Of course, every now and then I read something “… **where somebody on the internet is clearly wrong** ” … and jump in … not reckoning his post might be 2 weeks old (like this one 😉 ) … and people might have said the same thing I am saying, but already 2 weeks ago, hence making my post pretty pointless … I also do delete my answers (before sending it off) quite often (partly for the same reason, partly for asking myself “_are you willing to internet-die on that hill_"?” → so there is hope. Not defending it, but trying to explain that there are usage patterns of the SDMB that make you more prone to that falacy that daily users might not understand/see at first glance. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6080 "2025-12-20T16:45:12Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > > > Now, if some skeevy looking guy tells you “Be sweet”. Run. Fast > > “Wanna sweet?” is infinitely worse. how ‘bout **Wanna be sweet?** . . (c’mon … you guys/gals really ARE hard to please …) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6081 "2025-12-21T05:43:40Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The concept of “just let it go” seems alien to both of them. I think that’s the difference between most posters and the annoying ones. We\* all say stupid things at times, but the annoying ones just don’t let things go. It’s bad enough to not let things go but when they are being stupid then it gets old fast. \*Most people. There are a few who are more careful and don’t say stupid things ever. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6082 "2025-12-21T13:51:22Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > There are a few who are more careful and don’t say stupid things ever. Thank you. I was hoping someone would notice. 😁 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=288) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=290)