# 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:** 73
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1441 "2024-02-27T02:20:52Z")
Well, it was getting a bit tiresome with seventymillion posts on Beck, so why not a different kind of tiresome? ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1442 "2024-02-27T02:24:45Z")
Point of order! One is a pitting of a poster, for actions taken on this board that we were chosing to chide them on. The other is pitting of a large segment of American English speakers and their casual adaptation of language, which while Pit and Counter-Pitable, is a hijack of _this_ thread (which is allowable, don’t get me wrong). Now, if you, or the others, were pitting a specific POSTER for always using literally as an intensifier, then we’re all good! I’ll sit here with my popcorn. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1443 "2024-02-27T02:27:50Z")
OK, as long as we’re all here lengthily correcting people’s language: > [@DocCathode](#): > > I grew sore roth I do believe the word is “wroth”. I also do believe I just fell down a rabbit hole I didn’t have time for looking for a Thurber quote on the subject. And I didn’t find it. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1444 "2024-02-27T02:36:53Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > I grew sore roth and shouted at my set. What is this string of words? Apparently some James Thurber reference? I’m confused. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1445 "2024-02-27T04:02:28Z")
How about tyrant? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1446 "2024-02-27T04:04:07Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > OK, as long as we’re all here lengthily correcting people’s language: > > > [@DocCathode](#): > > > > I grew sore roth > > I do believe the word is “wroth”. I figured he’d Portnoyed himself until it hurt. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1447 "2024-02-27T04:14:15Z")
Portnoy’s Complaint? Or are we talking about Dream Theatre? Or maybe that Barstool Sports guy? I’m totally lost! ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1448 "2024-02-27T04:34:59Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Portnoy’s Complaint? Written by Philip Roth. Portney masturbated a lot. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1449 "2024-02-27T04:35:45Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I figured he’d Portnoyed himself until it hurt. Hah! (OK, discourse: Hah! Ha! ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1450 "2024-02-27T04:45:28Z")
Now I like that verbing of a proper noun. 😆 ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1451 "2024-02-27T05:29:19Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > a better pedigree That’s ultimately what prescriptivism is - classist gatekeeping. Outside a purely educational context, that’s what it is. Sometimes ageist or racist classism, sometimes merely economic. Here, often it gives an education classism vibe. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1452 "2024-02-27T05:34:48Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That’s ultimately what prescriptivism is - classist gatekeeping. What I gathered when they say “pedigree” is that it is the term that has been used the most for the longest time. I’m not sure if that’s classist or not. The other terms are quite neologistic, relatively speaking. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1453 "2024-02-27T07:11:51Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > What I gathered when they say “pedigree” is that it is the term that has been used the most for the longest time. You’d think so - until you investigate and find out that a lot of those kinds of variants are older than you’d think - e.g. saying “aks” for “ask” is actually the older word, but it’s now looked down on as non-standard dialect. Not saying non-literal “literally” predates literal on, but it would _not_ surprise me if that usage developed within a few decades of the literal one. A very long time ago. So yes, you might say one kind of dog has an older pedigree than another - say, greyhounds vs great danes. But if they both pre-date the modern era, you’re going to only get laughter from me if you think that makes greyhounds better. Or if you think kennel club breed standards make for better dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1454 "2024-02-27T14:50:42Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > I say thee nay! I will fight for literally This is a hill I am willing to die on (possibly literally)! I think you mean “This is a hill on which I am willing to die!” \ ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1455 "2024-02-27T15:10:51Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > I think you mean “This is a hill on which I am willing to die!” Nope. It’s > This is a hill upon which I am willing to die! or nothing. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1456 "2024-02-27T15:14:06Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > > I think you mean “This is a hill on which I am willing to die!” > > Nope > > It’s > > > This is a hill upon which I am willing to die! > > or nothing. 😁 You out-pedanted my pedantry! Pistols at dawn, sir! ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1457 "2024-02-27T15:27:37Z")
I shall have my second call upon your chosen second at noon to-morrow that specifics may be agreed. To whom may I direct him Good Sir? ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1458 "2024-02-27T16:57:23Z")
Thank you! I know it’s a pain on a phone. I keep trying to think of something easier. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1459 "2024-02-27T16:58:58Z")
nm. need coffee 😉 ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1460 "2024-02-27T17:14:35Z")
Attention Junkie was suggested and seems like a good replacement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=72) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=74)