# What were you THINKING?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532>\
**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:** 1\
**Showing post:** 6643

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6643 "2026-02-23T17:00:09Z")

</div>

> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> The bit that was quoted upthread was decidedly **not** advice to **digs** , as should have been clear from the first sentence.

This is the full post:

> [@Doc wants me on N/A beer and spirits (any recommendations?)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-wants-me-on-n-a-beer-and-spirits-any-recommendations/1022691/51):
>
> > [@Doc wants me on N/A beer and spirits (any recommendations?)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-wants-me-on-n-a-beer-and-spirits-any-recommendations/1022691/1):
> >
> > And so far, I’ve struck out on N/A spirits. I’m afraid that it’s a lost cause; so much of the flavor of whisky is that “bite” that the ethanol imparts.
> 
> > [@Doc wants me on N/A beer and spirits (any recommendations?)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-wants-me-on-n-a-beer-and-spirits-any-recommendations/1022691/3):
> >
> > My quarterly well-baby visit w PCP is a week-plus from now. I can hear her now: “Quit drinking, lose weight, exercise more. Fewer carbs too.”
> > 
> > Sigh.
> 
> My solution to alcohol-free liquor that lacks “bite” is to consume proper liquor that does have alcohol in it. Seriously, just do it in moderation, unless you have liver disease. The doctor who tells you to avoid all alcohol is likely to then go off for a nice dinner accompanied by a fine bottle of Cabernet. It’s all about lifestyle balance. I may expire before this board does, and it may be due to alcohol, but I want it to be said that “he left with a smile on his face”. 🙂

So just to clarify, you quoted digs saying that he felt NA spirits lacked the “bite” of alcohol; your first sentence was “My solution to alcohol-free liquor that lacks “bite” is to consume proper liquor that does have alcohol in it.” and it should be obvious _from that sentence_ that you weren’t offering advice to digs?

Can you walk us through that? Because usually in English communication if someone asks for advice about a problem, the person who replies saying “My solution to that problem is to…” is taken to be offering advice. Like, it’s possible they’re just a narcissist who uses other people’s problems to waffle on about themselves, but by far the most common interpretation is that they’re offering their solution for the first person to use. In the light of that, are you completely sure that your first sentence should have made it clear that you were decidedly not offering advice to digs?

Your second sentence of course was “Seriously, just do it in moderation, unless you have liver disease”. An imperative! Literally telling someone what to do. Preceeded by a modifier that emphasises the sincerity of what follows! But not advice to anyone, how could anyone possibly read it like that? Especially not digs, who was the OP of the thread and whom you quoted in that post. Good thing too, because if you had just told someone on doctor’s orders to cut out alcohol that they should ignore that and keep drinking spirits, that would be, as LHOD says, exceptionally poor form.

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532)._