# Who is Opal?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [October 22, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441 "2005-10-22T17:45:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/1 "2005-10-22T17:45:25Z")
I read the thread **I pit "Hi Opal** , and since then have seen 3 item lists with the third item deidcated to her in a few more threads
So, who is this **Opal** of which you all speak? and what has she done to earn this recognition?
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### Author:  [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/2 "2005-10-22T17:47:02Z")
That’s Opalcat. When someone posted a list of something, it would sometimes only have two items on it. Opalcat noted that to be a list, there had to be at least 3 items. So, people added “Hi, Opal” as their third item regardless of the length of the list.
It got old real fast.
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### Author:  [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/3 "2005-10-22T17:47:11Z")
She started a thread complaining that a list must have at least three things. Two things is not a list. So, if you’re list only has two, you add “Hi Opal” to bring it up the three.
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### Author:  [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/4 "2005-10-22T17:47:53Z")
> [@anyrose](#):
>
> I read the thread **I pit "Hi Opal** , and since then have seen 3 item lists with the third item deidcated to her in a few more threads
> So, who is this **Opal** of which you all speak? and what has she done to earn this recognition?
I’ll repeat the bare bones of an explanation I’ve seen before. Opal was a doper who made a big deal of how a list (of examples, cites, or reasons) should not have only one or two items.
In response, a number of other dopers started making lists with two relevant items and just the words ‘hi, opal’ as the text of the third list item. 🙂 It became one of the straight dope in-jokes, like 1920s-style ray gun, “only for twenty minutes in the sixties” (or whatever that one is,) and so on. Now Hal briston’s sheep are probably on the list too. 😃
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/5 "2005-10-22T17:53:27Z")
[ul]
[li]Hi, anyrose[/li][li]Hi, Palooka[/li][li]Hi, Opal[/li][/ul]
😉
When youget a chance [read this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=320298) anyrose.
It is the Beginner’s Guide to Glossary of Terms on Straight Dope Message Boards.
Really handy for catching up on some of the terminology.
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### Author:  [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/6 "2005-10-22T18:08:58Z")
and on that link [I found this bit of silliness](http://www.weebl.jolt.co.uk/view.php)
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/7 "2005-10-22T18:48:07Z")
> [@chrisk](#):
>
> I’ll repeat the bare bones of an explanation I’ve seen before. Opal was a doper who made a big deal of how a list (of examples, cites, or reasons) should not have only one or two items.
Was?
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### Author:  [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/8 "2005-10-22T19:05:14Z")
Is she still around, by the way? I didn’t notice any of her posts for some time…
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/9 "2005-10-22T19:25:55Z")
> [@clairobscur](#):
>
> Is she still around, by the way? I didn’t notice any of her posts for some time…
Lots of recent threads
Here is one see started:
[DVD-RW Identity crisis… wtf?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=339342)
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### Author:  [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/10 "2005-10-22T19:42:18Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> Was?
Poor choice of words. 😃
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### Author:  [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/11 "2005-10-22T19:46:44Z")
\
Question answered. I think this is ATMB material now.
\
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### Author:  [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/12 "2005-10-22T20:51:26Z")
> [@clairobscur](#):
>
> Is she still around, by the way? I didn’t notice any of her posts for some time…
Opal is very much around. Just look in the right locations.
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/13 "2005-10-22T21:03:22Z")
“Hi, Opal!” was funny for 20 minutes. In 1960. Now, enraged Dopers will shoot anyone using it with a 1920s style death ray. And if they escape that, Og smash!
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### Author:  [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/14 "2005-10-22T21:08:16Z")
> [@Polycarp](#):
>
> “Hi, Opal!” was funny for 20 minutes. In 1960. Now, enraged Dopers will shoot anyone using it with a 1920s style death ray. And if they escape that, Og smash!
Properly used, “3. Hi, Opal!” would continue to be funny. The trouble was that people started inserting it into ANY list, regardless of the number of items in the list. This, of course, showed that they failed to understand Opacat’s basic premise. That is the part that got old, very quickly. \
Soon, I predict that Hal will be accused of every form of pederasty known to man, at which point it will get quite unfunny… ☹
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/15 "2005-10-22T22:38:57Z")
> [@chrisk](#):
>
> Poor choice of words. 😃
I’ve been on the boards since 1997 and I just got wooshed. Why is “Was?” a poor choice of word(s)?
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### Author:  [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/16 "2005-10-22T23:11:23Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#):
>
> Soon, I predict that Hal will be accused of every form of pederasty known to man, at which point it will get quite unfunny… ☹
“Will get”??
Kidding…I’m not bitter about all of this…really. Not at all. Much, anyway.
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### Author:  [@Feydeau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feydeau)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/17 "2005-10-22T23:18:00Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> I’ve been on the boards since 1997 and I just got wooshed. Why is “Was?” a poor choice of word(s)?
I think it’s due to the fact that she still posts, therefore, “was” denotes former poster, whereas, upthread is a link to a recent thread of hers.
It’s a Grammar Nazi thing.
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### Author:  [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/18 "2005-10-23T00:30:43Z")
The difference between a running gag (funny) and borrrrrrrring repetition (not funny) is… ?
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/19 "2005-10-23T00:43:17Z")
Step 3: Profit?
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-opal/327441/20 "2005-10-23T01:45:22Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#):
>
> The difference between a running gag (funny) and borrrrrrrring repetition (not funny) is… ?
Well, **Hal** misused it once. But he got criticized for it, and it made him feel sheepish! 😉
::: ducks and runs :::
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