# will sound stupid if u dont know **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 29, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541 "2005-12-29T04:18:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![kelvinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9fc348/32.png) [@kelvinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelvinator)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/61 "2005-12-29T22:11:40Z")
> [@Nic2004](#): > > I am disappointed. > \ > I would have expected better. I couldn’t agree more. This young man comes here filled with angst, thinking that the SDMBers aren’t so full of themselves as to ignore him. Ths SDMB has some of the most well written, articulate and intelligent people I’ve had the privilege to read. Usually, they get behind each other in times of need (remember the 9/11 thread, folks?). However, some insist on being jackasses and refuse to take anything seriously. If the OP was light-hearted or smartass, then it’s OK to be a smartass back. But poster was stating the same kind of self-doubt and soul searching that the majority of us felt at that age. How would you feel if you turned to a group of people whose opinions you valued and were laughed at? Shame. ---
**Author:** ![MessyPaint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@MessyPaint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MessyPaint)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/62 "2005-12-29T22:36:04Z")
> [@kelvinator](#): > > I couldn’t agree more. This young man comes here filled with angst, thinking that the SDMBers aren’t so full of themselves as to ignore him. Ths SDMB has some of the most well written, articulate and intelligent people I’ve had the privilege to read. Usually, they get behind each other in times of need (remember the 9/11 thread, folks?). > > However, some insist on being jackasses and refuse to take anything seriously. If the OP was light-hearted or smartass, then it’s OK to be a smartass back. But poster was stating the same kind of self-doubt and soul searching that the majority of us felt at that age. How would you feel if you turned to a group of people whose opinions you valued and were laughed at? > > Shame. well, this thread is a nice foreword as to what the world of humans really is- inconsistent. and like he said, there are people who get it, and people who don’t, people who defend it, and people who will laugh…he threw himself out there because he was curious of the general thought, and now the results are before him if they hurt him, or steal away his independence and innocence now, then he will be the one who doesnt get it… ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/63 "2005-12-29T22:40:40Z")
> [@kelvinator](#): > > But poster was stating the same kind of self-doubt and soul searching that the majority of us felt at that age. Speak for yerself. I’d been too busy holding down a full-time job for a year at his age to have much pity for this kind of illiterate snivelling. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/64 "2005-12-29T22:45:09Z")
> [@Nic2004](#): > > I am disappointed. > > An angst-filled young man comes to you for insight and advice. And what does he get for his trouble? Wisdom? Understanding? Even a little mentoring? > No. > Ridicule, sarcasm and a lecture on spelling, punctuation and sentance structure. Only a few, a very few, can look past this and attempt to speak to the confussion expressed. Someone on the nexus between childhood simplicity and soul-searching self examination looks to some of the best minds it has been my privledge to know and this is what he finds. > > Many here will not like this. That’s unfortuate. > > I would have expected better. Nic, I take your point. _But_ it is a truth that on this board it is encouraged that one at least \*tries \*to embrace what is normally accepted as english. Lord knows that I am a poor speller, and I see poor grammer and puntuation every day. But you will find very few postings in the style of the OP. It is simply not encouraged. \*And \*Ric did a very nice job of gently explaining that (mentoring him on acceptance here) - and was ignored. Others offered the same advice, both gently and not-so-gently - and were ignored. Here is a hint for wisdom: When you are asking for help expect to get it on \*their \*terms not _yours_. That isn’t rocket science though. If you want someone to help you, don’t be too surprised if they expect you to communicate in their language. I will also add that IMO, if that style of posting does become common, the board will be lessened and I will stop coming. I may be in the minority, but I doubt it. And lastly I will say that the OP got quite a few good answers. They may not be what he wants, but that doesn’t make them less good. \*\*anyrose \*\*suggested that he explore his spiritual side. **kelvinator** mentioned the armed service (as did **John Carter of Mars** ) and wisely lets the OP know that answers come with time and experience. Heck, just on this page alone there are several insightful answers. Yes, a lot of ball-busting too. But that could have been avoided by simply listening to the good advice given. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/65 "2005-12-30T00:01:22Z")
And I suggested distractions such as music, food and humor. If those don’t work, I meant it when I said that he should seek counselling. The world is a very confusing place–for us all. My tone may not have met with your approval, but the concern is there. How are you the arbiter of wisdom to youth, **Nic**? Poking fun (kindly meant fun) at someone who wants an answer to life’s biggest question is not snarky or mean. Complaints about poor grammar and punctuation are legitimate. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/66 "2005-12-30T00:47:29Z")
> [@Electronic Chaos](#): > > But… but… that’s what you told me I was here to do last week! Didin’t you see the big yellow “!” over his head? He tells everyone your level to do that. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/67 "2005-12-30T03:41:05Z")
> [@Electronic Chaos](#): > > Ending a sentence with a preposition. Oh come on. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/68 "2005-12-30T03:44:43Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Somehow, somewhere, **gaudere** is laughing his ass off… Hey, I never said anything about run on sentences. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/69 "2005-12-30T03:59:51Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Oh come on. Yeah, we all have grammar nitpickers to put up with around. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/70 "2005-12-30T04:13:05Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Somehow, somewhere, gaudere is laughing his ass off… _She_ really is laughing _her_ ass off now! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/71 "2005-12-30T04:19:01Z")
> [@nd\_n8](#): > > \ I remember the first time I had that feeling, it was when I was 12. To this day I can’t tell you exactly what that feeling is but, for me, it went away when I was 27 and held my son for the first time. I looked in his eyes, saw my own and silently wept. That was 9 years ago. I still don’t have the answers but when I look into his eyes I still get the feeling that 11/19/96 was the day I made peace with the inner burden of ?z and was able to look forward and focus on life. I don’t know if this is the right answer for you, everyone has a different path, but I do hope you find what you are looking for before I did, don’t wait 10 years to do it. This almost sounds like you are recommending having a baby as the cure for the teenage blues. As for the OP and the criticism of posters not responding with deeply thought-out, insightful answers, if the OP had bothered to look around this site a little bit, he would have seen that posting in the style he used is not common around here, and his serious question asked in a proper format would have been seriously discussed. In other words, he let his incoherence get in the way of his message. In the real world, if you stumble and mumble so people can’t understand you, you’re not going to get very good answers to your questions there, either. Learning lesson for the OP, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/72 "2005-12-30T04:45:51Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Nic, I take your point. _But_ it is a truth that on this board it is encouraged that one at least \*tries \*to embrace what is normally accepted as english. > > Lord knows that I am a poor speller, and I see poor grammer and puntuation every day. But you will find very few postings in the style of the OP. It is simply not encouraged. > > \*And \*Ric did a very nice job of gently explaining that (mentoring him on acceptance here) - and was ignored. Others offered the same advice, both gently and not-so-gently - and were ignored. Here is a hint for wisdom: When you are asking for help expect to get it on \*their \*terms not _yours_. That isn’t rocket science though. If you want someone to help you, don’t be too surprised if they expect you to communicate in their language. > > I will also add that IMO, if that style of posting does become common, the board will be lessened and I will stop coming. I may be in the minority, but I doubt it. > > And lastly I will say that the OP got quite a few good answers. They may not be what he wants, but that doesn’t make them less good. \*\*anyrose \*\*suggested that he explore his spiritual side. **kelvinator** mentioned the armed service (as did **John Carter of Mars** ) and wisely lets the OP know that answers come with time and experience. Heck, just on this page alone there are several insightful answers. Yes, a lot of ball-busting too. But that could have been avoided by simply listening to the good advice given. I understand your points and agree in the general sense. No one wants this to be the norm, or even common practice. And I said > [@](#): > > Only **a few** , a very few, can look past this and attempt to speak to the confussion expressed . And although there were some who offered advice like you pointed out, most were advice on grammer/spelling. Do you not think it would be better to welcome a young man with an inqusitive mind and make him feel at home, or belittle him and berate him to the point of withdrawl? He is seeking insight and getting crap. Do you think it better to send some young mind back to the unthinking members of some teen chat board or try to encourage his, and others, involvement and try to move towards a more elequent form of expression? Can we look to the issue at hand and hope to address the less important issues later, somewhat more gradually? These people I’m addressing must be a lot of fun when talking to those of limited education who may aspire to more and look for depth of meaning. Do they say to them to “Learn to speak well before you come here asking questions of the vastly more learned”? **eleanorigby** > [@](#): > > How are you the arbiter of wisdom to youth, Nic? One doesn’t have to be an arbiter of BS to know it when it’s on one’s boot. **Case Sensitive** > [@](#): > > Speak for **yerself**. I’d been too busy holding down a full-time job for a year at his age to have much pity for this kind of illiterate snivelling. I had time for hard work and refelection. And it’s “yourself”. Try to do better in future discussions. It’s very important. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/73 "2005-12-30T05:10:13Z")
Personally, I am skeptical. Something is rotten in Denmark. I believe we are being whooshed… I just don’t trust the internet. The lexical mistakes are too consistent and contrived to be some form of bad typing/spelling or a version of l33t or some other stylistic thing. It’s somebody pretending to be a 17 year old. Someone is having us on. (If not, I apologize in advance.) ---
**Author:** ![MessyPaint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@MessyPaint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MessyPaint)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/74 "2005-12-30T05:28:36Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Personally, I am skeptical. Something is rotten in Denmark. I believe we are being whooshed… I just don’t trust the internet. The lexical mistakes are too consistent and contrived to be some form of bad typing/spelling or a version of l33t or some other stylistic thing. It’s somebody pretending to be a 17 year old. Someone is having us on. > > (If not, I apologize in advance.) you have to admit though, i got the ?z is a pretty kick ass username… i still laugh everytime it passes through my mind… ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/75 "2005-12-30T05:29:21Z")
I guess **Swiftysoitiz** mother did have more children…😛 Just joking. Welcome **i have the ?'z**. I think we are all searching for things in life but don’t know exactly what. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/76 "2005-12-30T06:36:53Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > I believe we are being whooshed… I just don’t trust the internet. I would like to amend this statement, “I believe we are being whooshed… I just don’t trust the SDMB nor Dopers.” Yea, you… the one laughing. Who thinks that some stupid, cruel, subterfuge is a sign of your superior intelligence… it’s sad, I feel bad for you. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/77 "2005-12-30T06:51:45Z")
I might have had those feelings. It’s hard to say based on the description. I just ignored them. They went away after a while. They come back sometimes, but not often. And really. It’s not hard to type properly, and it makes it a whole lot easier to read. I’m 16, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/78 "2005-12-30T08:43:53Z")
> [@Strinka](#): > > And really. It’s not hard to type properly, and it makes it a whole lot easier to read. It might be interesting to see the OP’s typing skills gradually improve then tragically collapse, with his final post asking us to put flowers on his pet mouse’s grave. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/79 "2005-12-30T11:55:39Z")
> [@Nic2004](#): > > I understand your points and agree in the general sense. No one wants this to be the norm, or even common practice. And I said > . And although there were some who offered advice like you pointed out, most were advice on **grammer** /spelling. Do you not think it would be better to welcome a young man with an **inqusitive** mind and make him feel at home, or belittle him and berate him to the point of **withdrawl**? He is seeking insight and getting crap. Do you think it better to send some young mind back to the unthinking members of some teen chat board or try to encourage his, and others, involvement and try to move towards a more **elequent** form of expression? Can we look to the issue at hand and hope to address the less important issues later, somewhat more gradually? These people I’m addressing must be a lot of fun when talking to those of limited education who may aspire to more and look for depth of meaning. Do they say to them to “Learn to speak well before you come here asking questions of the vastly more learned”? > **eleanorigby** One doesn’t have to be an arbiter of BS to know it when it’s on one’s boot. > > **Case Sensitive** I had time for hard work and **refelection**. And it’s “yourself”. Try to do better in future discussions. It’s very important. Yer kidding, right? ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541/80 "2005-12-30T14:22:55Z")
> [@Nic2004](#): > > I am disappointed. > > \ > > I would have expected better. obviously you didn’t read all the posts that carefully, or you would have read quite a few constructive suggestions and some comiserating along with the sarcasm and jokes I am disappointed in you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-sound-stupid-if-u-dont-know/337541.md?page=5)