# Wrong, Bone. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 13, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527 "2017-11-13T14:25:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/1 "2017-11-13T14:25:26Z")
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/report.php?p=20598825](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/report.php?p=20598825) This was in response to a claim using the word “we”, in a topic about the political fortunes of parties in which “we” refers to one of them. Not a personal insult, as \*\*Bone \*\*misunderstands. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/2 "2017-11-13T14:40:25Z")
You linked to reporting a post. Here’s the link you meant to post: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20598825&postcount=15](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20598825&postcount=15) I’m not understanding what you think Bone misunderstood. In what was is your response to adaher’s “we”? Adaher said “… and assume it’s because we’re racist and sexist and anti-intellectual.” When you respond with “Which you aren’t?”, it is of course going to seem to others that you’re claiming that Adaher is indeed racist and sexist and anti-intellectual. What exactly is your objection to the warning and in what way is your post in response to Adaher’s use of “we’re” and not an insult? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/3 "2017-11-13T14:54:19Z")
Seems like a good call to me. Either you were directing that right at Adaher or you were directing that at a collective that included Adaher. Either way, it was an insult. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/4 "2017-11-13T15:03:13Z")
Even if the “we” is taken to mean “me and my fellow Republicans”, then “you” means “you [**adaher**] and your fellow Republicans”. Either way it’s an insult directed at another poster. Here’s the actual exchange: > [@adaher](#): > > Nah, they’ll probably just nominate Kamala Harris and watch her flame out spectacularly and assume it’s because we’re racist and sexist and anti-intellectual. > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Which you aren’t? One cannot insult oneself (or, one can, and not break the rules). But it was a hypothetical insult anyway, and **Elvis** made it not only real, but personal. Good moderation. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/5 "2017-11-13T15:07:41Z")
Splitting hares leaves a bloody mess … you should have thought of what you were posting before you clicked on the “Post Quick Reply” button … **Adaher** took possession of his insult, you didn’t … thus the warning is fairly administered, I’d expect no less if I posted that … As I understand the rules, we could get a warning even if we’re insulting ourselves … “I believe this because I’m a dickhead” … obviously this doesn’t come up very often and rarely is it disruptive to the discussion at hand … but if insulting ourselves is shitting the thread, then a warning is due … **Bone** calls it personal insult, he could have said threadshitting, either way you got a well deserved warning … ---
**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:** [November 13, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/6 "2017-11-13T16:01:52Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Splitting hares I’m pretty sure it’s “splitting HAIRS”…as in, trying to split something already so thin that it’s redundant to try/do. ---
**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:** [November 13, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/7 "2017-11-13T16:02:59Z")
Not to split hairs over it, though. Back to your regularly scheduled ATMB topic. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/8 "2017-11-13T16:04:33Z")
You just ruined a perfectly good pun!! ---
**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:** [November 13, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/9 "2017-11-13T16:40:18Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You just ruined a perfectly good pun!! For some reason he got a wild hare up his ass over it. ([cite](https://image.shutterstock.com/z/stock-vector-rabbit-rides-a-donkey-running-smile-and-happy-donkey-cartoon-vector-illustration-hand-drawn-66148828.jpg)) ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/10 "2017-11-13T16:48:19Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/report.php?p=20598825](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/report.php?p=20598825) > > This was in response to a claim using the word “we”, in a topic about the political fortunes of parties in which “we” refers to one of them. Not a personal insult, as \*\*Bone \*\*misunderstands. If your contention is that you weren’t directing your comment toward adaher, I don’t find that remotely persuasive. That you may have also been including a larger group in your accusation doesn’t impact that assessment. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/11 "2017-11-13T16:53:24Z")
If we’re voting, I’d vote “Wrong, Elvis”. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/12 "2017-11-13T16:57:18Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > If your contention is that you weren’t directing your comment toward adaher, I don’t find that remotely persuasive. That you may have also been including a larger group in your accusation doesn’t impact that assessment. Would it have been acceptable, in that instance, to reply with: _“Which the Republicans aren’t?”_ I’m thinking it would be, but I’m not at all sure I’m up on the latest consensus about that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/13 "2017-11-13T17:04:49Z")
Another vote that the moderation was correct. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/14 "2017-11-13T21:16:26Z")
A vote for hasenpfeffer … ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/15 "2017-11-13T21:24:37Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > A vote for hasenpfeffer … But why does it taste like carrots? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/16 "2017-11-13T22:07:23Z")
For my money, I read the you there as meaning the republican party and conservatives in general, not necessarily including **adahar** , with the you meaning “your team” ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/17 "2017-11-14T01:00:31Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > If your contention is that you weren’t directing your comment toward adaher, I don’t find that remotely persuasive. That you may have also been including a larger group in your accusation doesn’t impact that assessment. Shouldn’t it, though? If a poster said “Republicans are a basket of deplorables”, in a thread where others that labeled themselves as Republicans in that thread were posting, would that comment be a warnable offense? I recall instances where political groups that others were posting in were insulted, but no warnings given presumably because the insults weren’t specifically directed at individual posters. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/18 "2017-11-14T01:22:39Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Would it have been acceptable, in that instance, to reply with: > > _“Which the Republicans aren’t?”_ > > I’m thinking it would be, but I’m not at all sure I’m up on the latest consensus about that sort of thing. > [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > Shouldn’t it, though? If a poster said “Republicans are a basket of deplorables”, in a thread where others that labeled themselves as Republicans in that thread were posting, would that comment be a warnable offense? I recall instances where political groups that others were posting in were insulted, but no warnings given presumably because the insults weren’t specifically directed at individual posters. Speaking generally for GD and Elections - I’m not personally a fan of group insults, however our approach in moderation has been that group insults are not typically moderated as a personal insult. This is very context dependent so it’s not something that can be applied across the board. In the past, I’ve described this as follows: > [@Disputing the warning](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disputing-the-warning/791661/23): > > Group insults do [not] lend themselves to bright line rules. In discussions all across the Great Debates and Elections there are disparaging comments towards groups that it is clear from past posting history that some of our posters are members of. Insults towards Republicans, Democrats, and libertarians abound and while I personally am not a fan of sweeping generalizations, it’s not something that I’d prefer to moderate. > > It is when the attack on a group is inseparable from an attack on a poster where a person can run afoul of the rules. This would be context dependent. … > > On the other hand, we often have posts along the lines of _‘Democrats are thieves because they want to tax all our money away!’_, or _‘Republicans are racists who hate the poor!’_. Both of those are childish and add little to productive discussion, but probably not something I’d moderate for personal insults (withholding judgment for other potential violations). However, depending on the direction of the thread, if it’s clear that the intent is to disparage other posters by adding the veneer of the group insult, then that would be moderated. In general I’d avoid sweeping generalizations since they are often false. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/19 "2017-11-14T01:25:32Z")
Thank you; excellent answer. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527/20 "2017-11-14T02:21:55Z")
“[snip] … I’d avoid sweeping generalizations since they are often false.” That sure is painting with a broad brush … [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-bone/801527.md?page=2)