xkcd comic about smug jerks who think they’re funny. Every time we have a thread where people share their “funny” remarks, I have felt this, but until I saw this comic, I didn’t have the words for it. Now I do, so I’m sharing it with all y’all. If you are one of the people guilty of this behaviour, rest assured that I don’t expect you to change, but be aware that people are thinking of you like the guy with the knife in this comic.
Especially since that particular “riddle” is almost always mis-spoken. Ugh. I love XKCD, by the by.
Words, not knives, kids.
Including in the comic itself. Here’s the correct wording:
I feel I should point out that the guy with the knife is the recurring character referred to as the “Classhole”, who is arguably the ultimate smug jerk. That said, it’s hard to argue with him on this particular issue, and not just because he would stab you for it.
+1
Understood.
::Puts hands in pockets and backs away slowly::
OK, I’ll flaunt my ignorance for everyone to see: What the hell does this mean?? I see people post it every so often. I’m guessing a D&D reference?
I’ll give you a million dollars if you drink a glass full of water right now.
Ah, you didn’t drink if full, you drank it empty. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
Hey, where’d my hand go?
No, just “I agree with the above post word for word”.
It’s for boards with titles you get with so many posts. It means “+1 to post count.” It’s usually done in threads bound to get locked or ones that are utterly useless.
I.e.
OP: “Puppies are cute!”
Post Count Padder: “Umm… great.
+1”
It can be used for that, but most people (at least on the non-dope) will put “QFT” (Quoted for Truth), or make it clear with an “agreed +1.”
No, it’s a reference to boards with a reputation system. Other users can rate a post, if you like the post the poster gets a bump in reputation, if you dislike it they lose reputation.
Not exclusively.
In some places, it is specifically used to tally the opinions of the readers, and encouraged. +1, -1 and 0. It might be the “python language” mailing list that does this. Some mailing list I subscribe to does.
Even if you phrase it “correctly”, it’s a terrible fucking riddle that doesn’t rely on cleverness or logic. It is entirely based on tricking the listener into believing you’re asking something that you’re not.
While some riddles have unneeded information, their intent is rarely to intentionally deceive. And, if you strip them to their bone, they still function as riddles. that’s simply not so in this case, where the stripped down riddle would essentially be “there are three words in the phrase ‘the english language’. What is the third word?”
To even state that this riddle has a “correct” wording gives it way too much credit as a riddle, hence Litoris’ quotes, I assume.
I’ve never seen it in reference to a rep system, then again the two rep boards I’ve been on had a rule where you weren’t allowed to publicly talk about rep you gave or received. I’ve exclusively seen it used for post count or quiet “agreeing” if it has a qualifier.
I guess it just adopts different uses on different boards.
I thought it was a D & D thing too. Regardless of where it came from, I assumed that a +number was intended as a positive response, and a -number was negative response. I’m funny that way. 
Why did you link directly to the image? You miss the alt-text that way. Let your mouse linger over the image and read the text that appears.
+1 is most commonly a Farkism, generally given when the submitter comes up with a particularly clever headline, or a commenter posts a particularly witty rejoinder.
I put it there because I agreed with OP. Nothing more, nothing less. consider it a Thumbs up on digg.com or a +1 Insightful on Slashdot.
Whatever the origin, I’d like to take a moment to say how much I loathe “+1” and its cousin, Extremely Long Quoted Post Followed By “This.” I know we’re all busy people, but we don’t have a reputation system or titles here and it’s not like you save a lot of time by hitting “+1” instead of “I agree.”
I eagerly await the next 16 people who are planning to quote this post and enter “+1” and “This.” 
tl;dr