# yet another bad call - **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 18, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213 "2015-01-18T21:04:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/1 "2015-01-18T21:04:09Z")
[In this thread -](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=746626) > [@Colibri](#): > > [Quote=Ibn Warraq] > > Well, that was an extremely well-written, thoughtful, highly persuasive post. > > Respectfully if you’re going to accuse others of being “idiots” and making “fucking stupid” posts, you might want to work on your own. Moderator Warning You also know that insults are not permitted. This is an official warning. [/quote] Where did Ibn Warraq insult the poster? He directly attacked the content of the post - not the poster him/herself. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/2 "2015-01-18T21:13:59Z")
> [@simster](#): > > Where did Ibn Warraq insult the poster? He directly attacked the content of the post - not the poster him/herself. If he didn’t directly call **Oliveritaly** an idiot, he came close enough to it that it makes no difference. And in any case, it was a personal attack if nothing else. We don’t want to see these kinds of personal remarks in ATMB. This forum is for discussing moderation, not for attacking other posters. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/3 "2015-01-18T21:14:40Z")
> [@simster](#): > > [In this thread -](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=746626) > > Where did Ibn Warraq insult the poster? He directly attacked the content of the post - not the poster him/herself. Oblique-yes. But \*\*Ibn Warraq \*\* knew what he was posting. I would have warned him. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/4 "2015-01-18T21:20:15Z")
Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. I agree with **simster**. The warning was a bad call, worthy of a mod note, maybe, but nothing more than that. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/5 "2015-01-18T21:23:51Z")
I don’t agree with this warning at all. I personally think a different poster would not have been warned for saying the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/6 "2015-01-18T21:37:21Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > And in any case, it was a personal attack if nothing else. > > We don’t want to see these kinds of personal remarks in ATMB. This forum is for discussing moderation, not for attacking other posters. The same forum where a moderator told someone their post won the least connected to reality prize of the day? That forum? I’m just saying, if you want people to be respectful and polite, be the change you want to see. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/7 "2015-01-18T21:52:09Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > The same forum where a moderator told someone their post won the least connected to reality prize of the day? That forum? I’m just saying, if you want people to be respectful and polite, be the change you want to see. That would have been **Dex** talking to **Fenris** ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/8 "2015-01-18T22:11:55Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > The same forum where a moderator told someone their post won the least connected to reality prize of the day? “Idiot” and “fucking stupid” go rather beyond that. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/9 "2015-01-18T22:21:41Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > If he didn’t directly call **Oliveritaly** an idiot, he came close enough … emph. mine. So coming close enough is now illegal? How about almost close enough, or too close to almost close enough? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/10 "2015-01-18T22:23:20Z")
That seemed to me like an attack on the post. Let’s see if we can rewrite it. > [@](#): > > Well, that was an extremely well-written, thoughtful, highly persuasive post. Comment: This sarcasm is to the point and within traditional boundaries. > [@](#): > > Respectfully if you’re going to accuse others of being “idiots” and making “fucking stupid” posts… Comment: Well this is a little personal but it did start with “respectfully” (softeners are encouraged after all) and it was factual and specific. Not just a broadside. > [@](#): > > …you might want to work on your own. Now that sounds insulting, but the content merely advised the OP to work harder on his OPs. Maybe we could try this: [INDENT]Respectfully if you’re going to accuse others of being “idiots” and making “fucking stupid” posts, you might want to [del]work on your own.[/del] spend some time contemplating pots and kettles. ## I can understand your frustration, but that reads like a rant, not a constructive piece of criticism. [/INDENT] In other words, you should bookend your snark with softeners and not just begin with them. What I would _not_ advise **Ibn** to do, speaking as a fellow poster, would be to refrain from such commentary: it was topical to ATMB and was not merely a personal pit-worthy attack. Along those lines, this seems like mod note material. Or to be honest, it doesn’t even rise to that level IMHO, but that’s an issue of calibration. As an aside, there’s a case to be made for lowering the civility standards in Elections relative to GD. But that rant was not an argument. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/11 "2015-01-18T22:23:38Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > emph. mine. > > So coming close enough is now illegal? How about almost close enough, or too close to almost close enough? It was a personal attack as well. Nitpicking exactly how close it was is irrelevant to the warning. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/12 "2015-01-19T01:27:09Z")
I haven’t the faintest idea what you guys think “personal insults” are any more. It’s truly baffling. Please, explain how telling someone to work on their own posts before calling someone else’s “fucking stupid”, with quote marks to make it clear they were quoting said person, is an insult. Be specific. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/13 "2015-01-19T01:30:15Z")
Agreed. The OP in that thread called the mods “fuckers” and “stupid” but that’s not a personal insult, yet quoting him in the next post is a personal insult? Wha??? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/14 "2015-01-19T01:36:16Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > “Idiot” and “fucking stupid” go rather beyond that. No, they don’t and it’s an embarrassment to your intelligence and an insult to ours that you even try to justify it. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/15 "2015-01-19T01:39:29Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Agreed. The OP in that thread called the mods “fuckers” and “stupid” but that’s not a personal insult, yet quoting him in the next post is a personal insult? Wha??? The OP, **oliveritaly** , got a warning for his/her post. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/16 "2015-01-19T01:40:31Z")
Sorry I didn’t see that. But then why is quoting him a personal insult? That’s just silly. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/17 "2015-01-19T01:54:09Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Sorry I didn’t see that. But then why is quoting him a personal insult? That’s just silly. Merely quoting another poster’s post wouldn’t deserve a warning but saying > [@](#): > > Respectfully if you’re going to accuse others of being “idiots” and making “fucking stupid” posts, you might want to work on your own is attacking the poster, at least in my opinion. Yes, it’s attacking the post, but it’s also slamming the poster. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/18 "2015-01-19T02:16:18Z")
It’s attacking the post, and offering constructive criticism to the poster. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/19 "2015-01-19T02:21:00Z")
Jebus, some of you mods are getting a little sanctimonious with your “don’t be a jerk” rule. FFS, take it down just a couple of notches. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213/20 "2015-01-19T03:14:20Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Jebus, some of you mods are getting a little sanctimonious with your “don’t be a jerk” rule. The new rule, as I see it, is about 10 yards from actually being a jerk, but it’s “close enough.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bad-call/710213.md?page=2)