# You're hardcore Cred **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 14, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729 "2010-07-14T23:59:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/1 "2010-07-14T23:59:25Z")
I’ve noticed that there is an obligatory scene in every action movie where we learn just what a hardcore badass the protagonist is. The rules of this scene are pretty simple. It’s never delivered by the protagonist, but by a third party that knows the hero. He let’s somebody (usually the bad guy) know how badly they’ve screwed up by pissing off our hero. For example, In First Blood Col. Trautman delivers this speech to the sheriff. God didn’t make Rambo. I made him!..You don’t seem to want to accept the fact you’re dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who’s the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who’s been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In Vietnam his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well Rambo was the best." In Man on Fire, Rayburn (played by Christopher Walken who would be my choice to deliver a speech about what a badass I was) describes Denzel Washington’s character as follows: "A man can be an artist… in anything, food, whatever. It depends on how good he is at it. Creasey’s art is death. He’s about to paint his masterpiece…He’ll deliver more justice in a weekend than ten years of your courts and tribunals. " In The Glimmer Man, Mr. Smith says this about Steven Segal: "Suffice to say, to the people he hunted for us, he was known as the Glimmer Man. There’d be nothing but jungle, then a glimmer… Then you’d be dead! " I could go on and on, the technique is ubiquitous. Once you notice it, you realize it’s in every action movie, and quite a few others besides. The hero never says it, because that would be bragging. The problem is that nobody ever says this kind of stuff about me, in any context. Or, if they do, I imagine they’re rolling their eyes and being ironic. Or, if they do, and it’s complimentary, it never gets back to me. Until today. Today I got some hardcore cred. I sent out an email scheduling some meetings with some employees. It went like this: “Tues 2:00, Scylla meets with Jack Wed 9:30 Scylla meets with Johnny Thurs 2:00 Fredo meets with Scylla.” Well, apparently Fredo read that email and wondered why I put his name first with his meeting when I put my name first when I met with Jack and Johnny. He speculated that there was a message there in the subtext, and sent an email to Jack wondering maybe if there was, or he was reading too much into it. He thought that maybe I was saying Jack and Johnny listened appropriately at meetings and he, Fredo did not. Jack emailed Fredo back (hitting “reply all” which is how I learned of this") and said. “I don’t know what it means, but it means something. Scylla does nothing by accident.” I kind of thought that was pretty cool. Makes me look pretty badass. Anyway, that’s what I got (of course it was totally by accident, but that’s beside the point.) “Big deal,” you say. “So what?” That doesn’t make you Arnold Schwarzenneger. Ok. That’s true. So… What do you got? Can you top that? What hardcore cred, delivered by a third party has ever gotten back to you? (oh, and please feel free to give me more hardcore cred. Now that I got some, it’s like a drug. I want more. If you give me some, I’ll give you some.) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/2 "2010-07-15T00:18:47Z")
I could probably get a canoe out on Lake Tahoe pretty soon if you need somewhere to meet Fredo. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/3 "2010-07-15T00:30:08Z")
It’s my sig… ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/4 "2010-07-15T01:20:17Z")
A few weeks ago there was this conversation at a meeting I couldn’t attend: Co-worker: It’s impossible to integrate that software with (our database). My boss: So what you’re saying is, **Duke** can do it. ---
**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:** [July 15, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/5 "2010-07-15T01:37:12Z")
I’m hardcore Cred? Why, thanks! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/6 "2010-07-15T01:47:55Z")
Oakminster and Duke both have me beat. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/7 "2010-07-15T01:50:59Z")
I’ve never done hardcore, but I have a few softcore credits to my name. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/8 "2010-07-15T02:08:46Z")
Well, I don’t know how closely the OP expects us to hew to his idea of what constitutes badassitude, but as far what counts in MY world, my cred came pretty recently, right [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=566528). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/9 "2010-07-15T02:21:38Z")
I’m the funniest person you know. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/10 "2010-07-15T02:29:56Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Well, I don’t know how closely the OP expects us to hew to his idea of what constitutes badassitude, but as far what counts in MY world, my cred came pretty recently, right [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=566528). In that thread you are basically being called a badass of fairness. That counts. Any third party endorsement of mastery or exceptionalism counts as long as you are only the subject and not the intended recipient. If you are the intended recipient than it’s just a compliment. ---
**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:** [July 15, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/11 "2010-07-15T03:42:36Z")
Colibri knows _everything._ Said by a friend of mine to another friend. And she wasn’t being sarcastic. Mainly in reference to my capacity for bringing up tidbits of esoteric knowledge on a wide variety of subjects. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/12 "2010-07-15T03:54:21Z")
I brought pizza and pop to an impromptu party at someone’s house, and when everyone was ready to have some pop and needed cups - bam! I produced those too. My friend said “ **ZipperJJ** is always party-ready.” Exciting, right? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/13 "2010-07-15T04:00:46Z")
Said by my sister to another person, “He has this incredible liberal arts education, and he can talk intelligently about anything!” Said by the director of a play to the cast (after I had a little outburst about how everyone was fucking off and not working), “If Boyo Jim is angry, things must really be bad.” ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/14 "2010-07-15T04:45:55Z")
“See that guy over there, the one with the friendly smile, that looks kind of like a teddy bear? You may think he’ll be an easy opponent. We call him the Cuisinart.” “[Balance] is the biggest damn ninja I ever met.” (Granted, both of those are in the context of a combat LARP.) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/15 "2010-07-15T05:14:51Z")
It was a GQ thread about grammar, and I responded to the original question. There was some discussion about my response, which was put paid to when our own **Sunspace** quoted me to the posters at large, and said, “Fear this man.” By the way, **Scylla** , the title of this thread ought to be changed from “you’re” to “your.” It requires the possessive. 😃 ---
**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:** [July 15, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/16 "2010-07-15T05:27:46Z")
Ooh, I thought of one, from our very own **Spoons** - he said that he admired my succinct posting style. I was very flattered by such a compliment. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/17 "2010-07-15T06:34:15Z")
One I like the best: A coworker was asked by the new kid for help because they could not find the pipeline on the contact prints that they were pricing together and scaling for enlargements into alignment sheets. “But I can’t find the line !!! " Reply: " It is right in the middle of the picture.” New worker, “You have not even looked, how do you know that?” Reply, “Because Gus flew it.” ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/18 "2010-07-15T10:17:44Z")
The scene: a board meeting: Managing Director: “Now, with Quartz in our IT team, I’m confident…” Someone: “Err… he’s leaving.” MD: “Shit.” ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/19 "2010-07-15T10:40:43Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > It was a GQ thread about grammar, and I responded to the original question. There was some discussion about my response, which was put paid to when our own **Sunspace** quoted me to the posters at large, and said, “Fear this man.” > > By the way, **Scylla** , the title of this thread ought to be changed from “you’re” to “your.” It requires the possessive. 😃 **Scylla** is hardcore - he spells it how he wants. He’s like a literary Chuck Norris. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729/20 "2010-07-15T12:58:28Z")
Someone on the Dope once described himself as the ‘‘diametrical opposite of **olivesmarch4th** ’’ to explain how mean he thought he was. I wasn’t even participating in the thread. I thought it was very sweet. My Aunt is my real life streed cred generator. She’s a very ‘‘tell it like it is’’ sort of person, not the type to overstate things or get emotionally carried away. When people aren’t taking responsibility for their circumstances, she shames them with stories about me. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-hardcore-cred/546729.md?page=2)