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PaperclipPerfector  13d ago (text post)   2644 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 8, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I humbly request that fellow users on The Motte refrain from using the word cringe.

Yikes. Lots to unpack here. Problematic posts like this make me physically cringe. Gross.

You're on a roll here.

I am in agreement. It's a word that causes me to immediately partially dismiss whoever uses it. Other annoyances:

  1. Beginning any comment with "I mean,..." We know you mean it. Otherwise why are you writing it. Tedious.

  2. Using hyperlinks to images or other sites without any explanation why. It's ok to do this as sort of online footnoting, but even then some sort of reference or statement should be made.

  3. Veiled secret handshake-type phrases alluding to things like HBD. Example: "Well HBD can account for that, and until we realize this and make the rational choices we're not going to see any progress." I always think: " What exactly are we saying here? What choices? What is accounted for and how?" But the post is up voted as if everyone gets it.

  4. Any once-catchy phrase like "Live in my head rent-free." I can barely even type that it's so annoying. Thankfully people don't use such phrases so much here.

  5. Endless use of esoteric terms and jargon. I get that in intellectual circles the use of allusion and certain vocabulary are part of the package--you accept that your interlocutor knows as much as you do about whatever topic it is you're talking about. I suppose mine is the bridling of the outsider sitting at the family dinner not knowing who the hell Aunt Paula is or what she used to do that she doesn't now do that everyone else agrees is a shame.

Probably more but I'm only arrogant enough to type the 5.

Beginning any comment with "I mean,..." We know you mean it. Otherwise why are you writing it. Tedious.

I’ve always interpreted this to have subtle but real semantic value. Something to the effect of ‘I accept your point of view, but superficially and believe it misses deeper, more correct interpretation’. This is over descriptive, but I see it as an epistemic palette cleanser rather than a filler word. It draws acknowledged that real or potential disagreement is likely epistemic / interpretive rather than a disagreement of facts.

Almost equivalent to ‘sure, but…’

Oh, I agree, and I fully admit that my own dislike for the term is just me being overly touchy.

Resisting the puerile urge to immediately do all five…

Beginning any comment with "I mean,..." We know you mean it. Otherwise why are you writing it. Tedious.

I think people generally fall into two camps when it comes to online discussions. Some strive to write as tersely as possible, while others prefer to take a more conversational approach. Who’s to say either approach is inherently superior? The former can sound autistic robotic, but the latter is slightly less efficient, at least in theory. It seems to me that it’s just a matter of taste.

I think you're right, yes, but I have declared my taste thus.

"I'm bias, but... "

Thankfully I have not seen this error of basic grammar before now. Let's try and quarantine that to reddit.

try and

You were doing so well and then you write something like that... Shame!

I also disapprove of the internet style of malformed basic grammar like "a fail" or "that feel". It starts off being used with various degrees of irony in international online chatboxes and ends up with BBC current affairs presenters using it unironically. Beyond The Motte itself society should have higher basic standards than internet pidgin. We don't have the excuse that we don't know any better.

Paste this in the browser console

document.body.innerHTML = document.body.innerHTML.replace(/cringe/gi, 'stunning and brave');

Sorry dude that’s cringe.

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