|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
guy with a bullhorn in a chair marked "Director" I think you're on to something there, francais. Especially hearkening back to the silent film era when there was no need for silence on the set. And how do you know to wave a flag when you don't have any idea your post is apt to trigger a digression from the topic? My Babe Ruth "Called Shot" post, which set off the baseball detour, was an honest speculation into the etymology of the phrase in question. If I hadn't slipped and said he was playin' for the Cubs, none of this dialogue would have transpired...but Yankee haters are vultures, and Cubs fans are too oversensitive  ...so should have I put up: ATTENTION: JUST IN CASE I MAKE A MISTAKE IN THIS POST ABOUT BASEBALL LORE THAT MIGHT TRIGGER OFF A FLURRY OF POSTS ON THAT SPORT I'M DECLARING A BASEBALL YART FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T CARE TO READ FURTHER DIALOGUE ABOUT THIS TOPIC, AND WHO, BY THE WAY, COULD BE CLICKED AWAY ENJOYING A WHOLE NEW THREAD BY NOW IF THEY HADN'T TAKEN THE TIME TO READ THIS COURTEOUS MESSAGE...? 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
In reply to:
JUST IN CASE I MAKE A MISTAKE IN THIS POST ABOUT BASEBALL LORE THAT MIGHT TRIGGER OFF A FLURRY OF POSTS ON THAT SPORT I'M DECLARING A BASEBALL YART...
Whitman, I think (unless I am misreading your post) that you have extended (perhaps erroneously) the generally accepted usage of YART, which in the past has been applied in the main to warn about warmed over topics. while the discussion of YARTs itself certainly qualifies as a YART, and while there has (on rare occasion) appeared the odd self-YART, I don't think that we can expect folks to predict YARTish digressions when they make a post.
or did I just obviousize your point?
(no, having just reread what I've typed, I don't think that would properly characterize what I've done....)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Oh, Lord!...I think I'm having a YARTiac arrest! is it Joe-the Surgeon-Friday, or Joe-the-[gulp!]Detective-Friday...or both?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Beloved people: p'raps in subsequent posts, we will find that we have gotten up on the right side of the bed. Darlin' maverick, you are right: there is at least one baseball thread, somewhere in the bowels of Miscellany, but. I notice that at least two of the people who have posted about baseball here are too "young" in their membership to have been around when that thread was near the top in visibility. Merci, M. Pi, for attempting to return to the topic. Sweet Max, I applaud your self-restraint, sir! Lovely WO'N., I don't think he meant that it was up to you to put up the warning flag--you are not responsible for what follows your posts! ========================================================= 'Tis indeed aggravating, particularly if one is pressed for time, to eagerly begin reading a thread, only to find that it diverts on to something not only different, but to something that one has no interest in. However, it has been a given from the beginning of the board that posts will not stay on-topic--we're too "maverick" (ha!) a bunch for anything as tame and ordinary as that! I think that more often than not, the change of topic leads to something new and interesting enough that I am willing to consider the boring ones as something that "comes with the territory", at least in an instance like this when it just seems to happen, with no premeditation. You-all are a great bunch of folks--'scuse me, I just remembered the topic: a crowd of great folks!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
>I just remembered the topic: a crowd of great folks!
geez, j. can't you even get the topic right?! this here is "calling the shot", not "collective nouns"!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Hey, I didn't say the topic of THIS thread, did I??
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427
addict
|
|
OP
addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427 |
Just to add my two pence worth, since I was the originator of this post with a question. In my mind, I am all for freedom of discussion and flexibility in the use of the board, but in my heart, I am afraid I have to agree with those who protest the "hijacking" of the word topic by a l-e-n-g-t-h-y discussion of an entirely different topic that doesn't show signs of abating at all. Yes, I realise that I am moving the goalposts here, but let me explain. Given that I asked the original question, I keep coming back to this thread when there are new posts to see what else you knowledgeable lot have to say about "calling the shots". And yes, then I find after three or four clicks, and a couple of minutes total loading time, that the five or six new posts are all about baseball. You may say, this is not much time, or "mouse clicking energy" spent on checking the thread and seeing that it's got nothing to do with my query, but believe me, time and clicks do add up, as do the pennies in my ISP's charitable collection-box. My personal interest or disinterest in baseball is not *really relevant, though as it is, I am completely uninterested. The point is, I come here expecting one type of discussion (unrealistically, some would say ), and find that it is all about something else, a topic so interesting to others (I *can understand that) that it looks like it could go on and on, so entailing a repeat of the above experience for me. I am not saying anything new here; we have all seen how sports threads tend to do exactly that. I will frankly admit that I may become a wee bit irritated, but my feeling, at that point, is that the sports discussion could move to a new thread, or revive an old one, something that has also been done on this board before without any problem. So far so good, at least subjectively speaking. But then, what is the difference between a word thread that has become a sports thread, and a "mechanical word" thread that has become a discussion of bicycle spokes and the different cycling holidays that different AWADers have enjoyed (or not enjoyed at all, as the case may be )? I would say it's the nature of the topic. Yes, we DO talk about pretty much everything here, but, as in real life, there are topics which are more prone to circular arguments, controversy, endless disagreement, heated discussion and conflict. I would say they are first and foremost religion and politics and perhaps ethical issues, and on a somewhat lower scale, sports. Many people have strong feelings about these, and it is (I think) a matter of consensus that these topics are often avoided in social settings just so as not to originate arguments (let it be said, just how mere sports talk could originate arguments is beyond me, but hey...  ) Obviously on this board there is no question of curtailing members' freedom to talk about whatever they wish, and there are takers for almost any topic, which is great. But I still think (some of you will undoubtedly disagree with me) that religion, politics, ethics and sports are tricky enough to deserve a bit of special treatment. I would say that generally speaking any thread that morphs into a politics, religion or sports thread deserves to set up a separate thread where there is space for it to go on, with a clear topic heading that explains what it is, where there are no remnants of the original topic sticking out all over (especially for flatmoders), where all interested parties can post and discuss, and where there are no whingeing grouches like myself making posts that are far too long to be reader-friendly. I LIKE this place!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
Those of us who have been here for a while know what topics however enthralling for some cause yawns in others. Sports, whether baseball, cricket, all-in wrestling, curling, or anything else is certainly one. Others will have other examples. No doubt there are some who groan every time I wrench a thread round to bring in matters Indonesian. Some of us are not above stirring a bit, either. Might I suggest that, after two or three posts on one of these contentious topics arising from a digression, whoever wishes to continue it simply start a new thread with a note on the old one saying a new one has been started. I'm not suggesting that a new thread be started every time we digress (though it would drastically reduce average thread length ), just in cases where the poster knows that his or her statements are bound to create an immediate counter-attack from those who hold deeply held opposing views. Bingley
Bingley
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,316
Members9,182
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
1 members (wofahulicodoc),
604
guests, and
2
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
