Someone whispered in my ear, "What's this Spirit of the Board thing that you Old Hands are always on about?"

Well, first the facts, according to the Sainted Anu: "On this occasion [the sixth anniversary of AWAD], we at Wordsmith World Headquarters present a bulletin board.. where you can absorb words, discuss your favorite ones, powwow with fellow linguaphiles, help each other in sleuthing mystery themes, ask questions about etymologies, chitchat about puzzles, wordplay, crosswords and anything else that you can imagine."

And we have done all of that, and gone beyond that to become a group of individuals (who are Anything You Like Except Unanimous*) who love all of these aspects of words, who become enthusiatic and grandiose in writing about words, and who enjoy nothing more that a good "glory about words"¹, and who have come to realize that with the English language there is no One Way. (And we know that it is when differing opinions shift from being about words to being personal attacks that we have gotten into trouble.²)

And this Spirit is exemplified by an unbelievable variety of threads, such as "time on my hands" and "abceghilnoprtuy" and "brick outhouse bertha".

And the Great and Powerful Anu has chosen to remain behind the curtain and leave us to stand or fall on our own -- and we have continually fallen, always picking ourselves up again.

And this Spirit has never been about censorship, although the Gutter Police have always hung about in the effort to keep things somewhat wholesome, because we never know who's lurking.³ (But we know that we've had some teenage members.)

And we have fought the Good Fights: eschewing religious and political discussions because we know where they inevitably lead [flame wars], coming down hard on commercialism because that is strictly Anu's purview, and promoting diversity°.

*this is the origin of the term ayleur, which we couldn't agree to use universally and which some look down on even more than they do YART, which at least has had several good glories about it.

¹per the immortal phrase of Max Quordlepleen

²this has been true right from the start, and it seems we have to struggle with it constantly to bring people slowly to the recognition that things CAN be different to the usual 'flame mode' that exists at many a BBS.

³personal aside: I think this wholesomeness issue is the one which could bring Anu to intervene here.

°unfortunately, we've taken some criticism on this because of the other Good Fights -- the Spirit ain't perfect.

-joe (just the facts) friday

tsuwm, you have missed only one thing, the joy many of us find here. no matter our skill with words, we each have fallen in love with words and language, and have found here, a place where being the kind of person who reads the dictionary for fun is thought to be an assest, not a defination of nerdiness! i gloried in words before AWAD, but i was alone, in a parched desert, but now i feast at a rich oasis, where words, like sweet dates, are abundant, in the company of others.

i have have found warmth and welcome. it refreshes my soul. i have been blessed to meet a few participants here in person-- and look forward to meeting more of you, one day i hope, all of you. i have a circle of friends, that spans the globe, and i am the richer for it!

Dear tsuwm: Your analysis of the board above is very well done. I commend you. There was one word about which perhaps you might consent to discuss further - "Wholesomeness".
I have probably been guilty of more ribaldry than anyone else on the board, but I have endeavoured to avoid using gutter language while using innuendos easily comprehended and not enjoyed by the fastidious.
Do you think it possible to develop guidelines as to when licence becomes objectionable?

Well said, tsuwm. You really are more than just a walking dictionary!

I applaud your words, tsuwm...very well said.

What they all said, plus...I love you.
(Daggone you, I was gonna "read-only" tonight!

Agreed -- and if I were to encapsulate it in one phrase, I could not match the exquisite phrase that Helen bolded.

What they all said, but particularly "i was alone, in a parched desert, but now i feast at a rich oasis". This board has been my oasis. It has given me laughter, food for thought, friends, a place to share, and so much more that I have no words for(Yikes! Consuelo without words!). I had never been to any other bulletin board and have no idea how others behave in cyberspace. It saddens me when nastiness appears here but I still insist that "we don't need no steenkin' rules". We depend on each other and gentle reminders to keep the direction and reactions of this board flowing in a good manner. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Paz y Amor
Consuelo

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. But some Romans are more refined than others. Let us emulate those who set the best example.
I am sruprised that there has been no discussion of any no-no's except nastiness.

Thank you, tsuwm, for starting this thread.

Over Passover and Easter, consuelo suggested we bring back some of our favorite old threads, those that seem to best reflect "the spirit of the board." I know Jackie and others have resurrected good threads here and there; I was wondering if we could concentrate them here, as a balm when we need it?

I'll start with this thread, one of many excellent ones:

http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=wordplay&Number=33942

then there's the more recent 'irony thread' in which that song came up again.

http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=miscellany&Number=47658

()

I am surprised that there has been no discussion of any no-no's except nastiness.

dr. bill, whatever do you mean?

There has for example been a lot of rather heated objection to mod-god's "nude modelling" post -- even though that's a subject that is hardly likely to recur.

Conversely, "nastiness" has been a recurrent problem, yet few are willing to challenging the specific nasty poster. For example, about a month ago there was a rather substanital outburst of profanity and personal attack. But I do not recall that anyone was called out for using ad hominum profanity. I would suggest that nastiness is improper, regardless of the possible merit of any underlying argument.

bartleby at http://www.bartleby.com/61/71/A0087100.html: "ad hominem: Appealing to personal considerations rather than to logic or reason. Ad hominem attacks on one's opponent are a tried-and-true strategy for people who have a case that is weak."

This is a good one, about words with only 1 meaning:
http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=17727

Isn't it about time for another round of "Hogwash"? That is one of my favorite games. Before you tell me to start it up my ownself, if I thought I had a word that stood a chance, I would have done it already.

Received by PM: "I'm a bit busy ... these days, but I hope I have some time left over to hang around here. It's a very refreshing sort of place. "

This is certainly not a thread for raising issues of contention. This was offered as a thread of healing. But I guess, to some people, nothing is sacrosanct.


"The best thing about this is the community of linguaphiles. They are very devoted and compassionate and provide good feedback and interesting ideas. I feel very privileged to be a part of it."

--Anu Garg, 1/31/01, Suburban News





Your Happy Epeolatrist!

But I guess, to some people, nothing is sacrosanct.
Nothing personal here, eh Whit? Let's talk about subjects, not individuals.

Oh, Wehe.