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#25916 04/05/01 02:46 PM
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As the one guilty of introducing the b... t...s, let me get in my view.

Firstly, your points are well taken, for the most part, although I have some reservations. I too would like to see less mere banter on postings. I try to post only when I have something *substantive* to contribute and I think it would be for the best interest of the board if others did the same, although, of course, *substantive* is a very elastic term. Not that I would like to see the give-and-take which we have here disappear -- I enjoy it when there's something to it. But mere banter, I suggest very meekly, might be confined to private messages rather than cluttering up the threads.

I have to remind myself, and maybe some others, that we need, in common decency, to avoid giving offence to our more straitlaced members, so maybe there are subjects and expressions we want to leave out. But at the same time, I do not want to see AWADTALK conducted in the manner of an academic tutorial or a public committee hearing; I've had enough of that, thank you, and don't care for any more. I love AWAD because, above all else, it's interesting. The free give and take, often humorous, makes it what it is. So let's not get too stuffy or take ourselves too seriously.

As to the quality of postings, it would be nice if each of us could have at least one brilliant thought per day and post it and discuss it, but it's not going to happen. We (or at least, I) can't have that many deep, earth-shattering, brilliant ideas all the time, and if we limit ourselves to that, it's going to be a sparse forum. Moreover, the more we discuss, the greater our history becomes. If we limit ourselves to word- and language-related subjects, it is inevitable that, having a limited field, we will, with ever-increasing frequency, be landing on ground already covered. So, for those of you who
want to keep to the main subject only, please bear in mind that you can't insist on that and at the same time be all hot to call a YART alert.

Lastly, I suggest that some of you who have taken members to task may have been just a wee bit heavy-handed. We have lost one interesting correspondent lately whom I enjoyed even if she did have some habits which annoyed even me, but I was willing to put up with them; and I suspect we've lost others. I don't think I have seen anyone on this board regularly who is just a nuisance and whom I would really like to get rid of. Almost everyone who posts is interesting to me and I want to hear more from them. So please bear in mind that if anyone wants to give out with rebukes, you risk losing people. Is it worth it?

P.S. Added later.

Mav's brilliant post appeared, it seems, while I was composing this, as I had not seen it before I started on this. Well said, Mav. I agree completely.

#25917 04/05/01 04:03 PM
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Back to language for a moment, I have only just noticed the brilliant coinage in shanks’ post:

Buycott – to effect moral change by consumerism?



#25918 04/05/01 05:32 PM
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Mav, I agree with your posting particularly the part posted by Jackie.
Bobyoungbalt also posted, in the words I was struggling to find ;
I do not want to see AWADTALK conducted in the manner of an academic tutorial or a public committee hearing; I've had enough of that, thank you, and don't care for any more. I love AWAD because, above all else, it's interesting. The free give and take, often humorous, makes it what it is. So let's not get too stuffy or take ourselves too seriously.
Even in the stuffiest of meetings I have attended there have been occasional outburts of laughter.
Humor is the leaven of life.
To me, a serious subject is not lessened by the influence of laughter's modifying the discussion.
If this board is to live and grow we must have new members of all ages, as any group must, or it will atrophy and die. It follows that topics will be re-hashed from time to time but new members will bring varying viewponts that can only enrich us.
I would not like to see us become fuddy-duddies, insular in our smug self satisfaction.
As for myself : for any offense I may have given I am truly sorry and I will try to stay on topic but if something strikes me funny I cannot promise not to laugh and add my two-cents-worth.
wow











#25919 04/05/01 06:07 PM
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Or is GWB secretly a commie sympathiser

For those who don't know, "GWB" is the acronym for George Washington Bridge.
There's no connection whatsoever, except I do think the ~president would make a greater contribution as a toll collector. Anyway, he'd soon be replaced by--you guessed it, a machine!


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Regarding the worries of some and the proclivities of others about the future of this site:

As an old timer: This site is a haven from the ill-willed wrangling and vituperativeness of some other boards. We came here because we love language or are curious about language (itself a form of love) and we equate the calm of this board with its original purpose of examining the English language. Certain topics have not been discussed except in passing reference when it is appropriate to the discussion of language. People have not attacked others for their religious beliefs or political persuasions. The fear is that we are losing that focus and, that in losing that focus we will degenerate into just another wrassling board with asbestos suits required for safe passage.

As a newcomer: This board is a community. We have all formed friendships with others on this board and have a lot of respect for other's differing viewpoints. We are all relatively intelligent people who have many things we could talk about; in fact, the wide range of perspectives is one of the strong points of this board. Certainly we are civilized enough that we can discuss other matters than language, but, perhaps there should be areas of the board set aside for non-language oriented discussion. The idea of the Non-Word Stuff #N Post Them Here threads that has been used is probably a good one as far as it goes; it clearly identifies the thread and allows those not interested to stay out. If there is a problem it is that which I alluded to in my post in the Silly Comic Quizz thread that completely independent threads would become intermingled and hard to follow. I think a better solution would be to have completely separate sections for non-linguistic threads, but perhaps even this would not satisfy everyone for various reasons. I don't know if there is a solution, but I certainly think it is something that we have to deal with.


#25921 04/05/01 08:50 PM
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...soon be replaced by--you guessed it, a machine!

I thought we already proved he is a machine on another post!

[ducking from JazzO emoticon]



#25922 04/06/01 08:02 AM
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Back to language for a moment, I have only just noticed the brilliant coinage in shanks’ post:

Buycott – to effect moral change by consumerism?



Even my typos are distinguished by their serendipitous felicity, mellifluousness and appositeness.


#25923 04/09/01 04:54 PM
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Thank you, everybody, for y'all's comments. Some of you said it a lot better than I ever could.
I apologize for inadvertently conveying the mistaken impression that I was engaging in some sort of boycott, or singling anyone out.
And now, back to our regular broadcast.


#25924 05/01/01 03:04 PM
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While I am new to this group of fora, I am a twenty-year veteran of boards, BBSs, newsgroups, etc. I am a great fan of the chaos of ideas that spill out of unmoderated, high-spirited, good-willed discussions. I have a history of displaying my fascination with words in a vulgar fashion (is it possible to be both coarse and erudite at the same time?), but have out-grown participation except for the most irresistible of straight lines. I think Max's suggestion of prefixing the subject line with "non-word stuff" or the like for divergent posts is the most practical policy.


Lance ==)--------------


Lance ==)--------------
#25925 05/01/01 07:46 PM
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Welcome aBoard, Lance, anyone with sufficiently poor taste to agree with me about anything will always be welcomed by me, even as decent society shuns said miscreant.


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