It's True!

Darrell Lawrence · March 16th, 2005, 11:06 PM

http://www.tvland.com/boards/viewthr...ml.16_A&_DAV=2

cranky1c · March 17th, 2005, 05:51 AM

priceless.

amberstar · March 17th, 2005, 08:47 AM

LOL we could have told her that

Good find warrior.

March 17th, 2005, 10:16 AM

Very funny article. In general I think the internet allows people with like interest or disinterest to meet who simply can't in real life. The opinions are the same just never expressed. In real life it is rare to meet the kind of fans you find here. The same is true about any other board. In a nation of nearly 300,000,000 ( and a world of 6 plus billion) a web community of a couple hundred people would never find each other in real life except maybe once in a long time at a convention and even there most people would say, "Wow, I didn't know people cared about this like I do."

By the way the TVLand Awards show sucks and is stupid. Give that lady another $10.

Fragmentary · March 17th, 2005, 12:18 PM

That's a good point Antelope. And to extend that a little bit farther, we should take into account that if we were all meeting in real life, it certainly wouldn’t be with the frequency that we post. It would take weeks of get-togethers to arrive at the point that people would express things the way they do here almost immediately. But the result is, in real life we would know each others personalities and how each person takes a joke, or sarcasm, or whatever. But online, we just don’t.

Sometimes I’ll read someone’s post and instantly recognize that it’s meant as a joke, but then someone else takes it as an insult. Other times, I just won’t have a clue what somebody means, but everyone else seems to get it. In real life I know the problem is that I’m just a poorly trained monkey

but on line I think people’s own personalities color how they perceive someone else’s posts.

March 17th, 2005, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fragmentary

Sometimes I’ll read someone’s post and instantly recognize that it’s meant as a joke, but then someone else takes it as an insult. Other times, I just won’t have a clue what somebody means, but everyone else seems to get it. In real life I know the problem is that I’m just a poorly trained monkey

but on line I think people’s own personalities color how they perceive someone else’s posts.

Those are good points. You can't see people's facial expression to see if they understand what you're saying or if you unintentionally provoked them. You can't instantly say something like, "Sorry, I didn't mean that."

You are right. I have often seen what appears as sarcasm taken as serious or vice versa. You also can't tell when people misconstrue your words whether it is intentional or they simply misunderstand.

Over time I have gotten hot a few times on something that in hindsight wasn't really meant the way I took it. I have also seen people get hot for something I said that I think they took the wrong way.

It's good when you know people after a while. Just like your friends you need to know what subjects are of interest and also what subjects are to avoid. One thing out here however is that a civil discussion with one person may be a hot button subject for someone lurking. At home or with a friend, a stranger doesn't usually walk up and say, "That's interesting but here's what I think." On the internet we call that stranger "a new member".

Darrell Lawrence · March 17th, 2005, 02:33 PM

To figure out a persons intent in a post, emoticon, AKA smilies, were invented

As for the link I posted, I was trying to find the results of the awards and came across TV Lands forums. A forum user there is the one that posted that.

Lara · March 18th, 2005, 08:51 PM

emoticons are necessary because we are missing the majority of the information we use to discern intent, ie tone of voice and face/body language.
Its one of the things that makes shooting from the lip on boards like these a health hazard!.

Take the Aussie term 'mate', all on its own without any other word.
Face to face, I can say it with a smile, a laugh, a sneer, with dripping sarcasm (and mean either good or bad). It can mean you are my best friend (of either sex), someone I believe and agree with totally or someone I think is lying, all the way to a insult short of punching you out..
In writing you get none of that.
Emoticons help
mate

mate

Even emoticons are a poor substitute for the million nuances it can have, even the large and very admirable list here isn't always enough!

I'm sure everyones got a similar example they can think of.

Cheers,
Lara

SpyOne · April 13th, 2005, 05:34 AM

Reminds me of a bit of standup comedy I once saw. The guy said the most expressive word in the English language was the word "Dude", because of all the things it could mean with just a change of tone and inflection.
(now let's see if I can comunicate this joke in text)
It can mean, you just did really well. "Dude!"
It can mean, you just screwed-up really badly. "Dude."
It can mean, are you in the closet waiting to kill me with an axe? "Dude?"

Fragmentary · April 13th, 2005, 02:40 PM

I have a friend who is just like that. He can carry on entire conversations using just the word "dude". Sometimes its interesting to watch him do it.

repcisg · April 13th, 2005, 09:55 PM

Oh Dude!

Dawg · April 13th, 2005, 10:02 PM

Duuude!!!

Lara · April 14th, 2005, 01:29 AM

Mate, maaaate...

Cheers,
Lara

Fragmentary · April 14th, 2005, 11:02 AM

So is it possible for an Austrlalian and an American to carry on a coherent converstation using just those two words? I'm going to try to get a grant from the government to find out.

American: Dude.
Australian: Mate.
American: Dude?
Australian: MATE!

...then they go have a beer.

repcisg · April 14th, 2005, 11:45 AM

Good grief, Dude!

Darrell Lawrence · April 14th, 2005, 11:56 AM

Male American- "Dude! Let's mate!"

Female Aussie- "Mate, I am not a dude! You DUD!"

Damocles · April 14th, 2005, 03:48 PM

Dude. Rude, Dud.

Mate, Rate, Rat, Mat(As in walked on all over, mate)

Lara · April 15th, 2005, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fragmentary

So is it possible for an Austrlalian and an American to carry on a coherent converstation using just those two words? I'm going to try to get a grant from the government to find out.

American: Dude.
Australian: Mate.
American: Dude?
Australian: MATE!

...then they go have a beer.

beer first, always the beer first, or you will never get anyone to participate in your study.

Better still than the government, ask a beer company to sponsor the research!! Or a university psychology department: they are always looking for relevancy in their work

" The etemology of inflective conversion in social discourse" for the uni study
"Tourist conversion: levels of cross cultural understanding" for the government (don't get near the free trade deal, or the military cooperation pact: sore points..)
"Enhancement of beer consumption : an American/ Australian study" for the beer company..

As one of our current beer adds tells us, Its all good, mate!

Cheers,
Lara