[HPforGrownups] Re: An Elfly Reminder

[Jordan Abel]

bboyminn:
> Now, like I said, I'm not fussed about being called a
> 'smart ass'. While I'm not sure it is true, I think
> there was sufficient context to indicate it was not
> intended as a blatant insult.

Random832:
The problem is not that I got called out for supposedly "insulting"
you. The problem is that I am _absolutely_ sure that if i'd instead
called you a "smart-aleck" (which means the exact same thing) none of
this would happened. The presence of a four-letter (ok, three-letter)
word jumped out at someone, and he/she felt the need to react, despite
the lack of a rule against the word "ass". Remember, the elf
responding was surprised at the use of the term itself, not at any
perceived insult to you or anyone else.

As for the "not sure it is true" - I don't know if you're a smart-ass
in general, because I don't know you, but the bit I was responding to
in particular was pure smartassery. Not that there's anything wrong
with that, I'm a smart-ass myself sometimes (you should see my reply
to the HPFGU-feedback ground rules), but you could have just _said_
something like "but aren't you assuming the self-consistency idea
yourself when you say that POA illustrates it" instead of rearranging
the quoted text to "illustrate" that and letting it stand on its own
without giving me a chance to answer that 'accusation'

bboyminn:
> You seem to be implying that the rules are somewhat
> unclear and perhaps arbitrary, but the heart of those
> rules is spelled out very clearly, what isn't spelled
> out, is easily gained from experience.

I don't want to "gain from experience" that this is a list where not a
single "four-letter word" is permitted. Because it's not. And if it
is, they should say so, and they _should_ rename it HPforKids.

bboyminn:
> Please don't feel as if you are being personally jumped
> on by the Elves, it was just a friendly reminder.

Random832:
Well - part of the issue is that I was called out publically - Even
though it was an accident, I did feel like I had to defend myself. My
original reply from _before_ I knew that, which you can see posted to
OTChatter, barely defended the language issue at all and only used it
as a jumping-off point to my asking for clarification about the
quoting/attribution/etc rules.

Speaking of which - while I do see the need for these rules (and I was
willing to go along with it even before I understood it), I wish you
guys would give it a rest sometimes. I'm trying. I don't need to have
every single little mistake pointed out. It's very hard to get used to
doing and it would be nice to get a little credit for the progress i
_have_ made.

-- 
Random832