We seem to be surrounded (in these forums and in the wider world, socially and in the media) by political correctness, "spin" and mealy-mouthed euphemisms which damn with faint praise.
What is *your* attitude when confronted with questions like "Does my bum look big in this?" and do you think it is kinder that those who lack self-awareness should be allowed to continue in their blissful ignorance, or should they be put out of their unrealised misery?
Pep (You can probably guess my own opinion.)
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How would you complete this? |
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Complete: "If you can't say anything nice . . . "" . . . say nothing."
10 (20.4%)
" . . . come over here and sit by me."
9 (18.4%)
" . . . tell the truth."
12 (24.5%)
" . . . lie through your teeth."
4 (8.2%)
" . . . be politically correct."
2 (4.1%)
" . . . eat pie."
12 (24.5%)
Total votes: 49
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Pserendipity Daniels
Assume sarcasm as default
Join date: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 8,839
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10-02-2009 03:30
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Hypocrite lecteur, — mon semblable, — mon frère!
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Argent Stonecutter
Emergency Mustelid
Join date: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 20,263
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10-02-2009 03:32
What is *your* attitude when confronted with questions like "Does my bum look big in this?" _____________________
Argent Stonecutter - http://globalcausalityviolation.blogspot.com/
"And now I'm going to show you something really cool." Skyhook Station - http://xrl.us/skyhook23 Coonspiracy Store - http://xrl.us/coonstore |
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Pserendipity Daniels
Assume sarcasm as default
Join date: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 8,839
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10-02-2009 03:35
I have been advised by an expert in these matters that "You look wonderful, whatever you wear." is the correct response if you are a normal male . . .
Pep ( . . . and wish to maximise the fertile period of your life.) _____________________
Hypocrite lecteur, — mon semblable, — mon frère!
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Lance Corrimal
I don't do stupid.
Join date: 9 Jun 2006
Posts: 877
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10-02-2009 03:36
"... post on the forum."
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Your maturity rating is directly reflected by the number of question marks you place at the end of a question. Those who enter any virtual world with the main purpose of making money at it...probably won't. |
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Laurin Sorbet
Stroppy Bollock-Chopper
Join date: 10 Aug 2008
Posts: 844
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10-02-2009 03:37
Say nothing, with a caveat...'until it gets to be too much, then let rip.'
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Darion Rasmuson
Norsky
Join date: 21 Dec 2007
Posts: 431
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10-02-2009 04:00
What is *your* attitude when confronted with questions like "Does my bum look big in this?" "Spin around, let me get a better look." Followed by "nah" or "yeah a tad", depending on which is the case. |
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Maggie McArdle
FIOS hates puppies
Join date: 8 May 2006
Posts: 2,855
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10-02-2009 04:08
in SL: what argent said
in RL: yes it does, try this one instead. _____________________
There's, uh, probably a lot of things you didn't know about lindens. Another, another interesting, uh, lindenism, uh, there are only three jobs available to a linden. The first is making shoes at night while, you know, while the old cobbler sleeps.You can bake cookies in a tree. But the third job, some call it, uh, "the show" or "the big dance," it's the profession that every linden aspires to.
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Imnotgoing Sideways
Can't outlaw cute! =^-^=
Join date: 17 Nov 2007
Posts: 4,694
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10-02-2009 05:08
Last time I didn't have anything nice to say, my matron ballgagged me. (^o^)
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Somewhere in this world; there is someone having some good clean fun doing the one thing you hate the most. (^_^)y
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Winter Ventura
Eclectic Randomness
Join date: 18 Jul 2006
Posts: 2,579
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10-02-2009 05:49
... and remember...
Pizza is also pie. _____________________
 ● Inworld Store: http://slurl.eclectic-randomness.com ● Website: http://www.eclectic-randomness.com ● Twitter: @WinterVentura |
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Smith Peel
Smif v2.0
Join date: 10 Jan 2005
Posts: 1,597
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10-02-2009 05:55
"Hell yeah, it looks big!" ... followed by a hearty slap
 _____________________
 Wanna live in a giant wang? http://slurl.com/secondlife/Conroy/210/210/22/ Or just be bad in public? http://slurl.com/secondlife/Conroy/222/22/22/ |
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Argent Stonecutter
Emergency Mustelid
Join date: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 20,263
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10-02-2009 06:00
Pizza doesn't count if it's leftovers in the office lunchroom.
_____________________
Argent Stonecutter - http://globalcausalityviolation.blogspot.com/
"And now I'm going to show you something really cool." Skyhook Station - http://xrl.us/skyhook23 Coonspiracy Store - http://xrl.us/coonstore |
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Seven Okelli
last days of pompeii
Join date: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 2,300
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10-02-2009 06:09
We seem to be surrounded (in these forums and in the wider world, socially and in the media) by political correctness, "spin" and mealy-mouthed euphemisms which damn with faint praise. What is *your* attitude when confronted with questions like "Does my bum look big in this?" and do you think it is kinder that those who lack self-awareness should be allowed to continue in their blissful ignorance, or should they be put out of their unrealised misery? I understand that such a question might make a man feel as though he'd fallen into a trap far too complex for him to navigate with any tool finer than a bulldozer or a bomb, but... The thing about words and questions and social interchange in general is that what people *mean* is not usually the literal meaning of their words. And so, a woman who asks that question MIGHT actually want to know exactly that, but she could equally well mean any of the following: - I'm afraid I'm getting fat. Am I? - Do you still care for me? - You like looking at my butt, don't you! Should I bend over? - I want you to touch my butt NOW. Of course the potential for misunderstanding is always there, and the possibility of saying the wrong thing. BUT it's worse for someone who is thinking of themself, who hears the question and thinks, "Now what I do I do? I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't" -- which is EXACTLY the case. The damnation is guaranteed because the answerer's reasoning is pointing in the wrong direction. . I also want to add, apart from all that, something someone told me a few years back: "The truth without love is not the truth." . |
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Seven Okelli
last days of pompeii
Join date: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 2,300
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10-02-2009 06:23
/me laughs
... Pep? Do you need a vomit bag? |
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Pserendipity Daniels
Assume sarcasm as default
Join date: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 8,839
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10-02-2009 06:26
I also want to add, apart from all that, something someone told me a few years back: "The truth without love is not the truth." .  Pep (He was just telling you what you wanted to hear. )PS I like my answer to the question - which you perhaps did not bother to read - for the obvious reason that it works every time, whether it is true or not, and addresses all the possible interpretations you mention, and a few more you don't. PPS I never take much notice of what women actually say, because their words generally reflect what they are saying to themselves, and are not for the benefit of others. _____________________
Hypocrite lecteur, — mon semblable, — mon frère!
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Jerboa Haystack
TGTKFMA
Join date: 23 Sep 2008
Posts: 2,283
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10-02-2009 06:33
If you can't say anything nice...
...change the subject! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GANDHI! _____________________
Well between your fingers and that magical device, you work wonders. TOTD: "Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so." - Douglas Adams |
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Ephraim Kappler
Reprobate
Join date: 9 Jul 2007
Posts: 1,946
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10-02-2009 06:34
"The truth without love is not the truth." I think that's what we call the *plain* truth - no artificial additives. Pie, by the way. |
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Seven Okelli
last days of pompeii
Join date: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 2,300
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10-02-2009 06:35
I like my answer to the question - which you perhaps did not bother to read - for the obvious reason that it works every time, whether it is true or not, and addresses all the possible interpretations you mention, and a few more you don't. PPS I never take much notice of what women actually say, because their words generally reflect what they are saying to themselves, and are not for the benefit of others. I did read your answer, and it is quite textbook. I don't know whether you noticed, but I didn't vote in your poll. I don't think there is one answer to the question. It depends on many factors. You could ask me what you thought was a question of fact every day and I might be likely (and quite right) to give you very different responses each time. But you say in your original post that the truth puts some people "out of their unrealised misery" - don't you mean that they are brought from blissful ignorance into misery? |
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Pserendipity Daniels
Assume sarcasm as default
Join date: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 8,839
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10-02-2009 06:37
I did read your answer, and it is quite textbook. But you say in your original post that the truth puts some people "out of their unrealised misery" - don't you mean that they are brought from blissful ignorance into misery? Pep (They just didn't realise it.) _____________________
Hypocrite lecteur, — mon semblable, — mon frère!
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Ephraim Kappler
Reprobate
Join date: 9 Jul 2007
Posts: 1,946
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10-02-2009 06:39
They were always in misery. Isn't that what they call *blissful* ignorance? |
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Seven Okelli
last days of pompeii
Join date: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 2,300
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10-02-2009 06:39
They were always in misery. Pep (They just didn't realise it.) Right. That's what I meant. So you were asking, "Is it okay to make people miserable?" |
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Pserendipity Daniels
Assume sarcasm as default
Join date: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 8,839
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10-02-2009 06:45
Right. That's what I meant. So you were asking, "Is it okay to make people miserable?" Pep (When the extent of your actual misery is revealed you might be able to do something about it, but not otherwise.  )_____________________
Hypocrite lecteur, — mon semblable, — mon frère!
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Jerboa Haystack
TGTKFMA
Join date: 23 Sep 2008
Posts: 2,283
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10-02-2009 06:46
They were always in misery. Pep (They just didn't realise it.) How Socratic of you. _____________________
Well between your fingers and that magical device, you work wonders. TOTD: "Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so." - Douglas Adams |
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Pserendipity Daniels
Assume sarcasm as default
Join date: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 8,839
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10-02-2009 06:48
How Socratic of you. Pep (But still truth.) _____________________
Hypocrite lecteur, — mon semblable, — mon frère!
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Treasure Ballinger
Virtual Ability
Join date: 31 Dec 2007
Posts: 2,745
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10-02-2009 06:51
I understand that such a question might make a man feel as though he'd fallen into a trap far too complex for him to navigate with any tool finer than a bulldozer or a bomb, but... The thing about words and questions and social interchange in general is that what people *mean* is not usually the literal meaning of their words. And so, a woman who asks that question MIGHT actually want to know exactly that, but she could equally well mean any of the following: - I'm afraid I'm getting fat. Am I? - Do you still care for me? - You like looking at my butt, don't you! Should I bend over? - I want you to touch my butt NOW. Of course the potential for misunderstanding is always there, and the possibility of saying the wrong thing. BUT it's worse for someone who is thinking of themself, who hears the question and thinks, "Now what I do I do? I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't" -- which is EXACTLY the case. The damnation is guaranteed because the answerer's reasoning is pointing in the wrong direction. . I also want to add, apart from all that, something someone told me a few years back: "The truth without love is not the truth." . I'd still rather know the truth, every single time, even if it meant bad news for me. On the other hand, I am never going to need anyone else to tell me if my bum looks big or if I'm getting fat. I'm always going to be the first one to know that. If I want honesty from others I have to give it to myself first. So it's probably not a question I'd ever ask anyone outside of myself. |
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Jerboa Haystack
TGTKFMA
Join date: 23 Sep 2008
Posts: 2,283
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10-02-2009 06:52
Truth without love. Pep (But still truth.) But is it kindest to free the person, or let them remain with their shadows? _____________________
Well between your fingers and that magical device, you work wonders. TOTD: "Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so." - Douglas Adams |