Author Topic: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness  (Read 165866 times)

Offline Raineh Daze

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #320 on: November 11, 2014, 12:47:15 PM »
I am quite a strong proponent of the singular 'they' for basically that reason. Also because saying 'he/she' is incredibly awkward even if it weren't exclusionary.

Singular they is glorious.

People that can otherwise handle English, but not accept that a word can be plural when referring to a single object (trousers/pants, glasses--that sort of thing) annoy me. Do not make words up with random X's, mimicking the pronouns but sounding terrible, when the language can already do it.

Offline ketaro

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #321 on: November 11, 2014, 12:57:12 PM »
pants is so plural.

"A pair of pants."
&
"One pant leg."
 :lmao

Offline Frogman55

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #322 on: November 11, 2014, 01:37:45 PM »
Something that has always bothered me is the way RPG sourcebooks randomly assigns gender to their classes. Why are Monks, Wizards, and Rangers inherently male, while Paladins, Sorcerers, and Barbarians are female.


Ok, at least with Paizo it's because that's the genders of the iconic characters. But still. Other sourcebooks do it too. I'm not sure if the random assignment bothers me more or less then just saying 'he' or 'she' for all of them. This is probably a perfect place for a singular 'they' (although using it as a plural 'they' is probably more appropriate, both because of grammar nazis and because more than one of a given class will ever get used).

Offline Kuroimaken

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #323 on: November 11, 2014, 01:52:34 PM »
I might be frustrated with people who self-diagnose, too, but considering I didn't get that diagnosis until later in my teens myself, I have sympathy for folk who are going through 'what the fuck is even wrong with me maybe it's this' and can't get it figured out by an actual psychiatrist for whatever reason. I've been through that, tests clearly showing something's wrong, just not what.


On a tangent to that subject, I have been undergoing psychotherapy since I was 4. When I was 2, I had a seizure, and the doctors discovered that I basically had a convulsive focus in my brain. I basically had to take some aggressive as shit medication or have seizures. Said medication had (and still kinda has, but no one uses it anymore) a reputation at the time for stunting mental growth. Basically, other people thought that those who took it would grow up to be mentally retarded. (It affected my motor skills, but I eventually overcame that.) Then, when I hit puberty, bam, it came back and I had to take medicine again, until I was about 14.

I think I consulted with maybe fifteen different psychiatrists before I found my current one. I was tentatively diagnosed with ADHD, depression, MAYBE bipolar disorder, Peter Pan syndrome and schizophrenia (that one was definitely a fucking barrel of laughs, let me tell you guys that much. Only not). Not knowing WHAT is wrong for sure and trying to treat the symptoms can have some massively awful consequences. I MIGHT have been a bit better off if I had admitted that something COULD be wrong with me when I was younger, but eh.  I didn't really have the maturity for it.

Back on topic though, at least the solution in English is simple. You guys have a gender-neutral third-person pronoun that you can use on the singular. We're not that lucky, because we pluralize he/she individually instead of using 'they'.  :lol
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Offline brujon

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #324 on: November 11, 2014, 01:56:19 PM »
Peter Pan syndrome is a thing? TIL...
"All the pride and pleasure of the world, mirrored in the dull consciousness of a fool, are poor indeed compared with the imagination of Cervantes writing his Don Quixote in a miserable prison" - Schopenhauer, Aphorisms: The Wisdom of Life

Offline Kuroimaken

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #325 on: November 11, 2014, 02:04:35 PM »
What does TIL mean?
Kami darou ga akuma darou ga, ore no michi ni tateru mono NASHI!!

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Offline Jackinthegreen

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #326 on: November 11, 2014, 02:22:23 PM »

Offline dman11235

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #327 on: November 11, 2014, 03:37:16 PM »
Kajhera!  Quickly, before you summon the demons!  Post something!

My opinion (and the opinions of my gay best friend and furry other friend) is that we are way too hung up on labels.  I hate the term "LGBTQAOFOIUENAL", partly because I made up most of those (I think), and partly because it's still exclusionary, and partly because it's incredibly awkward.  I much prefer the term "Spectrum", because, well, it's a freaking spectrum.  Rainbows aren't 7 discreet colors.  They're every color of light from 230 nm to 650 nm.  A continuous spectrum.

On that note, my gay best friend has better luck with girls than me...

@Kuro: English doesn't have any singular gender neutral pronouns for honorifics.  Also, like the germanic languages and romantic languages, everything has a gender.  There is no gender neutral item pronoun.  I believe German does?
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Offline Raineh Daze

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #328 on: November 11, 2014, 03:43:33 PM »
@Kuro: English doesn't have any singular gender neutral pronouns for honorifics.  Also, like the germanic languages and romantic languages, everything has a gender.  There is no gender neutral item pronoun.  I believe German does?

They!

Offline Kajhera

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #329 on: November 11, 2014, 04:11:15 PM »
Huh? I need to post something? A small rant I imagine?

Uh ... my computer has grown fond of overheating and shutting itself off.

Offline Raineh Daze

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #330 on: November 11, 2014, 04:22:37 PM »
Huh? I need to post something? A small rant I imagine?

Uh ... my computer has grown fond of overheating and shutting itself off.

I do feel you sometimes go... overboard.

Offline Kajhera

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #331 on: November 11, 2014, 04:36:50 PM »
Huh? I need to post something? A small rant I imagine?

Uh ... my computer has grown fond of overheating and shutting itself off.

I do feel you sometimes go... overboard.

For some reason I'm perceiving your tone of voice as either 'gently critical' or 'put sunglasses on before saying the punchline', but I can't tell which with enough certainty to attempt to continue the joke or act mildly sheepish as appropriate.

Offline Raineh Daze

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #332 on: November 11, 2014, 04:43:35 PM »
Huh? I need to post something? A small rant I imagine?

Uh ... my computer has grown fond of overheating and shutting itself off.

I do feel you sometimes go... overboard.

For some reason I'm perceiving your tone of voice as either 'gently critical' or 'put sunglasses on before saying the punchline', but I can't tell which with enough certainty to attempt to continue the joke or act mildly sheepish as appropriate.

The first one. You just... seem to overdo it in otherwise pretty-concise discussions to the point it more or less stalls everything. Kinda hard to respond to that much.

Offline bhu

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #333 on: November 11, 2014, 05:09:11 PM »


Prison rape will do that to a guy.


Didn't happen to him.  He was a sex offender, they get isolated in their own ward to prevent problems.  Also, he was at his prime when he was arrested and could bench well over 400 pounds.  Between that and his lack of anything resembling fear, you only confronted my uncle if you had a gun, or you really, really knew how to fight.

His explanation was that having to fight constantly finally burned him out on it and made him see how pointless it was.  So at least his time was good for something.

Offline dman11235

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #334 on: November 11, 2014, 05:22:28 PM »
'They' is not an honorific.  Like 'sir' or ''mam' (sp?).  And I have never heard anyone refer to a single item as "they", nor have I heard any other gender neutral pronoun for items.

@Kaj, you temporarily had 666 posts ;)
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Offline Raineh Daze

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #335 on: November 11, 2014, 05:27:17 PM »
'They' is not an honorific.  Like 'sir' or ''mam' (sp?).  And I have never heard anyone refer to a single item as "they", nor have I heard any other gender neutral pronoun for items.

If you're referring to an item: it. However, using it for a person is one of the few things that is actually linguistically impolite in English, so singular they gets drafted in instead.

Eh, honorifics are annoying. All the reason to get something that gives you a constant one.

Offline Kajhera

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #336 on: November 11, 2014, 05:28:10 PM »
Huh? I need to post something? A small rant I imagine?

Uh ... my computer has grown fond of overheating and shutting itself off.

I do feel you sometimes go... overboard.

For some reason I'm perceiving your tone of voice as either 'gently critical' or 'put sunglasses on before saying the punchline', but I can't tell which with enough certainty to attempt to continue the joke or act mildly sheepish as appropriate.

The first one. You just... seem to overdo it in otherwise pretty-concise discussions to the point it more or less stalls everything. Kinda hard to respond to that much.
Yeah, I suffer from a tendency to monologue/ramble when I actually start talking. It does interfere with my rants being small, and is part of why I'm reluctant to open my mouth in the first place; doesn't matter if it's something I'm excited about, angry about, or just inquisitive about, if I'm interested in something I will talk it to death if not careful.

Don't mean to stop other folk talking about something or reply to everything I write unless you want to, though I appreciate the desire to engage me in conversation. Altitude is having a weird effect on me and I might prove socially ... more odd than normal until I can get that resolved, so uh ... hope you can take my verbosity with a grain of salt and patience. Dealing with an amount of frustration, anxiety and ... manic, possibly? It feels like an antidepressant's backfiring, except I'm not on one right now, unless the sun counts. Making behavioral adjustments may be relatively difficult.

'They' is not an honorific.  Like 'sir' or ''mam' (sp?).  And I have never heard anyone refer to a single item as "they", nor have I heard any other gender neutral pronoun for items.

@Kaj, you temporarily had 666 posts ;)

Aha! It was not the devil I was attempting to summon, but a Sylveon, which is found for whatever reason on page 666 of my Pokedex despite being #652. The ritual was a success, he even brought me an apple ...

Offline Kajhera

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #337 on: November 11, 2014, 05:41:09 PM »
TLDR Raineh: Appreciate feedback, will take into account, patience please while Nevada literally drives me insane.

Offline dman11235

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #338 on: November 11, 2014, 07:55:16 PM »
'They' is not an honorific.  Like 'sir' or ''mam' (sp?).  And I have never heard anyone refer to a single item as "they", nor have I heard any other gender neutral pronoun for items.

If you're referring to an item: it. However, using it for a person is one of the few things that is actually linguistically impolite in English, so singular they gets drafted in instead.

Eh, honorifics are annoying. All the reason to get something that gives you a constant one.

Wait, how did I not think of the word "it"???  Eh, language is stupid.  I'm a physicist not a linguist.
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Offline Raineh Daze

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Re: The Small Rants Thread IX: Leaping into the Well of Darkness
« Reply #339 on: November 11, 2014, 07:57:43 PM »
'They' is not an honorific.  Like 'sir' or ''mam' (sp?).  And I have never heard anyone refer to a single item as "they", nor have I heard any other gender neutral pronoun for items.

If you're referring to an item: it. However, using it for a person is one of the few things that is actually linguistically impolite in English, so singular they gets drafted in instead.

Eh, honorifics are annoying. All the reason to get something that gives you a constant one.

Wait, how did I not think of the word "it"???  Eh, language is stupid.  I'm a physicist not a linguist.

I'm a computer scientist with an interest in everything, so long as I don't have to write essays on vague, unanswerable questions.