medusa Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Have you ever tried having a long discussion with someone who agrees with you completely? You run out of things to discuss after moments. Disagreement is essential for a forum to thrive. Whether the disagreement needs to be on a fundamental basis or on the placement of an apostrophe is, I assume, what you were questioning. As SplodgeyAl said, bearing in mind how many people don't take in all of the information in the OP when considering their answer, and how many people just assume that others know the whole circumstances so only state half of them (leading to confusion), I'm not sure that one can say that pedantry is unwarranted or unwelcome on a forum. There remains a place for tact and sensitivity (criticising the spelling of someone who is obviously in emotional distress discussing the death of a loved one is really not OK) but other than that, where do you draw the line of what is a useful question and what is nit-picking for the sake of it and to score points? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad.Malky Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 What's the difference between a nit-picker and a troller? If you are struggling to tell the difference perhaps this will help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkertelecoms Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 That is sad But a great advert for Tango. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteMorris Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Have you ever tried having a long discussion with someone who agrees with you completely? You run out of things to discuss after moments. Disagreement is essential for a forum to thrive. Whether the disagreement needs to be on a fundamental basis or on the placement of an apostrophe is, I assume, what you were questioning. As SplodgeyAl said, bearing in mind how many people don't take in all of the information in the OP when considering their answer, and how many people just assume that others know the whole circumstances so only state half of them (leading to confusion), I'm not sure that one can say that pedantry is unwarranted or unwelcome on a forum. There remains a place for tact and sensitivity (criticising the spelling of someone who is obviously in emotional distress discussing the death of a loved one is really not OK) but other than that, where do you draw the line of what is a useful question and what is nit-picking for the sake of it and to score points? Perhaps at first glance the original question 'seems' a bit too simplistic. I agree the critcism of the placement of a comma or apostophe is utterly pointles, unless of course it changes the whole meaning of a phrase, which can sometimes be the case. I also agree that without differing opinions and totally different viewpoints, any debate quickly grinds to a halt. The fundamentals of my original question was not those who critcise spelling or punctuation, but those who just pick up on perhaps one phrase or a few words in the original post and twist it somehow into something which was never meant. Eeek, it's awkward to explain. Rather than take the post as a whole. Admittedly, I'm quite certain some never actually read it properly in the first place! Modding must be a thankless task sometimes. I kind of equate it to the school dinner lady in the playground, sorting out petty squabbles and the odd fight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Dome Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Ok, here's one to debate. We've probably all posted things on here that someone else has disected and chosen a small part of, which may not have been considered by the OP, or not meant in the way the nit-picker chooses to argue against. Are nit-pickers actually required for a good healthy, lively debate. Or are they just nit-picking to wind others up? It's 'nitpicking', no hyphen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteMorris Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 It's 'nitpicking', no hyphen. Hahahaaha...wouldn't ya just know it! :hihi: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Dome Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkertelecoms Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I'm a Mod on another forum, a fraction the size of this one, and is a sports based discussion group. Out of a user base of only around 15,000 members there's only 4 or 5 users that supply a manageable amount of gype. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteMorris Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 It's 'nitpicking', no hyphen. You're lucky, I almost spelt it with a 'K' (knit-picking), but somehow that didn't look right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barleycorn Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Perhaps at first glance the original question 'seems' a bit too simplistic. I agree the critcism of the placement of a comma or apostophe is utterly pointles, unless of course it changes the whole meaning of a phrase, which can sometimes be the case. I also agree that without differing opinions and totally different viewpoints, any debate quickly grinds to a halt. The fundamentals of my original question was not those who critcise spelling or punctuation, but those who just pick up on perhaps one phrase or a few words in the original post and twist it somehow into something which was never meant. Eeek, it's awkward to explain. Rather than take the post as a whole. Admittedly, I'm quite certain some never actually read it properly in the first place! Modding must be a thankless task sometimes. I kind of equate it to the school dinner lady in the playground, sorting out petty squabbles and the odd fight! It's a form or argumentum ad straw manium. jb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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