5 ms·

In all seriousness... does "just, wow" communicate something different from "wow?"

nathancahill 11y ago
Yes, given that statements on the internet do not convey tone or delivery (see: Poe's Law), any additional clues are helpful in understanding the author's full meaning. In this case, with the author's use of punctuation and "Side note:", I can practically hear them speaking, which is what we should aim for in good writing. You're being downvoted, but I think it's an interesting point.
- xiaoma 11y ago
  Could you explain the difference?
  - nathancahill 11y ago
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10720369 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10720369
lostInTheWoods3 11y ago
"just, wow" > "wow", denotes staggering astonishment. Or put more simply: minds were blown.
savanaly 11y ago
It implies that you were about to exclaim something even more extreme than "wow", but you decided not to because even those terms wouldn't properly convey the amazement you feel so you said - just - wow.
keerthiko 11y ago
Hmm. I believe "Just, wow" means that there is nothing more to explain about the event in question worth expressing amazement about, as it is extremely self-evident. Sometimes also used to express being at a loss for additional words.
dang 11y ago
I think it's an interesting language question too! But we detached this from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10720212 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10720212 and marked it off-topic.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- dopamean 11y ago
  What does detached mean? You just removed the comment? I'm certainly not complaining; I'd just like some clarification on the jargon. Thanks.
  - nathancahill 11y ago
    As far as I can tell, detaching a thread moves it from the parent comment to the parent post. Marking it as off-topic moves it to the bottom, just above downvoted comments.
return0 11y ago
"Just, wow" is people lying to your face. They always add more words after "just, wow".

Yes, given that statements on the internet do not convey tone or delivery (see: Poe's Law), any additional clues are helpful in understanding the author's full meaning. In this case, with the author's use of punctuation and "Side note:", I can practically hear them speaking, which is what we should aim for in good writing. You're being downvoted, but I think it's an interesting point.

xiaoma 11y ago
Could you explain the difference?
- nathancahill 11y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10720369 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10720369

lostInTheWoods3 11y ago

"just, wow" > "wow", denotes staggering astonishment. Or put more simply: minds were blown.

savanaly 11y ago

It implies that you were about to exclaim something even more extreme than "wow", but you decided not to because even those terms wouldn't properly convey the amazement you feel so you said - just - wow.

keerthiko 11y ago

Hmm. I believe "Just, wow" means that there is nothing more to explain about the event in question worth expressing amazement about, as it is extremely self-evident. Sometimes also used to express being at a loss for additional words.

dang 11y ago

I think it's an interesting language question too! But we detached this from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10720212 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10720212 and marked it off-topic.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
dopamean 11y ago
What does detached mean? You just removed the comment? I'm certainly not complaining; I'd just like some clarification on the jargon. Thanks.
- nathancahill 11y ago
  As far as I can tell, detaching a thread moves it from the parent comment to the parent post. Marking it as off-topic moves it to the bottom, just above downvoted comments.

return0 11y ago

"Just, wow" is people lying to your face. They always add more words after "just, wow".