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It may be grammatically correct to the 51% of Wikipedians who can stomach working on that particular page, but it is highly annoying. It is also impolite if th

by 1928321931 10y ago

It may be grammatically correct to the 51% of Wikipedians who can stomach working on that particular page, but it is highly annoying. It is also impolite if the gender of the person in question is completely obvious. Additionally, it is confusing for non-native speakers who always have to figure out whether something is plural or singular.

dalke 10y ago
It might be highly annoying to a small percentage of HN readers, but so are many other things. It's impolite to use a new, throwaway account to foist personal preferences rooted in 19th century prescriptive grammar on us all. I have a hard time in German remembering if a noun is feminine, masculine, or neuter. They should get rid of the gender system to make things easier for me.
- wtbob 10y ago
  > It's impolite to use a new, throwaway account He probably wanted to avoid getting downvoted like I did. Apparently being correct earns one a downvote these days. I guess I'd rather be correct than have karma, anyway.
  - dalke 10y ago
    How do you know the downvotes weren't due to factors other than being correct? For example, I can make a correct comment which has nothing to do with the thread. Irrelevant comments are infrequently downvoted. Eg, HN:ers downvote for reddit-style jokes. https://hn.algolia.com/?query=reddit%20joke%20downvote&sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?query=reddit%20joke%20downvote&sort=... . Even if there's nothing false in the joke. People also downvote for tone: https://hn.algolia.com/?query=tone%20downvote&sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?query=tone%20downvote&sort=byDate&pr... . Since there are many factors which may cause someone to downvote, I don't think you can assume it was due to being correct. Quoting from the HN Guidelines: "Please resist commenting about being downvoted. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading." P.S. And how do you know 1928321931 prefers to be referred to as "he"?
- 001923801 10y ago
  If I'd be in the business of virtue signaling like some consultants, I'd also use my real name.
  - dalke 10y ago
    You might be wary about using that term. The use of the term "virtue signaling" is also a common method by which bigots signal their virtue to other bigots. As http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Social_justice_warrior#.22Virtue_signalling.22 http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Social_justice_warrior#.22Virtu... puts it, the term was: > "seized upon by reactionaries almost immediately and broadened to just every instance of somebody publicly expressing a desire for a better world. Just like SJW and whiteknighting, the user assumes being a prejudiced, oppressive asshole is the default and knows saying as such won't get them any traction, so they throw terms around that assumes bad faith of "the other side" in order to poison the well. " Since I doubt you have no desire for a better world, I'll assume you mean it in Bartholomew's original sense. Unfortunately, others have ruined it enough that it's no longer a meaningful term of discourse.

dalke 10y ago

It might be highly annoying to a small percentage of HN readers, but so are many other things. It's impolite to use a new, throwaway account to foist personal preferences rooted in 19th century prescriptive grammar on us all. I have a hard time in German remembering if a noun is feminine, masculine, or neuter. They should get rid of the gender system to make things easier for me.

wtbob 10y ago
> It's impolite to use a new, throwaway account He probably wanted to avoid getting downvoted like I did. Apparently being correct earns one a downvote these days. I guess I'd rather be correct than have karma, anyway.
- dalke 10y ago
  How do you know the downvotes weren't due to factors other than being correct? For example, I can make a correct comment which has nothing to do with the thread. Irrelevant comments are infrequently downvoted. Eg, HN:ers downvote for reddit-style jokes. https://hn.algolia.com/?query=reddit%20joke%20downvote&sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?query=reddit%20joke%20downvote&sort=... . Even if there's nothing false in the joke. People also downvote for tone: https://hn.algolia.com/?query=tone%20downvote&sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?query=tone%20downvote&sort=byDate&pr... . Since there are many factors which may cause someone to downvote, I don't think you can assume it was due to being correct. Quoting from the HN Guidelines: "Please resist commenting about being downvoted. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading." P.S. And how do you know 1928321931 prefers to be referred to as "he"?
001923801 10y ago
If I'd be in the business of virtue signaling like some consultants, I'd also use my real name.
- dalke 10y ago
  You might be wary about using that term. The use of the term "virtue signaling" is also a common method by which bigots signal their virtue to other bigots. As http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Social_justice_warrior#.22Virtue_signalling.22 http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Social_justice_warrior#.22Virtu... puts it, the term was: > "seized upon by reactionaries almost immediately and broadened to just every instance of somebody publicly expressing a desire for a better world. Just like SJW and whiteknighting, the user assumes being a prejudiced, oppressive asshole is the default and knows saying as such won't get them any traction, so they throw terms around that assumes bad faith of "the other side" in order to poison the well. " Since I doubt you have no desire for a better world, I'll assume you mean it in Bartholomew's original sense. Unfortunately, others have ruined it enough that it's no longer a meaningful term of discourse.