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Why is my comment down-voted? I believe it does not violate any HN rules or is otherwise erroneous. Just trying to 'get it right'. I'm genuinely curious -- w

Why is my comment down-voted? I believe it does not violate any HN rules or is otherwise erroneous. Just trying to 'get it right'. I'm genuinely curious -- would one of the anonymous down-voters please create a throw-away account and explain, in detail, your reasoning? Thank you!

grzm 9y ago
I suspect it's that it comes across as overly pedantic. I'm a big fan of the subjunctive mood myself, but I also understand that language changes and prescriptivism just makes me miserable. It's also in the middle of a contentious discussion, so people are going to be more on edge and probably more likely to react more harshly to what they perceive as nitpicks. That's my read on it, anyway, and it's supported indirectly by other comments down thread. FWIW, with respect to the HN rules, it is frowned upon to comment on voting: > "Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- GeorgeTirebiter 9y ago
  Thanks. I greatly appreciate your comment. I thought it might be others, not me. I'll assume that was it, as I would think that accuracy would be prized by programmers and such. I think that 'guideline' about not commenting on voting is circumspect, because it means that people, in the heat of the moment, can press a button when they are pissed off, and don't have to craft a logical response ('the why'). It cheapens HN, I believe, and I'll mention this to Paul next time I see him.
  - grzm 9y ago
    Removing the guideline won't change voting behavior. And I'm pretty sure people who are going to downvote without commenting aren't likely to add a comment at the urging of another comment. The guideline is there to avoid exactly the type of thread this has become: tedious, boring (in the sense that it's been repeated time and again in other threads) and unlikely to do any good.

grzm 9y ago

I suspect it's that it comes across as overly pedantic. I'm a big fan of the subjunctive mood myself, but I also understand that language changes and prescriptivism just makes me miserable. It's also in the middle of a contentious discussion, so people are going to be more on edge and probably more likely to react more harshly to what they perceive as nitpicks. That's my read on it, anyway, and it's supported indirectly by other comments down thread. FWIW, with respect to the HN rules, it is frowned upon to comment on voting: > "Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

GeorgeTirebiter 9y ago
Thanks. I greatly appreciate your comment. I thought it might be others, not me. I'll assume that was it, as I would think that accuracy would be prized by programmers and such. I think that 'guideline' about not commenting on voting is circumspect, because it means that people, in the heat of the moment, can press a button when they are pissed off, and don't have to craft a logical response ('the why'). It cheapens HN, I believe, and I'll mention this to Paul next time I see him.
- grzm 9y ago
  Removing the guideline won't change voting behavior. And I'm pretty sure people who are going to downvote without commenting aren't likely to add a comment at the urging of another comment. The guideline is there to avoid exactly the type of thread this has become: tedious, boring (in the sense that it's been repeated time and again in other threads) and unlikely to do any good.