3 ms·

I don't think so, actually. I'd be hard put to make that comment's point any more elegantly. In person, the right response to the original sentence would be a

I don't think so, actually. I'd be hard put to make that comment's point any more elegantly. In person, the right response to the original sentence would be a polite cough, followed by a brief but significant silence, followed by a slight but detectable face-saving change of subject. We can't do those things on the web, but in this case "um... what?" is an artful alternative.

stanleydrew 16y ago
I question the comment's usefulness to this discussion, not the elegance with which it was made (although I think I disagree on that as well). The comment, to me, is a distraction. Not purposeful I'm sure, but it's had that effect. The fact that the community would vote it up to the point where it might be the first comment someone reads when seeing this thread is disappointing.
- smcl 16y ago
  > The comment, to me, is a distraction Perhaps a little reflection is in order, you were originally unhappy that the comment I made might have distracted from, or derailed, any possible discussion. Then, rather than turning the other cheek, you opted to kick off a discussion which has ironically created a genuine distraction. update: This reply was a little bit cheeky and I subsequently sent stanleydrew an email to apologise.
  - stanleydrew 16y ago
    The irony is not lost on me, certainly. I think this is the first time I've ever called out a comment as inappropriate in my nearly two years of active HN participation. Usually I read comments like this, downvote and flag, and then move on. My intention was not to start a discussion. My intention was to make people think before upvoting, and to make people think before they consider posting a similar comment in the future. Hopefully, despite derailing the larger thread a bit, I achieved that goal. I'm happy to take this discussion offline though, in order to prevent further derailment. My email is in my profile.

stanleydrew 16y ago

I question the comment's usefulness to this discussion, not the elegance with which it was made (although I think I disagree on that as well). The comment, to me, is a distraction. Not purposeful I'm sure, but it's had that effect. The fact that the community would vote it up to the point where it might be the first comment someone reads when seeing this thread is disappointing.

smcl 16y ago
> The comment, to me, is a distraction Perhaps a little reflection is in order, you were originally unhappy that the comment I made might have distracted from, or derailed, any possible discussion. Then, rather than turning the other cheek, you opted to kick off a discussion which has ironically created a genuine distraction. update: This reply was a little bit cheeky and I subsequently sent stanleydrew an email to apologise.
- stanleydrew 16y ago
  The irony is not lost on me, certainly. I think this is the first time I've ever called out a comment as inappropriate in my nearly two years of active HN participation. Usually I read comments like this, downvote and flag, and then move on. My intention was not to start a discussion. My intention was to make people think before upvoting, and to make people think before they consider posting a similar comment in the future. Hopefully, despite derailing the larger thread a bit, I achieved that goal. I'm happy to take this discussion offline though, in order to prevent further derailment. My email is in my profile.