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I might be a little slow, but I didn't understand. What is "this"? What do you hate people using? Prayer, Islam, Christianity, or people professing religious ha

I might be a little slow, but I didn't understand. What is "this"? What do you hate people using? Prayer, Islam, Christianity, or people professing religious harmony for maybe sorta political ends?

kerryfalk 16y ago
I think he feels that that was one of the most moving and important pieces of information in the letter. I'm not religious, but that's how I felt.
nzadrozny 16y ago
I think he meant that he hates when people use only the single statement, "This," as commentary.
allenp 16y ago
Using the word "this" after a quote is kind of internet short-hand for saying "this is super significant and bigger than any individual." He said "this" but then said he doesn't like using it but had to in this case because it just fit. I think this usage may have come from Reddit?
- JonnieCache 16y ago
  >I think this usage may have come from Reddit? I remember seeing it on somethingawful as far back as 2003. They started a lot of memes, tl;dr, o rly? and so on.
  - elliottcarlson 16y ago
    I actually have it from Fark, not sure what year it started being used there, but I have been an active member there since just before 9/11 and stayed because of the awesome community and responsiveness to the events during that time.
  - fellowniusmonk 16y ago
    Portuguese speakers have long used "isto" (translated as this) as an affirmative statement, regular usage of a term meaning "this" as an affirmative didn't start with the internet.
  - steveklabnik 16y ago
    That wasn't SA, it was most certainly Ebaums. (<small>if you don't get the joke...</small>)
- jacobolus 16y ago
  Wherever it comes from, it’s one of the most obnoxious comment patterns on the internet, and I’d be extremely disappointed to start seeing it here. If something is worth quoting without further comment, a naked quotation is perfectly sufficient. If it needs special emphasis, how about just a simple “!” at the end. Writing “this.” as a comment and then adding an apologetic explanation afterward is even worse, if that’s possible. If you need to write a sentence about the importance of something, how about writing something relevant instead of driving the conversation onto a tangent about commenting style. * * * Edit, since apparently this was unclear: it is obnoxious, to me (implied in my statement, though I’d guess it’s obnoxious to plenty of others as well). The danger with hackneyed phrases† and metaphors generally is that they encourage a lazy discussion style that decreases the signal-to-noise ratio. It is my personal experience that communities where usages like “this.” are popular are, on the whole, less relevant and interesting than ones where they aren’t. I don’t want people to start pulling quotations from linked articles as their entire comments, even if it might sometimes be appropriate, because when such comments are encouraged, the trend is toward banality and repetition. † a hackneyed phrase itself. hah.
  - JonnieCache 16y ago
    How about we all start writing "quoted for truth" instead? ;)
    - tokipin 16y ago
      no. just no.
  - elliottcarlson 16y ago
    I agree it's obnoxious, however I didn't know how else to express my feelings towards the quote without taking away from the quote. Simply saying "wow" would have added even less to the conversation. My apologies either way.
    - jacoblyles 16y ago
      If you have nothing of value to add to the conversation, you could refrain from adding anything and trust in the intellect of your fellow HNers to read the sentence that you quoted verbatim for themselves.
- kmfrk 16y ago
  It's usually from bulletin boards and other places with no proper +1 feature like upvotes. reddit's karma system is pretty much crap, so there's still an incentive for some people to use it on it.
JoelMcCracken 16y ago
He hates when people use that method of drawing attention to things -- quoting something then saying "this". I think it is popular on Reddit, but I am not too sure.
zalew 16y ago
He probably hates when people confirm an excerpt of an article by just saying 'this' instead of elaborating about their opinion, but felt it's a good occasion to just do that, because that quote speaks for itself.
elliottcarlson 16y ago
Exactly as other people have responded "This." is often used as a response to say that that portion or that article being referenced is of extreme significance. I hate when people use it, it just seems lazy, but the significance of that statement I quoted meant a lot to me, and I consider myself agnostic with no religious beliefs what so ever.
- saturdaysaint 16y ago
  That's precisely why it annoys me. The power of this article was in its nuance and thoughtful breadth - we see the spectrum of human behavior ranging from authoritarian control to self-interested defense, to altruistic concern for fellow citizens. But with a simple "this" you're asking us to hyperfocus on the most Hallmark, ready-for-a-60-Minutes-segment slice of the story. Presumably we all read "this". If you don't have anything to add to elaborate on it, what does denoting its significance add? I hate to jump on the pile, but since I value HN discussion, I'm happy to see "this" (usually) downvoted and put out of practice here.
  - elliottcarlson 16y ago
    While you are correct, I didn't have anything to elaborate on, the denoting of it's significance was to allow others to perhaps continue on that key element. I agree that this practice is bad, and it should be downvoted; which is why I have upvoted every single comment saying I shouldn't have posted it (though it bothers me that jacobolus downvoted all the people explaining my post - they were being helpful and should not have been downvoted imho). I will make sure that my future contributions are of substance, and know that the route I took was a mistake.

I might be a little slow, but I didn't understand. What is "this"? What do you hate people using? Prayer, Islam, Christianity, or people professing religious harmony for maybe sorta political ends?

kerryfalk 16y ago

I think he feels that that was one of the most moving and important pieces of information in the letter. I'm not religious, but that's how I felt.

nzadrozny 16y ago

I think he meant that he hates when people use only the single statement, "This," as commentary.

allenp 16y ago

Using the word "this" after a quote is kind of internet short-hand for saying "this is super significant and bigger than any individual." He said "this" but then said he doesn't like using it but had to in this case because it just fit. I think this usage may have come from Reddit?

JonnieCache 16y ago
>I think this usage may have come from Reddit? I remember seeing it on somethingawful as far back as 2003. They started a lot of memes, tl;dr, o rly? and so on.
- elliottcarlson 16y ago
  I actually have it from Fark, not sure what year it started being used there, but I have been an active member there since just before 9/11 and stayed because of the awesome community and responsiveness to the events during that time.
- fellowniusmonk 16y ago
  Portuguese speakers have long used "isto" (translated as this) as an affirmative statement, regular usage of a term meaning "this" as an affirmative didn't start with the internet.
- steveklabnik 16y ago
  That wasn't SA, it was most certainly Ebaums. (<small>if you don't get the joke...</small>)
jacobolus 16y ago
Wherever it comes from, it’s one of the most obnoxious comment patterns on the internet, and I’d be extremely disappointed to start seeing it here. If something is worth quoting without further comment, a naked quotation is perfectly sufficient. If it needs special emphasis, how about just a simple “!” at the end. Writing “this.” as a comment and then adding an apologetic explanation afterward is even worse, if that’s possible. If you need to write a sentence about the importance of something, how about writing something relevant instead of driving the conversation onto a tangent about commenting style. * * * Edit, since apparently this was unclear: it is obnoxious, to me (implied in my statement, though I’d guess it’s obnoxious to plenty of others as well). The danger with hackneyed phrases† and metaphors generally is that they encourage a lazy discussion style that decreases the signal-to-noise ratio. It is my personal experience that communities where usages like “this.” are popular are, on the whole, less relevant and interesting than ones where they aren’t. I don’t want people to start pulling quotations from linked articles as their entire comments, even if it might sometimes be appropriate, because when such comments are encouraged, the trend is toward banality and repetition. † a hackneyed phrase itself. hah.
- JonnieCache 16y ago
  How about we all start writing "quoted for truth" instead? ;)
  - tokipin 16y ago
    no. just no.
- elliottcarlson 16y ago
  I agree it's obnoxious, however I didn't know how else to express my feelings towards the quote without taking away from the quote. Simply saying "wow" would have added even less to the conversation. My apologies either way.
  - jacoblyles 16y ago
    If you have nothing of value to add to the conversation, you could refrain from adding anything and trust in the intellect of your fellow HNers to read the sentence that you quoted verbatim for themselves.
kmfrk 16y ago
It's usually from bulletin boards and other places with no proper +1 feature like upvotes. reddit's karma system is pretty much crap, so there's still an incentive for some people to use it on it.

JoelMcCracken 16y ago

He hates when people use that method of drawing attention to things -- quoting something then saying "this". I think it is popular on Reddit, but I am not too sure.

zalew 16y ago

He probably hates when people confirm an excerpt of an article by just saying 'this' instead of elaborating about their opinion, but felt it's a good occasion to just do that, because that quote speaks for itself.

elliottcarlson 16y ago

Exactly as other people have responded "This." is often used as a response to say that that portion or that article being referenced is of extreme significance. I hate when people use it, it just seems lazy, but the significance of that statement I quoted meant a lot to me, and I consider myself agnostic with no religious beliefs what so ever.

saturdaysaint 16y ago
That's precisely why it annoys me. The power of this article was in its nuance and thoughtful breadth - we see the spectrum of human behavior ranging from authoritarian control to self-interested defense, to altruistic concern for fellow citizens. But with a simple "this" you're asking us to hyperfocus on the most Hallmark, ready-for-a-60-Minutes-segment slice of the story. Presumably we all read "this". If you don't have anything to add to elaborate on it, what does denoting its significance add? I hate to jump on the pile, but since I value HN discussion, I'm happy to see "this" (usually) downvoted and put out of practice here.
- elliottcarlson 16y ago
  While you are correct, I didn't have anything to elaborate on, the denoting of it's significance was to allow others to perhaps continue on that key element. I agree that this practice is bad, and it should be downvoted; which is why I have upvoted every single comment saying I shouldn't have posted it (though it bothers me that jacobolus downvoted all the people explaining my post - they were being helpful and should not have been downvoted imho). I will make sure that my future contributions are of substance, and know that the route I took was a mistake.