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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 th

by 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.
    - elliottcarlson 16y ago
      At this point your objections have been heard and understood. I regret posting what I did as this thread has devalued the original posting, and that was far from the intention; however your continued objections aren't helping this tangent from dieing down either. I'll be sure to consider your points in the future, I realize I could have approached it differently - can we let the subject die now and not lose any more focus on the original posting.
      - deleted 16y ago
        [deleted]
- gruseom 16y ago
  It's not obnoxious; it's an idiom, or a potential idiom, that wouldn't have caught on if it didn't fill a niche. Your suggested alternatives aren't the same thing at all. A naked quotation doesn't communicate what the quoter is feeling; you can't stick "!" at the end of a quote without changing it; and a free-floating "!" would be still more nonstandard and harder to read than "This." It's just language evolution at work.
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.

by allenp 16y ago

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.
  - elliottcarlson 16y ago
    At this point your objections have been heard and understood. I regret posting what I did as this thread has devalued the original posting, and that was far from the intention; however your continued objections aren't helping this tangent from dieing down either. I'll be sure to consider your points in the future, I realize I could have approached it differently - can we let the subject die now and not lose any more focus on the original posting.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
gruseom 16y ago
It's not obnoxious; it's an idiom, or a potential idiom, that wouldn't have caught on if it didn't fill a niche. Your suggested alternatives aren't the same thing at all. A naked quotation doesn't communicate what the quoter is feeling; you can't stick "!" at the end of a quote without changing it; and a free-floating "!" would be still more nonstandard and harder to read than "This." It's just language evolution at work.

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.