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>Anything you say before the word “but” does not count. That's a funny one, and I agree, and it's also the reason I use "and" instead of "but" for those kinds
by daenz 4y ago
>Anything you say before the word “but” does not count.
That's a funny one, and I agree, and it's also the reason I use "and" instead of "but" for those kinds of sentences. It sounds a little clunkier, but(!) it doesn't trigger people's alarms.
- _carbyau_ 4y agoI was amused that the point after that has a "but" in it and using this rule invalidates the message...
- rootlocus 4y ago> That's a funny one, and I agree, and it's also the reason I use "and" instead of "but" for those kinds of sentences. So you agree, but it's also the reason you substitute it to hide it?
- mpol 4y agoOh no, I am playing with this in the same way. Saying things like "Yes, but...", just means "No". I regularly change the word "but" to "and". Sometimes it works really well, like, both parts are true. Sometimes it doesn't work, where I really mean to send the message as "No". And sometimes it makes me notice that I don't want to hide a "No" message with a "Yes, but", and change it to say clearly "No". The most dreadful way of hinding a "No" is behind a "Yes, but..." and I know people who are allergic to that way of non-communication.
- c048 4y agoThe part before 'but' can be informative and shape context. I strongly disagree with this statement.
- yarky 4y agoIt's informative ! Until you say "but", where it becomes meaningless.
- depaya 4y agoYeah I don't agree either. If I'm getting some feedback from a peer and they tell me "Usually your code is extremely well documented and ready to go as is, but your most recent PR doesn't cut it because xyz" I am glad they have included the "but" in the sentence so I have more context for their comment. It accomplishes two things: It lets me know they are providing this feedback from a place where they are familiar with my work (context for the feedback), and it is a complement (which is always nice to receive). True, the actual message is what comes after the "but," but(!) that doesn't make the first half of the sentence unimportant.
- daenz 4y agoHere's how I would rephrase that with "and": "Usually your code is extremely well documented and ready to go as is and I think your most recent PR could be improved in this area." It softens the blow while still retaining the relevant context.
- Dylan16807 4y agoSo you would agree it's not meaningless?
- nocman 4y ago"it doesn't trigger people's alarms." I skipped past the first part of the sentence, because I saw there was a "but" near the end, and supposedly that means the first part of the sentence doesn't count, but now the sentence doesn't make any sense to me.
- depaya 4y agoNo the advice still holds true here: > That's a funny one, and I agree, and it's also the reason I use "and" instead of "but" for those kinds of sentences. It doesn't trigger people's alarms. In this case the advice isn't all that profound, the "but" is just sectioning off the first part of the sentence like a parenthetical.
- nocman 4y agoI was joking in that response.