5 ms·

> So, that guy survived mass layoffs, accepted lots of changes to the company and mission, and didn't quit, but Slack being removed is what really got him? May

> So, that guy survived mass layoffs, accepted lots of changes to the company and mission, and didn't quit, but Slack being removed is what really got him? Maybe that's why it's called the last straw, not the first one?

coldtea 4y ago
If you've been in turn kicked, stabbed, and shot, then deciding somebody using a water pistol against you is "the last straw" is absurd and idiotic, even if technically correct (it came, after all, last in chronological order)
- juliusgeo 4y ago
  The reason the phrase was coined to describe exactly that kind of illogical reaction you are describing. It is used to describe seemingly insignificant additions that will cause people to buckle.
  - coldtea 4y ago
    Not all illogical reactions are made the same. Some just border on the comical more than others - as in, "bro, THAT'S what finally broke you?" And this "final straw" is more like that one scene from Airplane 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbv5B71KmkA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbv5B71KmkA
    - juliusgeo 4y ago
      The severity of the reaction doesn’t really matter as long as it’s illogical in relation to the last input
      - coldtea 4y ago
        I wasn't pointing at the severity of the reaction (eiter in the clip, or in this thread). The severity of the reaction is the second joke in that clip, but I was referring to the main joke: that the passengers reaction comes when the stewardess reveals there's no more coffee, not at all the abdolutely horrible things said before. That part would be funny even if it was shown as regular outrage and some loud complaints. Because, even though a "straw that broke the camel's back" response is by definition about having an outburst at a smaller slight as opposed to one of the biggers ones that preceded it, when the final slight is extremely out of proportion compared to the previous ones, having that be "the final straw" becomes farcical. In other words, there's illogical and there's really really illogical - to the point of being comical.
        juliusgeo 4y ago
        “when the final slight is extremely out of proportion compared to the previous ones, having that be "the final straw" becomes farcical.” I think we are arguing past each other because this is exactly what I’m saying—the phrase is intended to be used for these exact farcical situations. You seem to want there to be a ton of nuance in an aphorism, which you will simply rarely get. The phrase is used to communicate a sense of someone not reacting and then reacting all at once—your arguments about the exact differential between different events in the sequence leading up to the breakage of the back are irrelevant because that is not the point of the phrase.

coldtea 4y ago

If you've been in turn kicked, stabbed, and shot, then deciding somebody using a water pistol against you is "the last straw" is absurd and idiotic, even if technically correct (it came, after all, last in chronological order)

juliusgeo 4y ago
The reason the phrase was coined to describe exactly that kind of illogical reaction you are describing. It is used to describe seemingly insignificant additions that will cause people to buckle.
- coldtea 4y ago
  Not all illogical reactions are made the same. Some just border on the comical more than others - as in, "bro, THAT'S what finally broke you?" And this "final straw" is more like that one scene from Airplane 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbv5B71KmkA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbv5B71KmkA
  - juliusgeo 4y ago
    The severity of the reaction doesn’t really matter as long as it’s illogical in relation to the last input
    - coldtea 4y ago
      I wasn't pointing at the severity of the reaction (eiter in the clip, or in this thread). The severity of the reaction is the second joke in that clip, but I was referring to the main joke: that the passengers reaction comes when the stewardess reveals there's no more coffee, not at all the abdolutely horrible things said before. That part would be funny even if it was shown as regular outrage and some loud complaints. Because, even though a "straw that broke the camel's back" response is by definition about having an outburst at a smaller slight as opposed to one of the biggers ones that preceded it, when the final slight is extremely out of proportion compared to the previous ones, having that be "the final straw" becomes farcical. In other words, there's illogical and there's really really illogical - to the point of being comical.
      - juliusgeo 4y ago
        “when the final slight is extremely out of proportion compared to the previous ones, having that be "the final straw" becomes farcical.” I think we are arguing past each other because this is exactly what I’m saying—the phrase is intended to be used for these exact farcical situations. You seem to want there to be a ton of nuance in an aphorism, which you will simply rarely get. The phrase is used to communicate a sense of someone not reacting and then reacting all at once—your arguments about the exact differential between different events in the sequence leading up to the breakage of the back are irrelevant because that is not the point of the phrase.