Is it me, or has MeFi been infected with "honey" recently? It seems as though in the past week or so, every thread I go into has someone referring to another poster as "honey" or "hon" -- a term that I find startlingly condescending (with overtones of ageism and sexism, to boot). [more inside]
posted by obliquicity on Sep 28, 2009 - 315 comments

How do you pronounce your username? [more inside]
posted by Afroblanco on Jul 29, 2009 - 387 comments

I'm working on a post in which I'd like to use a certain article that provides useful and interesting background information, information I can't find anywhere else. Unfortunately this article is a PDF file... and in Spanish. [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi on Feb 24, 2009 - 6 comments

I've seen a few comments recently claiming or intimating that "HURF DURF" originated here, and I would like to set the record straight on this extremely trivial matter. [more inside]
posted by DecemberBoy on Aug 13, 2008 - 94 comments

nasreddin hit one out of the park today.
posted by plexi on Aug 1, 2008 - 226 comments

Would you people stop trying to hack stuff? [more inside]
posted by sunshinesky on Jun 27, 2008 - 114 comments

Very short question. Why does it say 'X new links' when most posts here don't have links? Shouldn't it say 'X new posts or X new flameouts/hugesexismthreads/podcasts'?
posted by Memo on Nov 27, 2007 - 36 comments

Recently jessamyn rushed to edit the title of an Ask Metafilter question, changing it from "Nice bag that isn't gay" to simply "Nice bag." Today, on Metafilter, there is "It's harder than you think to differentiate between what's gay and what's High School Musical." Why is one offensive, and one is not, if they both reference ideas that are generally accepted as being attractive to gay men?
posted by four panels on Aug 24, 2007 - 75 comments

On this question, brownpau claims that there is information missing from the original question. However, it's just that the words "[more inside]" are not displayed in the question's page. I've noticed this a few other times; a turn of the phrase that is meant to end in the [more inside] looks out of whack and, until I realize that it's happened again, appears to be have something missing. Should [more inside] perhaps be placed inside the thread, as well, to lessen confusion, even though, technically, we're already inside?
posted by notsnot on Aug 7, 2007 - 6 comments

One of the links in this FPP references a "digg-effected link." This is probably overly nitpicky and more a matter of curiosity than anything else, but would it be "digg-effected" or "digg-affected?" It's a link that fell prey to the "digg effect," but on the other hand it was "affected by digg." Thoughts?
posted by OverlappingElvis on Aug 23, 2006 - 44 comments

Hey guys, can we take this one out behind the barn and shoot it, already?
posted by Afroblanco on Jun 16, 2006 - 101 comments

Posting to Metafilter is so cool. Click previous sentence for more information.
posted by grateful on Mar 22, 2006 - 4 comments

MeFi: may-fee [mefi] or mee-fie [mifaɪ]? Mefite: mee-fight or may-fight? I was a little disconcerted at a meet-up to realise that some people pronounce these terms differently than I do. Is there a dominant pronounciation? Any other variants? (idle curiosity of a linguistics student)
posted by heatherann on Mar 1, 2006 - 102 comments

During my sophomore year in college, my classmates apparently all simultaneously discovered the word "ambiguous." We couldn't go through five minutes of a class discussion without the word being used. It was like, "I'm smart! Look at my new word! Watch me use it in any mildly appropriate way!"

I can't get ten comments through a thread here without someone cleverly pointing out a "straw man" argument. Not every argument that is contrary to your own is a "straw man" argument. An unsupported argument is not a "staw man" argument. If you disagree with someone's point, then take the time to attack the logic or the premise of that argument. Don't just call that person a "straw man." It's too ambiguous.
posted by flarbuse on Oct 25, 2005 - 125 comments

What happened to 김치? Because if for nothing else, he actuated this and i liked it.
plus the caps lock thread kicks this year's anniversay thread in the ash.
posted by philida on Oct 23, 2005 - 5 comments

Strange superlative.

I have many delicious vegetarian recipes, but I better not tell this guy. I would hate to be responsible for him punching his mother in the mouth.

Or worse, my mother.
posted by Methylviolet on Sep 26, 2005 - 73 comments

Are there any members who are serving or have served in Iraq? Any members who live, or have constant contact with someone who lives, in Iraq? If you're willing, I have language-related questions, both about American military usage and colloquial modern Iraqi Arabic. Email me at the address on the web site linked in my profile.
posted by Mo Nickels on Aug 6, 2005 - 6 comments

Posting links to websites in languages other than English: previously discussed, but without clear guidelines. There's a great link I could post -- but even if the images are a key part of what makes that site's interesting, it's not in English. More inside.
posted by matteo on Mar 6, 2005 - 24 comments

"Troll" may have a respectable lineage on the Web but, frankly, for some of us who joined later in the day, it seems like a quaint, medieval way of classifying anyone who's the least bit provocative, thought-provoking or even unorthodox. Recently, any forceful, strongly-worded attempt to spark discussion with a non-mainstream viewpoint, generally from the Left, has been lamely denounced as a "troll". Could it be time to give the ye olde troll accusation a well-deserved rest? I hope so. The English language is one of the richest in the world and troll sounds parochial, pimply, nerdish, cliquey, incestuous and, ultimately, meaningless.
posted by MiguelCardoso on Aug 30, 2004 - 78 comments

Is a bad choice of words a derogation during Ask Mefi?
posted by wendell on Jul 31, 2004 - 34 comments

You've stumbled upon a non-existent post, or one that was deleted for various reasons.
posted by Opus Dark on Jun 14, 2004 - 30 comments

Interesting use of language in feed description. Well yes I laughed and went straight to the article for an explaination. It is a great link. I have no problem with the use of colourful language under normal circumstances and I don't want to sound like a prude, but I was just worried about site image. Also aren't there going to be issues in some workplaces with filters and that sort of thing?
posted by feelinglistless on May 22, 2004 - 4 comments

I'd like to remind everyone that we have some new users, and we really ought to encourage them as much as possible. While I agree entirely with the Q-man's sentiment, name-calling is counterproductive to the site, especially when it's a user's first FPP.

This isn't so much a call-out on quonsar, but a reminder that discouraging the new users is detrimental to the health of the site.
posted by jpoulos on Apr 29, 2004 - 93 comments

Can we stop with the vagina comments?
posted by monju_bosatsu on Dec 5, 2003 - 184 comments

Nice posts, but extremely aggravating titles.
posted by hama7 on Feb 12, 2003 - 94 comments

Okay, just a quick history lesson, paraphrasing Tom Tomorrow:

Feminazis are women who would prefer to treated equally, and in some cases slightly superior, to men, and attempt to spread these views through public protest and legislation.

The actual Nazis were a military group that systematically slaughtered twelve million men, women, and children by means of public execution and torture before burying them in mass graves or incinerating them in ovens.

Sorry if I'm being a Language Nazi, but this has to stop. Please.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Oct 3, 2002 - 110 comments

apparently, i'm a 'navel-gazing twit', but i'm just wondering: when are the developmentally disabled going to get the same degree of respect we afford the niggers, kikes, bitches, wetbacks, and gooks?
posted by mlang on Jul 9, 2002 - 156 comments

Matt has just deleted thomcatspike's latest incomprehensible post. Although some think he's just pulling our chains, many of us think that he's simply having trouble with English. If that's the case, how can we help him?
posted by timeistight on Jul 3, 2002 - 132 comments

Pick a language, any language.

LiveJournal has added support for its users to translate the entire site into other languages. Translation teams have formed for over twenty languages, with more on the way.

Are there other localized weblog services out there that anyone is aware of?
posted by insomnia_lj on May 17, 2002 - 7 comments

"Strong Stuff" 2X? (Is this a subtle form of flaming?)
posted by xammerboy on Apr 19, 2002 - 19 comments

Is it alright to post sites that aren't in English? I know many MeFites speak other languages, and don't see why it should be limited to English-language sites.
posted by signal on Nov 24, 2001 - 19 comments

are we FearFilter now? lots of alarmist language used in frontpage posts in the past few months. it seems like we're posting with language forms we've learned from major news sources, which have turned into "all-crisi-all-the-time" media channels. is it appropriate?
posted by patricking on Nov 15, 2001 - 15 comments

Non-english sites?
posted by skallas on Sep 23, 2001 - 6 comments

MeFi's secret language has been growing by leaps and bounds lately. It's always more fun when you're in on the joke, so here's the spot to post glossary definitions.
posted by frykitty on Jul 9, 2001 - 101 comments

Is it appropriate to post non-English links to the front page? For the majority of MeFites, it's equivalent to a linkless post, no? Or worse: In this case, at least there was no warning until the very end of the comment, so I'm sure many wasted their time clicking a useless link. But hey, maybe everyone here speaks French but me.
posted by mw on Jun 12, 2001 - 26 comments

Anybody have a problem with the word "niggling"? We already decided "fuck" was no problem amongst adults, will we shoot down innocent words?
posted by thirteen on Mar 22, 2001 - 56 comments

I looked in the guidelines, but found no general direction on language. SKOT's comment on the Reparations Thread is what precipitated this question. I'd like some feedback/discussion on what is or is not appropriate language... should language be group-regulated, or should there be some direction from Matt on this? Either way, what should we expect from posters?
posted by silusGROK on Mar 7, 2001 - 24 comments