Battle of Trevor's Star

cthia wrote:Absolutely not!

It is worse than that. Far more profound than that!

I was calling him chickenshit for being afraid to. As many people in the thread were. As I myself were. As I still am. There was a lot of heat in that thread felt by many of the posters. My 12-yr-old niece was melting Geiger counters at ten paces.

RFC read that thread. He isn't wrapped too tightly, and I am certain he recognized the rib for what it is.

By the way, I whispered that rib. Thanks for yelling it out loudly.

Size of 25 might be whispering, but standard font size is not yelling. I do not owe you anything to keep your whispers secret; I do owe the author gratitude for consistently good stories.

There has been some discussion in the past about what the author owes the readers. I do not think the readers are owed anything more than the stories that the author is pleased to write. Apparently you believe the reader is owed much more; which results in the author being called "chicken shit" and "not wrapped too tightly", when what you want is not delivered on a platter. Ribbing is defined as good natured teasing and neither of those characterizations qualify. Basically you are just unhappy that the author did not come to play in your thread; well too bad, but you can't always get what you want.

tlb wrote:

cthia wrote:Absolutely not!

It is worse than that. Far more profound than that!

I was calling him chickenshit for being afraid to. As many people in the thread were. As I myself were. As I still am. There was a lot of heat in that thread felt by many of the posters. My 12-yr-old niece was melting Geiger counters at ten paces.

RFC read that thread. He isn't wrapped too tightly, and I am certain he recognized the rib for what it is.

By the way, I whispered that rib. Thanks for yelling it out loudly.

Size of 25 might be whispering, but standard font size is not yelling. I do not owe you anything to keep your whispers secret; I do owe the author gratitude for consistently good stories.

There has been some discussion in the past about what the author owes the readers. I do not think the readers are owed anything more than the stories that the author is pleased to write. Apparently you believe the reader is owed much more; which results in the author being called "chicken shit" and "not wrapped too tightly", when what you want is not delivered on a platter. Ribbing is defined as good natured teasing and neither of those characterizations qualify. Basically you are just unhappy that the author did not come to play in your thread; well too bad, but you can't always get what you want.

Mama Mia! What's in those meatballs you eat!

As usual, a misunderstanding has occurred because of your lack of reading my post. Along with the usual disagreement about "idioms." But the fact that you improperly parsed the idiom may be directly related to your annoying habit of not reading my posts. For content as well as context.

Taking it in context, instead of out of context, you would understand NOT 'wrapped too tightly.'

Or is it that you don't realize...

Collins Dictionary: Wrapped too tight. A person who acts in a bizaar manner.

I am saying that David does NOT act in a bazaar manner.

However, Wiktionary has:

Not wrapped too tight: not mentally sound; unintelligent.

Collins is the better reference between the two.

At any rate, Maybe I screwed up the syntax. I don't think so. Or perhaps I should have included some kind of different punctuation. But then, it comes down to completely absorbing my posts. And from the context you cannot mistake which one I meant.

But in case you still have trouble with it. Someone who is your definition of wrapped too tightly, wouldn't recognize it as a rib. A jest. A joke. A funny. A taunt of being afraid of a 12-yr-old girl.

Upset because he didn't play in my sand? But he did! He said he liked the thread and was keeping an eye on it. Isn't that enough? What thread were you reading?

Wiktionary defines an incorrect use of the idiom.

This is the perfect time to highlight why my European friends are afraid to join the forum because of their incorrect mastery of idioms. Although they love and adore using American idioms.

People have told me to tell them that they shouldn't be afraid of using American idioms. But how can they not be afraid, when Americans are constantly battered for incorrectly using them themselves.

And yell yes! For the umpteenth time, I do feel like the reader is owed something! Perhaps I'll restart that thread again. This is a good time to necro threads and I have been meaning to post in that thread again.

ALL FANS DESERVE RESPECT!

ALL AUTHORS DESERVE RESPECT!

Except! The assholes and wholeasses of each group.

I thought I made those points clear in that thread.

Indeed, YMMV.

cthia wrote:As usual, a misunderstanding has occurred because of your lack of reading my post. Along with the usual disagreement about "idioms." But the fact that you improperly parsed the idiom may be directly related to your annoying habit of not reading my posts. For content as well as context.

Taking it in context, instead of out of context, you would understand NOT 'wrapped too tightly.'

Or is it that you don't realize...

Collins Dictionary: Wrapped too tight. A person who acts in a bizaar manner.

I am saying that David does NOT act in a bazaar manner.

However, Wiktionary has:

Not wrapped too tight: not mentally sound; unintelligent.

Collins is the better reference between the two.

It may just be that you took a regional idiom and assumed the world would recognize it. For example I found this at Definithing.com:

Not wrapped tight

adjective phrase

Crazy; eccentric; not all there, not buttoned up too tightly: Your father was not wrapped real tight. His loaf was missing several slices/ Some MEs, who weren’t wrapped too tightly to begin with

[1968+; fr the image of something wrapped neatly without loose ends, spillage, etc]

You will find that there are a number of idioms that desparaging with and without a "NOT" (meaning you cannot take such a remark and negate it to form a compliment). You just happened to find one of them and you even found a source to demonstrate that. So, not matter how carefully one reads your post; someone familiar with Wiktionary, could read it as I did. Your foreign friends are correct to be afraid of idioms, perhaps you should take more care because people without your exact background can read different meanings into what you say (but then you can just say they did not read your words correctly LOL).

Definithing.com

Except. Context.

Do note that the more regional dialect is likely to be found in Wiktionary. Instead of the more formal reference.

cthia wrote:Except. Context.

Do note that the more regional dialect is likely to be found in Wiktionary. Instead of the more formal reference.

The context of which you speak involved calling RFC "chicken shit", so excuse me for not realizing you just being fun-loving; because that is not fun-loving where I grew up. I understand you called that a "rib", which also not be true where I grew up. I wonder what the author's interpretation of that is; would he side me or with you?

Anyway it is still true that both "Too tightly wrapped" and "Not too tightly wrapped" are both disparaging, as any word search will reveal. The point about an idiom is that there is not truly a formal reference, simply because of regional differences (if nothing else).

Tlb,

You and I have argued over the entire English language up to and including idioms. We argue over whether the sky is blue. But if the pandemic has taught this southern boy anything, it has taught me that life is much too fleeting for these types of exchanges.

Take a deep breath, I would never call anyone "chicken shit."

Unless they are. LOL

But never in the manner in which you insist I did.

I was simply not raised that way. It would be an embarrassment to my parents, my Christian beliefs and everything I have come to believe in. If I called anyone chicken shit in that manner --- because of my upbringing --- it would hurt me more than it hurt them.

My father always taught us ...

"Son, do not cater to the common belief that a person has to earn respect. That is not true. You should give every person respect right from the start. What a person has to earn is your continued respect!"

A poster on this very forum PMed me to ask if he could use that as his tagline. It was once mine. I yielded it to him. Now there are two taglines in memory of my father and my mother who raised us well.

In this instance, I understand your defense of the author, if indeed I had called him chicken shit in the manner in which you think. It would have been rude of me to do so. Even if it were true. I have a bit more respect for myself, and sophistication, than that. That is not to say that my fuse is infinitely long, or that I am not human. It isn't. I am. But in those instances where I may act less than my God or my parents would expect of me, I hope it was warranted.

God knows that I don't know the man well enough to know if there is anything in life in which he is that kind of chicken shit about. The mature mindset that "I am" suggests that those kinds of things involve profound matters like failing to speak up on what is morally right or wrong. Police brutality. Social injustice. Women rights. Racism. Global warming ...

But never something as inconsequential as anything that would be fielded in Grammer school amidst a bunch of mean girls.

I am a southern boy, born and raised. Proud of it. The author is too.

I am a Christian. Proud of it. The author is too.

I am confident that the following is as much a part of him as it is me.

1 Corinthians 13:11
King James Version

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

I am confident in the rapport that I have built with the author over the years to know that I can call him chicken shit in the manner that I did. AND I STAND BY IT! LOL

I have also called friends chicken shit. And family too. My sister calls me chicken shit all the time.

And my niece wears the damn phrase out; especially over failing to post certain topics over the years.

She has been calling me chicken shit over failing to post something in the humor thread that is a personal side-splitter for the both of us. But I am chicken shit because it involves one of my sisters. And Nimitz and Honor. LOL More on that later.


Chicken shit is something we can call our friends. And relatives. And close associates. Because they know it is a rib.

We can call our authors chicken shit as well if our personal relationship with him over the years "warrants" it.

OMG! I HAVE ARRIVED!

But again, it comes down to context. Do you really think that was my intent?

Even after this?

I commend you for standing up for the author when thinking that someone had impugned his Honor. Believe me. I get it. In southern boy vernacular. I never!

I was raised riding a horse of a different color.


C O N T E X T

Very nice note. You may have more faith in context than I do: because to a large extent correctly reading context, involves correctly interpreting the writer's intent. You and I have a history of being incorrect about intent.

It is unlikely that I will ever use all the things written previously to judge what was written currently; you have posted entirely too much over the years to ever make that possible. Besides what if you had changed your mind about something?

Something you said in another context comes to mind:

cthia wrote:The only thing I've ever asked of the author, is that he allow me to detest any of his characters for any of the decisions they might make, without feeling it casts any aspersions on himself.

Perhaps we can try to apply that to posts in this forum.

PS: Despite what this post of yours states; aren't you asking more of the author, if you expect him to post in the forum?

tlb wrote:Very nice note. You may have more faith in context than I do: because to a large extent correctly reading context, involves correctly interpreting the writer's intent. You and I have a history of being incorrect about intent.

It is unlikely that I will ever use all the things written previously to judge what was written currently; you have posted entirely too much over the years to ever make that possible. Besides what if you had changed your mind about something?

Something you said in another context comes to mind:

cthia wrote:The only thing I've ever asked of the author, is that he allow me to detest any of his characters for any of the decisions they might make, without feeling it casts any aspersions on himself.

Perhaps we can try to apply that to posts in this forum.

PS: Despite what this post of yours states; aren't you asking more of the author, if you expect him to post in the forum?

You may have a point about that particular expectation. But hey, that would be his fault.

When you are out in the wild there are signs telling you not to feed the animals. If you do they will expect you to continue. Build it (forum) and they will come. Feed them and they will come. The author had been feeding the "animals of the forum" long before I arrived; in the form of snippets, sniplets, snips, and the occasional cameos in threads. This animal simply expected a snack from rote training. I don't think anyone in that thread at the time wasn't expecting input on that matter. But just the appearance of god was aplenty.

But then, hasn't he already spoke on who he thinks is the greatest strategist / tactician in the Honorverse?

cthia wrote:
But then, hasn't he already spoke on who he thinks is the greatest strategist / tactician in the Honorverse?

Yes. But he was exiled to Earth.

kzt wrote:

cthia wrote:
But then, hasn't he already spoke on who he thinks is the greatest strategist / tactician in the Honorverse?

Yes. But he was exiled to Earth.

The author himself, or Hornblower???