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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   3375 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 14, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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An attractive woman goes to a mall, supermarket, or big-box store

I like that you descriptively provided three different shopping locations, but if you really want to cover male headturners definitely include the hardware store.

I understand what you mean about “hey! I’m a woman online” but I have to be honest getting perspective from a diverse group of women even on a small Internet forum where there may only be a handful of them actively online is really helpful. So, for example, this comment from @Gaashk was very insightful. Maybe just for that tender reason alone I appreciate knowing women online.

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A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

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