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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1533 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for July 31, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Darrell? Joe? Pete?

Darrell

I guess it's unobjectionable, but in my personal opinion it doesn't really sound enough like a name.

Joe, Pete

Using either of these is a bad idea, because people will get confused as to whether (1) your name is "Joe" or "Pete" or (2) your name is "Joseph" or "Peter" but you prefer to use the abbreviation "Joe" or "Pete".

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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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