site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1427 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for September 25, 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.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I know exactly what you mean. Irregardless, some sorts of bad languagisms still grate on my nerves when I read them in the wild, but usually I start using them ironically, and then at some point I realize I'm just using them.

Irregardless

Nice example!

I like messing around with words more in person around my young kids. Along with dad jokes. It's interesting which words they notice as fake and which ones they believe are real.

Heh, glad you were picking up what I was putting down! That one's still ironic usage for me, but others, like conversate, have been instant classics that I've gleefully adopted.

I have seen cromulent used many times on this very forum without comment.

Not all of the modern embiggenings of the lexicon are bad.

I won't say no to the accusation that I only spend time with oldies, at least as far as English speakers, but I find many terms often used online are almost never spoken (except by people who are, perhaps, very often online). Overton Window, Dunbar number, etc. In particular in these virtual pages I regularly encounter terms that seem shibolleth-like. Every culture (even an online culture) develops its own sociolect, I suppose.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

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."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats