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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   1928 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for December 22, 2023

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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By the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love had given to me

12 drummers drumming,

22 pipers piping,

30 lords a-leaping,

36 ladies dancing,

40 maids a-milking,

42 swans a-swimming,

42 geese a-laying,

40 golden rings,

36 calling birds,

30 French hens,

22 turtle doves,

and 12 partridges in 12 pear trees!

What did you do with them?

I believe this is the answer to your question.

Or indeed, how you would manage to fit them all in an ordinary house

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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.


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