An observation and a request

[OneGrassRoot]

Last edited Thu Oct 6, 2022, 10:58 AM - Edit history (2)

EDIT TO ADD: For those replying who don't seem to grasp my request - Nearly everyone knows what TFG stands for now. Nearly everyone knows what magat (with various capitalizations) means now. Nearly everyone knows who McTurtle is now if they've been on this site for more than a few years.

Maybe as a community stick with one nickname per person? It's the fact that each entity now has new nicknames nearly daily that it becomes a huge problem for some of us.

FINAL EDIT: I think I stumbled upon a key difference for people like me vs others who love DU. I come here for information, not entertainment.

That's why having to try to decipher what is being posted is annoying. The poster might be referring to something I'm keenly interested in and would appreciate their post, if I only knew WTF they were talking about.

For this reason I should get into the habit of frequenting only LBN and Videos, not GD, which is now often filled with posts that used to be meant for the Lounge anyway. It's the quest for information vs entertainment, and that's my problem.

.....



I look at DU to get a quick read on daily events, as it has always been an excellent aggregator of news and commentary.

I know that, especially online, people have always made up names for people in the public eye whom they dislike, and DU is no different. I do understand not wanting to type/say certain names out loud for any number of reasons.

But it has gotten to the point that so many different made-up, derogatory names are being used that even someone like myself who pays attention has to spend WAY TOO MUCH time and energy trying to figure out who the hell y'all are talking about.

It has gotten ridiculous. Most of us aren't psychic. Can y'all please give more info when you post (a common request), but also maybe cool it with the nicknames that people seem to try to dream up so they can be the cool kid for the day? If you're going to use a nickname, can you put the person or show's more commonly known name in parentheses?

We want more people to be informed, not devolve more and more into junior high behavior day by day. It's really frustrating.

I would truly appreciate it. Thanks for reading and considering this request.

[Srkdqltr]

1. YES . You are so right.

[Woodswalker]

2. You mean like

Mango Mussolini or the Cheeto Messiah for Trump?

[OneGrassRoot]

8. They're in the Top 10...

but, as mentioned, people seem to want to be extra clever and come up with others. Alternate names for Trump are easier to figure out but it gets harder with the other people and shows referred to derogatorily. It's not a matter of which names are acceptable or more commonly figured out. The point is that we shouldn't have to spend any energy trying to figure it out. Inevitably in such threads people ask who the poster is referring to. That's an unnecessary waste of time and energy for most of us who can't live on the site and be part of the cliques and their secret language.

Yeah, I'm pissy about this now...lol.

[Ohio Joe]

3. I agree...

I increasingly find myself not having any idea who is being talked about.

[onecaliberal]

4. Like bloated tick or puss bag.

[OneGrassRoot]

18. And if those names were used in a post...

devoid of context, inevitably there would be multiple replies asking who are they talking about, because bloated tick and puss bag, arguably, could apply to quite a few people these days. That's a waste of time and energy for those of us coming here to glean the latest news and commentary of the moment. Not everyone is on twitter all day; not everyone watches/streams news shows; not everyone is familiar with each and every DU post that has fallen off the front page of General Discussion. We all don't know what the posters are referring to without more information and, I assume, posters want us to know something.

[doc03]

5. I agree. Who was it started derogatory nicknames for everyone

you disagree with? Trump of course Little Marco, Sleepy Joe, Crazy Nancy, Rocket Man. Isn't it amazing TFG can control
the entire Republican party from fear of him giving them a nickname. What a bunch of spineless bastards.

[OneGrassRoot]

12. He's the highest profile person who does this...

but it has been going on online long before he gained control of the GOP. It's behavior that manifests across the political spectrum. I just want us to do better and quit wasting some of our time needlessly trying to figure out who is being referred to. One nickname per person/show should suffice...lol.

[Delmette2.0]

28. I always knew TFG referred to trump.

I just thought it was short for That Fucking Guy.

[betsuni]

6. Absolutely agree.

Half the time I don't know who is being talked about. Today saw a post about a Gooch and wondered who that was a nickname for, but turns out that's the guy's real name.

Also, really dislike calling Republicans "repugs" and other things. I don't like being called a "libtard."

[Freddie]

7. TFG the former guy

I will not speak or wrote that name.

[OneGrassRoot]

10. That's an OG nickname...

precisely because some won't write or speak that name, as you say. I also mentioned I understand there are reasons.

But it has devolved tremendously since that. People even add other letters to "TFG" and I have no friggin idea what it means. But at least I know what TFG means.

[msfiddlestix]

9. Adding to this: Names of Cities without indicating State or Country in the header

is infurirating. As are names of politicians or pop culture celebs unknown to the rest of us.

[crud]

19. It drives me nuts too

especially when talking about location specific things like the weather, or covid spread, or red areas vs blue. I feel like a dick when I ask for clarification, but it's because I really want to know! I'll even do some detective work first, or re-read things to see if I missed the location reference. ugh

[Goonch]

11. 👇

[Srkdqltr]

14. True. Once you resort to name calling you have lost the argument.

[gab13by13]

15. I call them what they are, what they represent.

I refuse to call them conservatives, that would be lying. I refuse to call them Republicans, there are only a few Republicans left, like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.

I live among them, I know them, I call them who they are Magats.

[OneGrassRoot]

17. Nearly everyone here at DU knows who that nickname is for...

Nearly everyone knows what TFG stands for now. Nearly everyone knows who McTurtle is now if they've been on this site for more than a few years.

Maybe as a community stick with one nickname per person? It's the plethora of nicknames used on a daily basis that has become a huge problem for some of us.

Granted, some dislike nicknames altogether. While I don't tend to use them, I understand why others do. Again, to repeat, it's the plethora of nicknames used which seem to require psychic powers that is the problem, not the use of commonly known nicknames.

[BannonsLiver]

16. +1 Not everyone wastes their lives by watching hours of cable news every day.

[iemanja]

20. I rarely use the nicknames

I find them juvenile, but others clearly are happy with them, so that's just my view.

[OneGrassRoot]

21. So long as the majority of us know what they mean...

that's fine. I'm like you; I rarely use them but understand why others do.

It's the not knowing WHO is being referred to that is the problem because new nicknames are posted for multiple people and shows and entities every day. Hard to keep up and I don't think we should have to. Keeping up with the pertinent information itself is enough of a challenge. We shouldn't also have to solve clever yet cryptic (for many of us) nicknames to know the gist of the post.

[dameatball]

22. "Cool kid for the day?" Seriously? That's a pretty condescending remark. I am here on DU just about

Last edited Thu Oct 6, 2022, 04:26 PM - Edit history (1)

every day and it always strikes me as odd how many posters seem to have the same attitude towards telling others what terminology or subject matter is appropriate to post. Quite often the excuse is "I'm too busy to figure this out." It's oddly disappointing.

[OneGrassRoot]

24. Pissy...

Last edited Thu Oct 6, 2022, 04:16 PM - Edit history (2)

I’m editing this thanks to a post by Atticus re: the word condescending.

My snark about “cool kids” wasn’t chosen because I feel superior. Rather I feel pissy because it's super frustrating simply trying to stay abreast of each day's current events (beyond the headlines) and many of us greatly appreciate the aggregation of information DU provides. To have to decipher what or who is being posted about, when it would take like 10 seconds of that poster's time to fill us in, is ridiculous and I am pissy about it at this point.

Why should we have to Google who "bananaMcMagatAss" is when chances are that poster made it up???

We know what TFG stands for. We know what magat stands for. We know who McTurtle stands for. It's the daily addition of nicknames used (for the same people/shows that already have nicknames) that prevents one of the primary purposes of DU: To provide information.

[OneGrassRoot]

27. And, to add to my pissy post...

There is most definitely a junior high mentality, imo, for some in their quest to be more and more clever and gain attention for their wittiness. It's not the posters' fault or even DU's. It's the nature of the beast of the social media and clickbait age that the subject line is everything.

I think I solved my own problem though and will just hang out in LBN and videos since I merely want information. Too many of the GD posts nowadays really belong in the Lounge anyway.

[lapfog_1]

23. Have you ever read one of Ferrets epic posts

He almost never reuses a apt description of TFG twice... and it is one of the reasons I love his stuff. I almost always laugh so hard I cry at his use of the language to insult DJT.

I have no problem with people using colorful language to describe the evil that is the current MAGAT party, one of the best ways to cope with their insanity is to laugh at them.

[OneGrassRoot]

25. But you know he's talking about Trump...

the problem comes into play when WE DON'T KNOW WHO OR WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT.

It's not about the nicknames themselves; it's the sheer plethora of them pertaining to the same person/show that some of us can't keep up and I think that's ridiculous to expect us to.

It ain't gonna change, quite obviously, because people inevitably miss the point of requests like mine and then also get belligerent about it and do it more. (Not you.) So, yeah, the middle school bullshit annoys me.

I also acknowledge people use DU for different reasons. I come here for information not entertainment. I guess that's why it bothers me, and that's my problem.

[OneGrassRoot]

26. I think I stumbled upon a key difference for people like me:

I come here for information, not entertainment.

That's why having to try to decipher what is being posted is annoying. The poster might be referring to something I'm keenly interested in and would appreciate their post, if I only knew WTF they were talking about.