Loaded-Gun.Com - Anti-Social.Com's Rejects!

Forum arguments in the 1920s on: April 28, 2009, 11:16:59 AM

http://www.brocku.ca/MeadProject/Holt/Holt_1921.html

What's happened to public discourse in the last century, that a good "burn" used to take 4 pages in a prestigious journal?
Are we just getting more efficient at communication, or have we somehow lost our edge?

Re: Forum arguments in the 1920s Reply #1 on: April 28, 2009, 11:39:27 AM

Re: Forum arguments in the 1920s Reply #2 on: April 28, 2009, 12:05:59 PM

Hahahahaha

Re: Forum arguments in the 1920s Reply #3 on: April 28, 2009, 08:21:30 PM

Re: Forum arguments in the 1920s Reply #4 on: April 28, 2009, 09:59:02 PM

fahahaha

Re: Forum arguments in the 1920s Reply #5 on: April 29, 2009, 12:50:35 AM

Does that say Chilblain? WTF is that?

Re: Forum arguments in the 1920s Reply #6 on: April 29, 2009, 01:16:24 AM

Quote from: tricky on April 29, 2009, 12:50:35 AM

Does that say Chilblain? WTF is that?

According to wikipedia, trenchfoot or frostbite. Closest thing I could find to a "burn ointment" ad from the 1920's.

Re: Forum arguments in the 1920s Reply #7 on: April 29, 2009, 05:16:19 AM

Quote from: eitje on April 28, 2009, 11:16:59 AM

http://www.brocku.ca/MeadProject/Holt/Holt_1921.html

What's happened to public discourse in the last century, that a good "burn" used to take 4 pages in a prestigious journal?
Are we just getting more efficient at communication, or have we somehow lost our edge?

If you have to take 4 pages to set up a burn, you're working way to hard at it.

And you'll probably FAIL!

Re: Forum arguments in the 1920s Reply #8 on: April 30, 2009, 08:16:42 AM

No way dude, just think about it.. Back then it might be MONTHS before you got a response from your burnee, you didn't have the leisure of battling back and forth in snippets - it would have taken YEARS! The only proper way to do it was to cover all the bases you could think of in one go.

Re: Forum arguments in the 1920s Reply #9 on: April 30, 2009, 09:07:51 AM

Quote from: krapsna on April 30, 2009, 08:16:42 AM

No way dude, just think about it.. Back then it might be MONTHS before you got a response from your burnee, you didn't have the leisure of battling back and forth in snippets - it would have taken YEARS! The only proper way to do it was to cover all the bases you could think of in one go.

exactly.

i welcome you guys to read the letter. it's about teleology, which is bullshit anyway, but my favorite part is where he starts talking about how the situation is like a pocket watch.

Re: Forum arguments in the 1920s Reply #10 on: April 30, 2009, 11:03:25 PM

The other sweet thing about letter-form arguments is that there's only one recipient. In forums you have throngs of yokels itching to have their own say even when they have nothing to say. A writer like this Holt fellow would be reduced to gnashing his teeth and pulling out his beard in today's public forums where a good number of well-placed "LOL, FAG!" and "Yeah well I'm not listening so nya nya" comments would sentenced him to the death from a thousand paper cuts.

If professor Henderson wished to really reduce Holt, I think he could have done so in four letter: TLDR.

@Phaed - The chilblain tonic was hilarious. Top form.