smellycrackwhore <> wrote:
>On Fri, 25 Jul 2003 13:27:04 +0100, Doctor Monsignor Larville Jones MD
><> ripped off his/her clothing and screamed to
>the world:
>
>>smellycrackwhore <> wrote:
>>
>>>On Fri, 25 Jul 2003 11:49:49 +0100, Doctor Monsignor Larville Jones MD
>>><> ripped off his/her clothing and screamed to
>>>the world:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/5/31959.html
>>>
>>>Happy SAAD day M8 ;?)>
>>
>>You too, you steenking beeyatch. ;oÞ
>
>Furst toim Oi aivur HERD ay MexiCan with ay Henglich accent!
>
>Lol!!11
Excuse me old chap, but donde esta la zapataria? Thank you so much.
*tips hat*
>
>
> Godwin's Law FAQ
> -or-
> "How to post about Nazis and get away with it"
>
>One of the most famous pieces of Usenet trivia out there is "if you mention
>Hitler or Nazis in a post, you've automatically ended whatever discussion
>you were taking part in". Known as Godwin's Law, this rule of Usenet has a
>long and sordid history on the network - and is absolutely wrong. This FAQ
>is an attempt to set straight as much of the history and meaning of Godwin's
>Law as possible, and hopefully encourage users to invoke it a bit more
>sparingly. Of course, knowing Usenet, it won't do an ounce of good...
>
>
>[Standard Disclaimers: this document assumes you have some basic knowledge
> of Usenet; if you don't, go check out news.announce.newusers for a while to
> gain said knowledge. Misuse of the information contained within this FAQ
> is not the responsibility of the author (though he's pretty confused exactly
> how you could misuse this information). Copyright 1999, Tim Skirvin, all
> rights reserved, <FISH><, fnord, furrfu.]
>
>
>I. The Basics
> 1. What is Godwin's Law?
>
> Godwin's Law is a natural law of Usenet named after Mike Godwin
>() concerning Usenet "discussions". It reads, according to
>the Jargon File:
>
> As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison
> involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.
>
>
> 2. What does it mean?
>
> It pretty much means exactly what it says - as a Usenet thread
>goes on, the chances of somebody or something being compared to a Nazi
>approach one.
>
>
> 3. Yes, but what does it *mean*?
>
> Aah, now *there's* the real question.
>
> In case your head has been buried in the sand for the last sixty
>years or so, the Nazis were a German political party lead by Adolf Hitler
>that slaughtered upwards of ten-million people that didn't meet their
>standards of "ethnic purity" and set off to conquer Europe and the world
>in World War II. They are generally considered the most evil group of
>people to live in modern times, and to compare something or someone to
>them is usually considered the gravest insult imaginable.
>
> As a Usenet discussion gets longer it tends to get more heated; as
>more heat enters the discussion, tensions get higher and people start to
>insult each other over anything they can think of. Godwin's Law merely
>notes that, eventually, those tensions eventually cause someone to find
>the worst insults that come to mind - which will almost always include a
>Nazi comparison.
>
>
> 4. That still doesn't answer my question. What does it *MEAN*?
>
> The Law is generally used on Usenet as an indicator of whether a
>thread has gone on too long, who's playing fair and who's just slinging
>mud, and who finally gets to "win" the discussion. It has, over time,
>become the closest thing to an impartial moderator that Usenet can get.
>
> So, what this means in practical terms:
>
> o If someone brings up Nazis in general conversation when it
> wasn't necessary or germane without it necessarily being an
> insult, it's probably about time for the thread to end.
> o If someone brings up Nazis in general conversation when it
> was vaguely related but is basically being used as an insult,
> the speaker can be considered to be flaming and not debating.
> o If someone brings up Nazis in any conversation that has been
> going on too long for one of the parties, it can be used as
> a fair excuse to end the thread and declare victory for the
> other side.
>
>
> 5. So - *WHAT DOES IT MEAN*?
>
> Fine, fine - it means that somebody's eventually going to say
>something about the Nazis in any thread that lasts very long. When it
>happens, the thread is going to start either degenerating into a long
>flamewar over Nazi Germany or about Godwin's Law. Either way, the thread
>is effectively over, and you can safely killfile the thread a
--
zar 2k3 - ULC Reverend
Certified Word Police Officer - Details Detail
http://www.geocities.com/spamresources/spambots.htm
http://www.drcnet.org/ http://www.abovegod.com/
NuMbEr Tr3#3!!!!11! on a lits...
"A man, a plan, a canoe, pasta, heros, rajahs,
a coloratura, maps, snipe, percale, macaroni,
a gag, a banana bag, a tan, a tag, a banana bag
again (or a camel), a crepe, pins, Spam, a rut,
a Rolo, cash, a jar, sore hats, a peon, a canal
- Panama!"
- Guy Steele Jr., CLTL2
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