Confession: I like Plot

[Raven Crowking]

And I suppose next you'll be telling us 'gay' still just means 'happy'?

Am I alone in finding this inappropriate?

 

[Ariosto]

Well, you can look for yourself into the history of "gay" and related slang. The word "railroad" in itself is strictly technical and descriptive; real railroads are used for a wide variety of purposes, from sight-seeing to transportation of goods. It is not a "happy", "sad", "good" or "bad" word except in a very particular context.

The characteristic of being constrained, literally "on rails" to a given destination unless there is a switch, is what the D&D usage (as I have met it over the decades) evokes. Application of the term may or may not be accurate in a particular instance, but the phenomenon has characteristics independent of any one person's response to it -- and those characteristics do not dictate the response.

The objective nature of the thing remains the same even as one person says, "I adore it! Best ever!! More, please!!!" and another person says, "I cannot stand it. If this is not the absolute nadir, the worst of the worst, then I dearly hope not to learn what is."

 

[Snoweel]

Am I alone in finding this inappropriate?

You're certainly not alone in trying to misrepresent other posters.

Despite you pouncing on any opportunity to 'win points' around here, you're surely aware that statement was in reference to the way the meanings of words change over time.

Forgive me if I offended your delicate sensibilities, but I used the G-word to illustrate my point since it is probably the most well known example of a word that no longer means what it once did.

And besides, whether or not you were offended is secondary to the usefulness you clearly found in cultivating the perception of being offended.

My grandparents used to tell me of a time when being offended was a painful experience that people would do anything to avoid. My how times have changed.

 

[Snoweel]

Well, you can look for yourself into the history of "gay" and related slang. The word "railroad" in itself is strictly technical and descriptive; real railroads are used for a wide variety of purposes, from sight-seeing to transportation of goods. It is not a "happy", "sad", "good" or "bad" word except in a very particular context.

The characteristic of being constrained, literally "on rails" to a given destination unless there is a switch, is what the D&D usage (as I have met it over the decades) evokes. Application of the term may or may not be accurate in a particular instance, but the phenomenon has characteristics independent of any one person's response to it -- and those characteristics do not dictate the response.

The objective nature of the thing remains the same even as one person says, "I adore it! Best ever!! More, please!!!" and another person says, "I cannot stand it. If this is not the absolute nadir, the worst of the worst, then I dearly hope not to learn what is."

More semantics. You're really good at this game.

 

[Desdichado]

Snoweel, I think that Hobo can speak for himself as to what he means -- and I can read for myself what he in fact wrote. I also am quite capable of speaking for myself as to what I have, as a matter of record, consistently stated here.

Yeah, well, except that I agree with that Snoweel post 100%. And your capability in this regard is, IMO, demonstrably questionable. You're not engaged in the same discussion as the rest of us, really... you're kinda talking at us in completely different terms.

:shrug:

 

[Rel]

And we're done.