Overused DnD words for 2005 (it's that time again) [merged]

[Gundark]

An entire phrase: "My hat of d02"...

No way man. I love that phrase still

 

[Pbartender]

meh... - I think a word used to show casual disdain, but not something I have heard anyone ever utter.

I've actually heard people say this. Not as any sort of reactionary exclamation, but in a purposeful effort to show casual apathy in a way that they think sounds as cool as they think it looks on the 'net.

Internet 133+ speak simply doesn't work outside of a written medium, people.

 

[Samuel Leming]

Yeah, I'd like to see 'fluff' leave common usage. It sounds too much like flumph!

Really the problem with many of these terms is lack of a common definition. Good examples are fluff & munchkin. When a poster calls somebody a 'munchkin' is he talking about a cheater, immature player, min-maxer, or just somebody he doesn't like?

Sam

 

[Samuel Leming]

I've actually heard people say this. Not as any sort of reactionary exclamation, but in a purposeful effort to show casual apathy in a way that they think sounds as cool as they think it looks on the 'net.

Internet 133+ speak simply doesn't work outside of a written medium, people.

I've heard 'feh' and 'bah' spoken before Internet usage was common. Isn't 'meh' just another way of saying 'feh'?

Sam

 

[Prince of Happiness]

But I like pulp - its ubiquitous nature adds verisimilitude to any session.
*Ducks*

The Auld Grump, yes, it was atroll, but only a very small one, almost a goblin, really...

Versimilitude's pretty sweet as it stacks with fluff to buff up the RAW into something truly cinematic in flavor!

 

[Pbartender]

I've heard 'feh' and 'bah' spoken before Internet usage was common. Isn't 'meh' just another way of saying 'feh'?

It could be...

Personally, I'd never heard any of them in public usage (well, 'bah' does get used in a couple of Dickens novels) before people started typing them on the internet. and the only poepl I here use them on a regular basis are people who admittedly spend too much time on the net, and are consciously emulating the verbiage they find there.

...or maybe it's just me.

 

[shilsen]

Really the problem with many of these terms is lack of a common definition. Good examples are fluff & munchkin. When a poster calls somebody a 'munchkin' is he talking about a cheater, immature player, min-maxer, or just somebody he doesn't like?

This one is easy. When a poster calls someone a 'munchkin', it usually translates to "you play the game in a manner that I do not care for, and since there is nothing inherently wrong with your method, I will settle for denigrating you with an ambiguously opprobrious term".

See why just "munchkin" is easier ?

 

[rounser]

One word I'd like to see used more in 2005 is nemmerlesque.

Truly, this word would embiggen any person who deemed to use it.

 

[Jesus_marley]

So you're surrounded by illiterate people who've read and crow about Harry Potter all the time? Man, life on Bizarro World sounds rough.

Actually, I said I am surrounded by people who brag about being able to read Hop on Pop.

Anyway, that aside - Heinlein, Asimov, Bradbury, Tolkien you say. All good authors, granted, but they all speak to a comparably narrow audience, whereas the HP books are widely recieved. You can't deny that more people reading is a good thing, even if you don't care for, or are sick of, what it is they read.

You are right that it is good that more people read books. What bothers me is that the quality of available reading material has dropped severely. What bothers me more is that functional literacy is becoming as rare as hen's teeth. While more people are indeed reading, the overall number of functionally literate people is exceedingly low.
I am truly amazed at just how bad it is sometimes. As an example, my fiance is currently taking a masters degree in English and has the dubious pleasure of marking essays from first year students. I have personally seen essays written in "leet". I have seen an essay that was literally one five page sentence. I have seen essays where the spelling was so atrocious, it made my eyes ache.

Besides, someone who enjoys reading Harry Potter now is that much more likely to be interested in picking up something by one of those other authors you mention later on, than someone who never got into reading in the first place.

I guess you are right on this one. I almost cried yesterday when I was speaking to somebody about the movie I, Robot. They mentioned they didn't like the film. When I told them the book was infinitely better, the looked at me blankly and said, "There is a book?"

 

[Mark]

I dislike the nominalization of the word "creative"