Limitations on Number of Postings

Tue Feb 9 15:12:19 UTC 2010

Several points need to be made. If they can't be taken seriously here, then 
perhaps they need to be made to the Executive Committee of the American 
Dialect Society (elected by actual dues-paying members of the ADS), which I 
assume ultimately controls and pays for ADS-L.

1. I have the greatest respect for Jon's contribution to scholarship. (His 
slang dictionary is one of my most useful books, and it is a very sad thing 
that it has never been completed.) While he is one of the people who posts 
most frequently to ADS-L, many of his contributions are neither off topic or 
trivial. Given that he is so knowledgeable, I do think that he--more than 
many--should be able to separate the wheat from the chaff and show some 
restraint in what he posts. Arnold Zwicky is a frequent poster, too, but he is 
always on target and serious. Gerald Cohen misunderstands my point: I have no 
wish to censor (or censure) JL; it does, however, seem to me that a limit of, 
say, 5 brilliant insights per day would be sufficient for him (or anyone 
else).

2. What I made was a serious proposal. Many list-servs limit the number of 
postings, and they do so precisely so that people will pause before they 
clog the list-serv with trivia and personal communications better made in 
private e-mails.

3. The response-postings of "Wilson" and "Bill Palmer" are useful 
suggestions of precisely what the problem is. They have is patronizingly dismissed my 
totally serious proposal as on the one hand simply "fiery-tempered" and 
best ignored--and (on the other hand) merely rude. One might well suggest that 
these responses are themselves not only rude but also totally lacking in 
understanding of who owns ADS-L and why it was started in the first place.

ADS-L is in a very real sense owned by the American Dialect Society, which 
at present graciously allows people who do not even pay dues to ADS to post 
whatever they want as many times as they want. ADS-L in one way or another 
(if only my lending its good name) also pays to have everything that is 
posted here archived FOREVER--including the lame jokes, the rambling childhood 
anecdotes, the weird advertisements for nonsensical spelling reforms, the most 
elementary questions about language that have been answered here many times 
and that could be answered by a quick view of the archives,   the "this is 
off topic but I find it interesting so screw the purposes of the list" 
postings, the useless "Good Point, Joe"/"I totally agree" responses, etc. 

All that I have put forth is a modest suggestion (to limit the number of 
postings per person per day) that one way to 

(1) make people think a little bit about the NATURE OF THE LIST and 
(2) be a bit more respectful of the American Dialect Society's mission
(3) reduce the sheer number of personal, trivial, and off-topic postings.

If there are serious objections to this proposal, I'd like to hear 
them--and not have what is in fact a fairly modest proposal as merely grumpy or rude 
or offensive to a particular individual.

In a message dated 2/8/10 10:12:11 PM, hwgray at GMAIL.COM writes:

> Well, as my sister=in-law says about my somewhat fiery-tempered brother,
> 
> "I just ignore him, when he gets like that." ;-)
> 
> -Wilson
> 
> On Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 8:20 PM, Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at bellsouth.net> 
> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header 
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at BELLSOUTH.NET>
> > Subject:      Re: Etc., etc.
> > 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I think there are some who may want to seriously consider some restraint 
> in
> > their posts, not so much in the number of them, but in their tone.
> >
> > I find Jon's posts to be enlightening, fresh, good humored, and not 
> nearly
> > frequent anough.
> >
> >
> > Bill Palmer
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <ronbutters at AOL.COM>
> > To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 5:55 PM
> > Subject: Re: Etc., etc.
> >
> >
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> >> header -----------------------
> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       ronbutters at AOL.COM
> >> Subject:      Re: Etc., etc.
> >> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> I'm with Alexander Pope on this: a true mark of genius is knowing when 
> to
> >> "blot" (which I think means 'shut up').
> >> ------Original Message------
> >> From: Cohen, Gerald Leonard
> >> Sender: ADS-L
> >> To: ADS-L
> >> ReplyTo: ADS-L
> >> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Etc., etc.
> >> Sent: Feb 8, 2010 4:11 PM
> >>
> >> I have great respect for Ron but would not think of limiting Jon's very
> >> interesting messages. Jon (May he live 120 years!) is one of the most
> >> valuable assets of ads-l.
> >>
> >> Gerald Cohen
> >>
> >> Original message from Ron Butters:
> >>
> >>> Could this be a good time to suggest that ADS-L put a limit on the 
> number
> >>> of times per day that the same individual can post on ADS-L? Maybe 
> there
> >>> should be a lifetime limit as well (as there is for the number of 
> times
> >>> an insurance policy will pay to send addicts to rehab)?
> >>>
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >>
> >> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> >
> > 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
> >
> > No virus found in this incoming message.
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> > 07:35:00
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> 
> 
> 
> --
> -Wilson
> –––
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> –Mark Twain
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 

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