Response to JL

[Dave Wilton]

I wholeheartedly agree. I routinely delete most of the ADS-L threads unread.
I spend maybe a total of maybe two minutes per day doing this. But I am glad
the threads are there so when I'm researching a particular topic I can find
them in the archive if needed. I may not care about a thread today, but I
might in six months.

I also see the value in building an online community. Often the personal
asides put a human face on what would otherwise be a soulless conversation.
I don't see that the list is excessively skewed to the personal at the
expense of the linguistic.

Eric Nielsen's point about trimming the posts when replying is well taken
though.

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 10:41 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Response to JL

>I'm ready to meet him half way. As it happens, when I post a thread with a
>sensational title like "Bad Girls Ride Again," I expect that members who
>don't share my sociolinguistic and semantic interests will tolerantly
delete
>it, as I do unto them.

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