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The "I Think Quoting Poems in Your Sig Makes You a Douche" thread

Sir_Winston54

Sir_Winston54

Assume the position!
Joined
Jul 15, 2004
Posts
14,027
Sir_Winston54 said:
Great sig!

ETA: Just to clarify, my "compliment" was 103.274% sarcasm.

1) It's plagiarism. Credit the author (Robert Frost).

2) Quote it correctly. There is only one period in the quoted lines - at the end.
Click to expand...

MadWriter said:
I never claimed authorship, so I'm not sure how it can be plagiarism. In fact my profile makes it pretty clear that I'm not the author of those famous lines. If you inferred that I was pretending to have written some of the most oft-quoted lines in all of American literature ... well, c'mon. Seriously? You can't even claim a copyright issue because the work is in the public domain. And the use of one stanza would qualify as fair use anyway, most likely.

You are quite right about the punctuation, however. I'll fix that straight away.

Now, let's take any further discussion of this to the I Think Quoting Poems in Your Sig Makes You a Douche thread and hash out our pedantry and insecurities there, and let this perfectly nice thread remain on topic.
__________________
The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep.
Click to expand...
You're correct. I was rushing in my response, and should have accused you of misuse of sources, rather than outright plagiarism. Therefore, item one in my post should have read, "1) It's misuse of source. Credit the author (Robert Frost), or at least put quotation marks around the passage to indicate that it *is* a quote, and let curious readers Google it if they wish."

Had you at least put quotation marks around the quote, I wouldn't even have made the accusation of misuse of source; however, your comment, "some of the most oft-quoted lines in all of American literature ... well, c'mon. Seriously?" is fatuous. Literotica is an international forum, and many of the readers and posters here are not familiar with "the most oft-quoted lines in all of American literature," or indeed *any* lines from American literature.

You still haven't fixed the punctuation issue.

I have created the requested thread to allow the original thread to remain (mostly) on topic.
 
Dude, really?

I tend to quote less universally known things in my sig, which is why I attribute them. But Frost?... I dunno.

Do you really think people will read that and think "Wow, that MadWriter, he sure is a hella poet! I've never heard that before!"
 
Stella_Omega said:
Dude, really?

I tend to quote less universally known things in my sig, which is why I attribute them. But Frost?... I dunno.

Do you really think people will read that and think "Wow, that MadWriter, he sure is a hella poet! I've never heard that before!"
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I sometimes get pissy about the strangest things... ;) But as I said, had he at least put quotes around it, I wouldn't have said anything.
 
Just today I read an article in which Frost's work was used as an example. It is all still under copyright. Being quoted without attribution on the Internet does not mean that a work is in the public domain.
 
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Oh boy I think I'm a triple offender. I have two poems written for me and one I love. I wonder what that makes me? A poetry whore?
 
I think quoting Thomas Pynchon in your sig makes you a douche.
 
Netzach said:
I think quoting Thomas Pynchon in your sig makes you a douche.
Click to expand...
See, I never knew that was Pynchon. You could fucking attribute it at least. :mad:
(Actually, I never saw it untill just now-- I keep sigs turned off.)
 
Nothing against you, SW, 'cause you know I love you ( :kiss: ), just an observation that you can take or leave.

As a general rule, I find the more immersed I am in my own life and doing something that keeps me busy and fulfilled, the less I tend to care about anything anyone else does. And the key here really is "fulfilled", because I can be busy and still find time to nitpick.

In fact, I've kind of used minor annoyances, of the sort being discussed in this thread, as a guide. If I find my hackles going up at bad grammar or just your garden variety stupidity, I know I've got too much time on my hands. It's time to go do something that will bring me joy.

I look back at some of the things that have angered me in this forum and I shake my head. In the big picture, the really big picture...seriously? Why did I even care at all?

I may have mentioned this story before but I used to take Arnis (Filipino stick and knife fighting) from this lovely, soft-spoken man, Ross. Don't get me wrong, Ross was one of the toughest individuals I've ever met - he grew up in the slums of Manilla, where combat was a way of life. At the end of class, we would always meditate and Ross would speak a few words. During one of these sessions, sitting cross-legged, eyes closed, Ross simply said, "There are a lot of people in the world...be patient."

I've never forgotten that. I try to pick my battles. I try to be patient and overlook the small things that really don't matter. ("Try" being the optimal word). I think there's some value to asking ourselves why we get upset at the things we do, and whether those things are worth our time and energy.

BTW, I also am glad you are feeling OK enough to post all this and I hope that trend continues. :rose:
 
I'm impressed with Netz for spotting the purloined Pynchon. I don't have sigs on so I never see this stuff. But Pynchon is on my all-star team so it's always good to find a fellow traveler.
 
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It only seemed appropriate to correct a couple of typos I found here this morning.

I still have sigs turned off, largely because I despise having to wade through small armies of dancing bananas, stalking Amazons, and quoted douchebaggery while I'm here.

Hat tip to CutieMouse for sending me here.
 
I used Adblock Plus plugin to make the dancing banana invisible. One of the very first things I did with it, in fact. :eek:

it was cute for the first three years I was here.
 
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