[Foundation-l] Wikinews - not so much a state of the wiki

Tue Dec 4 22:26:37 UTC 2007

May I also point out that Mr. Godwin does not exist in his position to
provide you, Mr. Dalton, with free legal advice.  He advises the Foundation
alone.  That he deigns to speak to you (on or off-list) is a credit to his
magnanimous nature, not paying some debt of obligation to you to be nice or
explain things in such a way that you understand them.

On Dec 4, 2007 5:20 PM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com> wrote:

> > I don't think I signed away my right to express humor or irony when I
> > signed up with this outfit.
>
> Not at all, but it would be helpful if you then went on to explain
> more seriously.
>
> > I'm not sure what you mean by "rhetoric" here
>
> Rhetoric is something said more for effect than for its informational
> value - humour and irony are forms of rhetoric. (They can still have
> informational value, but it's generally of secondary importance to the
> effect of the statement.)
>
> > I suppose you want me to use smileys when I say something wry or smile
> > in resigned bemusement. ;)
>
> I've been online long enough that I can usually correctly interpret
> what people are saying. It also helps to English - we're generally
> much more used to sarcasm and similar forms of rhetoric than, say,
> Americans.
>
> > Anyone familiar with my career knows I've explained difficult and
> > complex issues in the past, but I think a critical judge would be
> > impatient with glib distinctions between categories of Wikinews.  Make
> > that doubly impatient if the judge is, say, French.
>
> Thank you for the clarification, that's what I was after. A little
> explanation of *why* you think that would be nice, but I understand it
> may be difficult to explain properly without getting into more detail
> (particularly technical detail) than is appropriate for a general
> mailing list.
>
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