Hi, Cheimoon,
I don't take your comments as rude, because you are erudite and polite. I recall you referring to 'my part of the Netherlands' and assume you may be Dutch. I may be wrong and it is not meant as an insult. I enjoy very much growing tulips. For this purpose, I will assume you are from the Netherlands, in which case your politeness is a pleasant change to
the perceived nature of Dutch humour, which is actually known for its insults and rudeness.
The final words in the article I have linked to are pertinent.
"If a Dutch person pulls your leg, don’t be a crybaby and a spoilsport. Learn to laugh and pull the person’s leg in return, then afterwards, get over it. You wouldn’t really want to celebrate a pity party all day as your Dutch counterpart has probably moved on, without a thought about you."
I read these words and they resonated with me, even though I have no ancestral links to the Netherlands. I do, however, enjoy cheese, which is also a big Dutch pastime, as I understand.
Having looked at what, if anything, tickled the Dutch funny bone, I looked at
how British humour is portrayed to the rest of the world. In essence...
"Combine self-deprecation with a dose of understated sarcasm and you have the key ingredients of British humor. Sarcasm and irony are ingrained in our DNA. They are produced with world-class timing and nearly always with a deadpan delivery that will leave you wondering as to whether it was indeed a joke (or not?)"
Which is why Wolfie told me gorgonzola was an Italian cheese, not French as I suggested. My lack of culinary knowledge or his missing a bit of mischief?
So I conclude that you and I may start from a different position on what we consider funny. There are also probably some generational differences between us which add to the mix.
My formative years were peppered with programmes like Best Of Enemies in the late 60s, through Ripping Yarns, the Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club, Wodehouse Playhouse, The Comic Strip, The New Statesman, into the 90s with Mrs Merton, Alexei Sayle, Ben Elton and Paul Merton and thereafter, it's been more of the same with today's better known names that make 'Dave' what it is.
Blame this stream of pixels and radio waves partly for how I choose to express myself. To put it crudely (which I try to refrain from), I grew up in a world where people properly and often cruelly took the piss out of everyone and anyone regardless of age, colour, creed, disability, heritage, sexuality and a hundred more characteristics. It was pretty brutal in that respect and I suspect you would have hated it. Inevitably, some of it rubs off but hopefully not too much. Mischief not malice is my style of choice.
Out of curiosity, Cheimoon, have you give other posters much feedback on their writing style?
Or have I achieved, in your eyes, the status of being the rudest and most insulting poster on the forum? Maybe I'm the first to receive a demerit from you? Or am I one of many? Do you jump on the 'fecks', 'cnuts' and similar bits of feedback sometimes handed out? Or do you class that style of writing as socially acceptable now?
Let's talk about another difference between us. In the thread on the End of the United Kingdom. Your question to Acnumber9 was
"Why's that? Wouldn't NI just join RoI, and things would kinda go on as before, especially now the customs border is anyway in the Irish Sea?"
To a British bloke who was in Belfast during the Troubles, your naivety is astonishing, But you don't know our history and why should you? Hence I didn't enter the debate to help you with your thinking. Yours was an innocent question but an open goal to anyone who wished to be truly sarcastic and insulting. Not guilty, m'Lud.
What I try to do is make some points that might have been missed or ignored, bring some balance or alternate thinking and challenge. Point out issues, facts or context that explain or undermine a point of view that someone has enunciated which is not in any shape or form fact-based. With my tongue firmly in my cheek, often, I admit.
I dislike double standards, which is why I asked about how much feedback you give on writing style. To bring balance, I find yours dull and humourless. It reminds me of too many board papers I had to read and approve which were anodyne and forgettable. Elk op hun eigen.
Hypocrisy is another bete noire for me. It's inbuilt in all debate and forums like this, but there's still value in pointing it out, especially when facts can highlight it.
You'll perhaps have seen If someone on here insults the UK and rants about how rubbish it is to live here, I sometimes tell them politely to leave. Similarly, when someone says the UK doesn't make a significant contribution to humanitarian causes, I point out that they are wrong, using facts. If someone says democracy is a bad idea, I take issue.
This place is so polarised that the shades of grey between white and black don't get much of a look in, so I try to give them some airtime, in my own, as you say, peculiar, style.
I'm going to bring this to an end now, Cheimoon. No plays on words with your nom de plume. No misspelling or abbreviation. No Edam from Switzerland throwaways (sorry, Cheimoon, but it's lunchtime here and I can't help thinking about a cheese sandwich. Cheddar, though. We can't get foreign stuff here because the lorries can't get through).
If I have bruised your sensitivities, I am deeply sorry. You were never meant to feel any discomfort from my musings. Deep down, you know that's the case and I hope you are OK now.
Let's be friends, let's celebrate the things we share in common and accept those that are points of divergence. I promise to try hard to do as you ask.
Above all, stay safe, be a good person and keep up the good work.
One final question, if I may, Cheimoon?
Are you really from the Netherlands?
So many metaphors, so little time. Asking EU to ease customs checks at a border completely within the UK.
