Now imagine that spammed so damned much, it quite literally drowns out everything else.

I have no idea what that means.

Not the whole forum.  If there's no technological way to restrict them to a certain area, I wouldn't see it as helpful.

I'm still working on it.

Line and previous posts removed at request - Pika

This post was last modified: 09-11-2009 01:39 PM by ῦ.

Capital idea! You could start your own forum and call it "Trolls need love too" Totally unmoderated. Of course, it would eventually fill up with advertisements for shady online pharmaceutical identity theft operations, posted by spambots named Suzanne and Peter, and Beverly and Tom and Adam and Steve, but hey - spambots need love too.

DESU is a meme from a certain site which gets a lot of bad press.

By the way.  
I hate to be nit picky.  Well, no I don't, I just hate to be perceived as nit picky.  
Anyway, this abuse of the word, "literally," is driving me up the wall.  
"Literally" is the opposite of "figuratively."  The whole point of having the word is that we need a way to say, "Ok, everybody, hold the metaphores and exaggerations -- this is serious and straight-forward, I really mean for you to take this straight up, at face value -- LITERALLY."  
In this case, when you use the word "drowning" with the word "literally," it means that someone is physically under water (or other liquid) and unable to breathe.  One can not literally drown in spam.  We have tons of words that mean super-dooper, extra zextra, out of the ordinary, extreme.  We only have one honest little word that really means what it says.

Verb


to drown (third-person singular simple present drowns, present participle drowning, simple past and past participle drowned)

   1. (intransitive) To be suffocated in water or other fluid; to perish by such suffocation.
   2. (transitive) To deprive of life by immersion in water or other liquid.
   3. (transitive) To overwhelm in water; to submerge; to inundate.
   4. (transitive) To overpower; to overcome; to extinguish; — said especially of sound; usually in the form "to drown out"
   5. (transitive) To lose, make hard to find or unnoticeable in an abundant mass

Pardon?

Your 4th and 5th definitions are figurative.
When you use the word, "literally," you limit yourself to the first three.  
That's the whole point of having the word.  It means something.  Really.

Next week's lesson: pronoun abuse and the singular "they."

Adverb

literally (not comparable)

   1. In a literal sense, word for word; not as an idiom or metaphor.

          Schadenfreude literally means "shameful joy".
          When my sewing kit fell off the barn loft, I literally had to look for a needle in a haystack.

   2. (proscribed) just, simply
         1. (as an intensifier used with idioms and metaphors; the opposite of the preceding sense) really
                * 1827: Sir Walter Scott, Chronicles of the Canongate

                      The house was literally electrified; and it was only from witnessing the effects of her genius that he could guess to what a pitch theatrical excellence could be carried.

                * 1894: Arthur Conan Doyle, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

                      ...at a time when Europe was ringing with his name and when his room was literally ankle-deep with congratulatory telegrams...

                * 1993: Wayne W. Dyer, Real Magic, p.193

                      You literally become the ball in a tennis match, you become the report that you are working on ...

         2. (British)(colloquial) (As a generic intensifier)
                * I was literally exhausted.
         3. (British)(colloquial) (As a generic downtoner)
                * You literally put it in the microwave for five minutes and it's done.

These kinds of back and forth are one of my FAVORITE things about this forum.

I love language.

I agree with Galinda, in general with the overuse of literally (in society) not necessarily with pikas usage as I have never noticed it with him before...

I think saying literally - typing it, I would use parenthesis (as I do often) and I might have said,
She literally (in the transitive sense) felt like she was drowning in paperwork.



On the other topic - I don't feel/think there is any particular venom in just contributing about trolls in general.  not being specific about a person - just a concept.  but that is just me.


I love the humor in "give me your tired your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free, the wretched refuse of your teaming shores..."

(I am now singing this out loud - (literally) or proscribed? (now I am confused! LOL) loudly.  

Let's have some fun  y'all!

Peace.

I do agree with Galinda - the word has strayed from it's proper usage however in British use of the word, it is used to stress a point - and it's our language, so we can mangle it how we please

ZOMFG

KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE

Is another common term

So I guess you all think I'm stupid.


Btw, people who troll the trolls aren't much better.

Stupid people aren't wise enough to make comments like that ^

Perhaps, I have never noticed existence of trolls on AFF because moderators work very well here.

When I was eight years old, I learned the hard way why one should not jump in the water to help someone who is in a full panic.  She was about my size, it was only a couple of feet from the dock... what could possibly go wrong?

Even in the middle of it all, I was amazed by her agility and super-human strength.  I was less than thrilled about the situation, but didn’t happen to see a way out of it.  And she didn’t seem to be in a mood to discuss alternatives.  I was also amazed by the stupid kids on the dock who watched and did nothing.

Eventually the life guard came by and pushed us over to the dock.  The girl scrambled up in the blink of an eye, while I was so exhausted that I just slid back in and had to be lifted out of the water.

Yes, I am chronically naive, a bleeding heart, and I've had to learn that lesson over and over, in many different contexts.  I think I get it now.  Well, no, I don’t understand it, and I never will.  At least I understand that one must be on solid ground before reaching out to help someone like that, preferably by throwing a line rather than taking a personal risk.

I also get the concept of putting on your own oxygen mask first.  But once you’re settled, you can afford to help others.  Most of the time, you can afford it.

People who are in over their heads and in panic mode tend to be very unattractive.  I still think they're worth reaching, when possible.