Well the problem is, he would never go for Raidah. He flat out said it himself, he has no time for games and people who don’t play it straight. She probably concluded very quickly that she had no chance with him, and just didn’t devote any work to trying to make that connect. Raidah is the epitome of the sort of person Tony seems like he’s trying to avoid.
We keep hearing “the dean”, but surely there’s other deans, right? And maybe one of them’s got a son? GOALS, Raidah, GOALS.
Steamweed
Yes, anywhere from 10 to 20 or so. Academic department deans (ie, the ivory tower admins), and executive or other business deans (ie, the executive suite officers). Raidah has a long list to go through.
Ew that “king” is the opposite of “maiden” here. Rather than let that stand (and perpetuate a world where men rule and women are defined by whether or not they’ve slept with someone) I’ll offer the word “bachelorless” as an option.
deliverything
Well, if we’re using the “female virgin” definition of “maiden”… maybe “incelless”? Not sure why that’d be a bad thing, but Paul might still be around… She could try checking the local hospital; considering what we’ve seen of him recently, he’ll probably end up there sooner or later (not everyone’s as merciful as Tony, after all).
Firseal
Virgulo is a male virgin, so virguloless? Bachelorless implies a relationship status, but maiden does not. Maidens just are ‘pure (in variable ways depending on the society)’ women. King is absolutely out, that’s a job title.
jflb96
Surely the Father is the opposite of the Maiden
Nymph
The phrase is supposed to be about who you’re dating/sleeping with so I should hope not.
Yeah, he’s a very self-aware blunt instrument and Raidah’s usual technique of directing the conversation to make her rhetorical points draw blood probably won’t work as well here
Tony struck me as pretty sharp, actually.
Calling someone a blunt instrument is usually in regards to them being simple or stupid, but while he seem very straightforward to me, he seems neither simple nor stupid.
Unless we use the phrase differently from each other.
BarerMender
A blunt instrument is something that hits with crushing force. In rhetoric, it frequently involves blunt truth, suggesting someone who doesn’t let politesse hold him back.
Bedovian
Yeah I think you’re conflating blunt instrument with “not the sharpest tool.” When in this context it just means something straightforward that gets the job done with simple efficiency.
cbwroses
Since y’all had me doubting myself, I looked it up.
The dictionary on my iPad states that a blunt instrument (when not referring to a literal blunt instrument) is “an imprecise or heavy handed way of doing things.”
And going the extra mile, the same dictionary defines heavy handed as “clumsy, insensitive, or overly forceful”.
So no, I don’t think the phrase applies to him (the word blunt by itself does actually fit him as being straightforward is one of the definitions, but the meaning changes when it’s combined with instrument).
But if anyone has some other definition for the phrase, feel free to share it or tell me where to find it.
Tomn
“Overly forceful” is the operative word in your dictionary checking – someone who “doesn’t let politeesse hold him back.” I don’t have an exact technical definition because this is one of those phrases whose meaning you usually pick up from context, but generally if I were to define someone as a blunt instrument I mean “Someone who will get the point across or the job done no matter whose feelings get hurt or what gets in the way.” It’s someone I would only sic on someone else if I didn’t care whether or not they got hurt, or a problem that I want solved but don’t care about any side effects or consequences, because they are very likely to leave a bit of a mess in the aftermath.
That SOMETIMES has connotations of being a bit simple because simple people do like straightforward solutions without thinking about the consequences. But it could also describe someone who HAS thought through the consequences but just doesn’t care if they’re in his way. Tony strikes me as the latter. If he doesn’t want to talk to or date Raidah because he doesn’t like her, he is not going to bother sparing her feelings on the matter if she tries to push it.
cbwroses
That’s the thing.
I don’t consider him OVERLY forceful, as in TOO MUCH force for the situation.
Tony feels like he used just the right amount to convey himself.
Steamweed
Well, to back you up, he IS a successful football player, definitely top tier college level, and probably will attract professional attention. This means quick thinking and both followership and leadership skills.
Tomn
You’re getting caught up on semantics for a phrase that is inherently vibes-based I think – we can agree, I suspect, that Tony is absolutely using MORE force than the average person might do because the average person is socialized out of using quite that much force in most situations even if it is appropriate. That Tony IS forceful in affect compared to others is not I think in contention. Is it an appropriate level of force? Maybe, but it’s still forceful in a marked and noticeable way. That’s what people are getting at when they refer to him as a blunt instrument, as well as the damage he’s likely to cause if he decides to have words with Raidah.
I frankly wouldn’t lean too much on a dictionary definition for a phrase like that – like I said, this is one of those phrases that you pick up through vibes and context. Most people are unlikely to have a very clear idea what exactly the phrase means, only the web of vibes around it, and any dictionary is only going to very loosely encompass what that web is like in general usage. Attempting to pin down an exact meaning would be like to delineate an exact border in the middle of the Sahara desert before GPS – you can try, but the nomads actually wandering around the desert aren’t going to care. If you want to check your own sanity it’s probably better to ask a bunch of friends how they’d define a blunt instrument and whether they think it’s a positive or negative or neutral thing when applied to a person. But I think it is notable that so far, nobody else in this comment thread has stepped in to say “I agree, blunt instrument isn’t a good way describe Tony because it implies he’s stupid.”
cbwroses
I do have a very clear idea, yet I have people telling me I’m wrong, which is why I went to the dictionary.
As for multiple people thinking something is one way instead of another, that’s really no way to decide the meaning of something; definitions are not opinions.
The only valid difference of opinion regarding an already established definition is if a definition applies.
I did ask someone on how they take the word blunt and the phrase blunt instrument in regards to people, and I even showed them these comments; they agreed with me, so are you and everyone else suddenly wrong because they did that?
Of course not, just like I’m not suddenly wrong because I disagree with y’all.
But we do have a definition right here, so…
Millions of people have thought and still do think some very messed up things.
This is nowhere close to those types of subjects, but crowd sourcing definitions for something that already has one is still not something I plan to do.
Tomn
Hoo, I invite you to look up descriptivism – suffice it to say, language is essentially a mostly shared opinion that’s changing all the time in actual use – that’s how language evolves, and how slang drops in and out of use. If enough people decide that “gay” means “homosexual” and not just “happy,” for instance, then that’s what it comes to mean in practical use no matter how much older dictionaries might insist that the only thing it means is “happy.”
Bedovian
I don’t say this solely because it supports the point that we’re trying to make, but dictionaries are the lowest common denominator for accepted usage of certain words or phrases. But it is the dictionary that ultimately bends to how people use the word and not the other way around. You’ve given a very bare Bones strict definition of blunt instrument, but it is far more frequently used as the above person did
Mr. Random
SimpleStupid
In fact, making sure things remain simple are usually the best ways to ensure your forecasting model is usable.
Tan
“Blunt” here refers to: Abrupt in address; plain; unceremonious; rough in manners or speech.
“Dull” is much more the word that means simple or stupid, even though the two words are in the literal sense synonyms.
Mark
The issue is with the stock phrase “blunt instrument”: something which works by raw power, lacking finesse. It’s that last bit, I think, that is bothering some.
Tan
Further clarification: A blade can be sharp or dull. A dull blade is clearly inferior to a sharp blade in its purpose to cut.
A hammer, however, is intentionally designed to be blunt. The point is not to cut, but to apply force of impact.
cbwroses
Again, blunt and blunt instrument do not have the same connotation.
You’re using the concept in regards to a literal blunt instrument, but he’s a person and not an object, so the meaning that applies is the one NOT for objects.
It’s the difference between talking about an object having a third wheel, like a wagon or a tricycle, or about someone being a 3rd wheel, like being the odd one out while hanging with a couple.
That’s an exaggerated example, but the point is that the phrase when applied to a person is different when applied to an object, and the dictionary bears that out.
clif
I think we can agree that Sarah is rather good with blunt instruments.
HueSatLight
let me be blunt. no.
jflb96
If he’s simple, he’s simple like Cpt. Carrot Ironfoundersson
Daibhid C
Just what I was going to say.
(For those who don’t know, he’s a Discworld character who was once described by the phrase “People thought Carrot was simple. And he was. Where they went wrong was in thinking simple meant stupid.” At another time his girlfriend thought “You had to be very complicated to be as simple as Carrot”. It’s also said — on the subject of blunt instruments — that talking to him gives duplicitious people the sensation that they’ve just walked straight into an iron bar.)
‘Blunt instrument’ is kinda objectifying in a way just ‘blunt’ isn’t. He’s not a tool. That’s probably what Raida objects to more than anything else.
Decidedly Orthogonal
cbwroses. You’re right and the hair splitting on the various meanings is ignoring that when such a phrase is used metaphorically, typically all of the meanings are part of the nuance. Moreover, one does not use blunt instruments to do fine work. Tony is both sharp, and has the power to drive a point home. He’s more like a fine chisel.
A reminder that Raidah had her happy relationship with Jacob broken up by Sarah sending Joyce in as an agent provocateur. As shitty as Raidah is to Sarah, that was an escalation above and beyond being catty.
Didn’t Sarah ultimately decide to not do that because she felt like she was using Joyce and that made her feel guilty only for Joyce to end up making out with Jacob anyway?
Also accidently reported your commeny when i meant to reply. Sorry.
It’s the website’s fault for putting Reply right next to Report comment. Let’s blame the front-end designers.
Mark
Wouldn’t be nearly as troublesome if those were buttons (as they should be) rather than “links”. Maybe they could at least add a “sorry I reported you because this UI is so hard to use” thingy at the end of the line.
[Opinionated: a button does something on this page. A link takes me to another page.]
Steamweed
Maybe even an “Are you sure?” before confirming the reporting.
300 thoughts on “That’s new”
NGPZ
… Raidah’s gonna somehow make this Jennifer’s fault, ain’t she? ?
Grimey
Yes.
Radiance
Yes, but only because Jennifer’ll say “I was hitting on Tony but he was so intimidated by how incredibly hot I am that he asked Sarah out by mistake.”
Not even in response to anything. The way Jennifer’s conversations this morning are going, she’s just gonna say that completely unprompted.
jeffepp
I’m not certain she would remember Sarah was there. But otherwise spot on.
jpnr
Jennifer should have made sure Walky sealed the deal with Lucy.
It was a simple job!
anon
considering tony’s the dean’s son(?) it’s also a delicious unintended benefit to get under raidah’s skin
elebenty
Agreed! Tony ‘outranks’ her, so now Sarah does, too, by association.
Decidedly Orthogonal
Oh yeah. That’s good. ? Does Sarah even know that yet?
Ana Chronistic
jelly? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )
jeffepp
“Dating the dean’s son? That was an option? Why didn’t I think of that?”
Throwatron
Well the problem is, he would never go for Raidah. He flat out said it himself, he has no time for games and people who don’t play it straight. She probably concluded very quickly that she had no chance with him, and just didn’t devote any work to trying to make that connect. Raidah is the epitome of the sort of person Tony seems like he’s trying to avoid.
butting
We keep hearing “the dean”, but surely there’s other deans, right? And maybe one of them’s got a son? GOALS, Raidah, GOALS.
Steamweed
Yes, anywhere from 10 to 20 or so. Academic department deans (ie, the ivory tower admins), and executive or other business deans (ie, the executive suite officers). Raidah has a long list to go through.
Bryy
Yes, but not for the reasons you think.
Steamweed
Yesss, Raidah, feel the burrrnnn. Let the hate flow through youuu.
Elf grrl
Honestly love this for Sarah. Hope her dating Tony helps her grow and they have a long healthy relationship.
Pocky
cope
Paradoxius
seethe
PedanticJerkass
mald?
Rolf of Many Doors
grass: untouched
Qube
maiden- wait no, kingless
Nymph
Ew that “king” is the opposite of “maiden” here. Rather than let that stand (and perpetuate a world where men rule and women are defined by whether or not they’ve slept with someone) I’ll offer the word “bachelorless” as an option.
deliverything
Well, if we’re using the “female virgin” definition of “maiden”… maybe “incelless”? Not sure why that’d be a bad thing, but Paul might still be around… She could try checking the local hospital; considering what we’ve seen of him recently, he’ll probably end up there sooner or later (not everyone’s as merciful as Tony, after all).
Firseal
Virgulo is a male virgin, so virguloless? Bachelorless implies a relationship status, but maiden does not. Maidens just are ‘pure (in variable ways depending on the society)’ women. King is absolutely out, that’s a job title.
jflb96
Surely the Father is the opposite of the Maiden
Nymph
The phrase is supposed to be about who you’re dating/sleeping with so I should hope not.
Taffy
The phenomenon of people calling their boyfriends and husbands “Daddy” makes this muddy.
Rolf of Many Doors
*lordless
AGV/Ruby
Crops: withered
Taffy
Dehydrated and dessicated
Tan
Out of lane, unmoisturized.
Freezer
Yum yucked.
Lumino
Oooh, this is gonna be goooood! Raidah getting told off by Tony for being a manipulative ding-dong incoming!
Bysmerian
Yeah, he’s a very self-aware blunt instrument and Raidah’s usual technique of directing the conversation to make her rhetorical points draw blood probably won’t work as well here
cbwroses
Tony struck me as pretty sharp, actually.
Calling someone a blunt instrument is usually in regards to them being simple or stupid, but while he seem very straightforward to me, he seems neither simple nor stupid.
Unless we use the phrase differently from each other.
BarerMender
A blunt instrument is something that hits with crushing force. In rhetoric, it frequently involves blunt truth, suggesting someone who doesn’t let politesse hold him back.
Bedovian
Yeah I think you’re conflating blunt instrument with “not the sharpest tool.” When in this context it just means something straightforward that gets the job done with simple efficiency.
cbwroses
Since y’all had me doubting myself, I looked it up.
The dictionary on my iPad states that a blunt instrument (when not referring to a literal blunt instrument) is “an imprecise or heavy handed way of doing things.”
And going the extra mile, the same dictionary defines heavy handed as “clumsy, insensitive, or overly forceful”.
So no, I don’t think the phrase applies to him (the word blunt by itself does actually fit him as being straightforward is one of the definitions, but the meaning changes when it’s combined with instrument).
But if anyone has some other definition for the phrase, feel free to share it or tell me where to find it.
Tomn
“Overly forceful” is the operative word in your dictionary checking – someone who “doesn’t let politeesse hold him back.” I don’t have an exact technical definition because this is one of those phrases whose meaning you usually pick up from context, but generally if I were to define someone as a blunt instrument I mean “Someone who will get the point across or the job done no matter whose feelings get hurt or what gets in the way.” It’s someone I would only sic on someone else if I didn’t care whether or not they got hurt, or a problem that I want solved but don’t care about any side effects or consequences, because they are very likely to leave a bit of a mess in the aftermath.
That SOMETIMES has connotations of being a bit simple because simple people do like straightforward solutions without thinking about the consequences. But it could also describe someone who HAS thought through the consequences but just doesn’t care if they’re in his way. Tony strikes me as the latter. If he doesn’t want to talk to or date Raidah because he doesn’t like her, he is not going to bother sparing her feelings on the matter if she tries to push it.
cbwroses
That’s the thing.
I don’t consider him OVERLY forceful, as in TOO MUCH force for the situation.
Tony feels like he used just the right amount to convey himself.
Steamweed
Well, to back you up, he IS a successful football player, definitely top tier college level, and probably will attract professional attention. This means quick thinking and both followership and leadership skills.
Tomn
You’re getting caught up on semantics for a phrase that is inherently vibes-based I think – we can agree, I suspect, that Tony is absolutely using MORE force than the average person might do because the average person is socialized out of using quite that much force in most situations even if it is appropriate. That Tony IS forceful in affect compared to others is not I think in contention. Is it an appropriate level of force? Maybe, but it’s still forceful in a marked and noticeable way. That’s what people are getting at when they refer to him as a blunt instrument, as well as the damage he’s likely to cause if he decides to have words with Raidah.
I frankly wouldn’t lean too much on a dictionary definition for a phrase like that – like I said, this is one of those phrases that you pick up through vibes and context. Most people are unlikely to have a very clear idea what exactly the phrase means, only the web of vibes around it, and any dictionary is only going to very loosely encompass what that web is like in general usage. Attempting to pin down an exact meaning would be like to delineate an exact border in the middle of the Sahara desert before GPS – you can try, but the nomads actually wandering around the desert aren’t going to care. If you want to check your own sanity it’s probably better to ask a bunch of friends how they’d define a blunt instrument and whether they think it’s a positive or negative or neutral thing when applied to a person. But I think it is notable that so far, nobody else in this comment thread has stepped in to say “I agree, blunt instrument isn’t a good way describe Tony because it implies he’s stupid.”
cbwroses
I do have a very clear idea, yet I have people telling me I’m wrong, which is why I went to the dictionary.
As for multiple people thinking something is one way instead of another, that’s really no way to decide the meaning of something; definitions are not opinions.
The only valid difference of opinion regarding an already established definition is if a definition applies.
I did ask someone on how they take the word blunt and the phrase blunt instrument in regards to people, and I even showed them these comments; they agreed with me, so are you and everyone else suddenly wrong because they did that?
Of course not, just like I’m not suddenly wrong because I disagree with y’all.
But we do have a definition right here, so…
Millions of people have thought and still do think some very messed up things.
This is nowhere close to those types of subjects, but crowd sourcing definitions for something that already has one is still not something I plan to do.
Tomn
Hoo, I invite you to look up descriptivism – suffice it to say, language is essentially a mostly shared opinion that’s changing all the time in actual use – that’s how language evolves, and how slang drops in and out of use. If enough people decide that “gay” means “homosexual” and not just “happy,” for instance, then that’s what it comes to mean in practical use no matter how much older dictionaries might insist that the only thing it means is “happy.”
Bedovian
I don’t say this solely because it supports the point that we’re trying to make, but dictionaries are the lowest common denominator for accepted usage of certain words or phrases. But it is the dictionary that ultimately bends to how people use the word and not the other way around. You’ve given a very bare Bones strict definition of blunt instrument, but it is far more frequently used as the above person did
Mr. Random
SimpleStupid
In fact, making sure things remain simple are usually the best ways to ensure your forecasting model is usable.
Tan
“Blunt” here refers to: Abrupt in address; plain; unceremonious; rough in manners or speech.
“Dull” is much more the word that means simple or stupid, even though the two words are in the literal sense synonyms.
Mark
The issue is with the stock phrase “blunt instrument”: something which works by raw power, lacking finesse. It’s that last bit, I think, that is bothering some.
Tan
Further clarification: A blade can be sharp or dull. A dull blade is clearly inferior to a sharp blade in its purpose to cut.
A hammer, however, is intentionally designed to be blunt. The point is not to cut, but to apply force of impact.
cbwroses
Again, blunt and blunt instrument do not have the same connotation.
You’re using the concept in regards to a literal blunt instrument, but he’s a person and not an object, so the meaning that applies is the one NOT for objects.
It’s the difference between talking about an object having a third wheel, like a wagon or a tricycle, or about someone being a 3rd wheel, like being the odd one out while hanging with a couple.
That’s an exaggerated example, but the point is that the phrase when applied to a person is different when applied to an object, and the dictionary bears that out.
clif
I think we can agree that Sarah is rather good with blunt instruments.
HueSatLight
let me be blunt. no.
jflb96
If he’s simple, he’s simple like Cpt. Carrot Ironfoundersson
Daibhid C
Just what I was going to say.
(For those who don’t know, he’s a Discworld character who was once described by the phrase “People thought Carrot was simple. And he was. Where they went wrong was in thinking simple meant stupid.” At another time his girlfriend thought “You had to be very complicated to be as simple as Carrot”. It’s also said — on the subject of blunt instruments — that talking to him gives duplicitious people the sensation that they’ve just walked straight into an iron bar.)
spriteless aunty
‘Blunt instrument’ is kinda objectifying in a way just ‘blunt’ isn’t. He’s not a tool. That’s probably what Raida objects to more than anything else.
Decidedly Orthogonal
cbwroses. You’re right and the hair splitting on the various meanings is ignoring that when such a phrase is used metaphorically, typically all of the meanings are part of the nuance. Moreover, one does not use blunt instruments to do fine work. Tony is both sharp, and has the power to drive a point home. He’s more like a fine chisel.
Rolf of Many Doors
Raida’s method of social death by a thousand cuts meets Tony’s brick wall
IntangibleMatter
This feels like a 2019 meme template and I mean that as the highest compliment. I intend to use it as such.
NGPZ
*plays “Sanctuary Guardian” from EarthBound on hacked muzak*
Plain Marie
Suck it, Raidah.
Joe Moose
[Sailor Moon]
OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!
[/Moon]
Rose by Any other Name
But not, I notice, slash Sailor.
Armadillo
The moon may be gone, but Joe Moose sails forever!
jflb96
Well, yeah, you don’t need to say that sailors are doing slash, that’s a given
Charles Phipps
A reminder that Raidah had her happy relationship with Jacob broken up by Sarah sending Joyce in as an agent provocateur. As shitty as Raidah is to Sarah, that was an escalation above and beyond being catty.
She has a reason to hate Sarah.
Alongcameaspider
Is Raidah aware that whole thing was Sarah’s idea though?
Charles Phipps
You know I don’t know but it is really crappy of Sarah to manipulate her friend like that for revenge.
Thag Simmons
She might suspect, but from the evidence she has it’d be a leap.
Nono
She didn’t know that Joyce was sent by Sarah though. As far as she knows Jacob just befriended Joyce and it just escalated from there.
Hoboturtle
Didn’t Sarah ultimately decide to not do that because she felt like she was using Joyce and that made her feel guilty only for Joyce to end up making out with Jacob anyway?
Also accidently reported your commeny when i meant to reply. Sorry.
Steamweed
It’s the website’s fault for putting Reply right next to Report comment. Let’s blame the front-end designers.
Mark
Wouldn’t be nearly as troublesome if those were buttons (as they should be) rather than “links”. Maybe they could at least add a “sorry I reported you because this UI is so hard to use” thingy at the end of the line.
[Opinionated: a button does something on this page. A link takes me to another page.]
Steamweed
Maybe even an “Are you sure?” before confirming the reporting.
Sirksome