Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Question of the day

Posted in:

Illinois

* Starting right now and running through the remainder of this overtime session, I’m banning the use of exclamation points in comments. If you use an exclamation point, your comment will have to be approved manually - by me - and it will only be approved if you use it in a humorous, ironic or other acceptable manner. I’m sick of the uptick in shouting, particularly from the newbie trolls on both sides. Yeah, tensions are high, but go scream on Facebook if you feel such urges. Get it out of your system and then you can come back here.

If I could, I’d also ban the use of all capital letters, but I’m not able to do that. I’d love to ban the improper use of “your” when it’s used as a contraction of “you are.” I’d also love to ban the misspelling of “lose” as “loose,” or “ad” as “add,” or “moot” as “mute.” Alas, none of that can be done, either. But lemme tell ‘ya, that stuff drives me up a wall when I see it.

* The Question: What word or words would you like to see banned from the comment section? Explain.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:43 pm

Comments

alot. No further explanation required

Comment by Uncle Sams brother Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:45 pm
perfidy

Comment by The Other Anonymous Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:46 pm
Oswego.

Comment by Saluki Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:46 pm
Rauner. Can’t stand to even read his name any more.

Comment by Big Joe Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:47 pm
Rauner and Madigan

Comment by Hoping for Rational Thought Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:47 pm
Your absolutely wright Rich.

Comment by Chicago 20 Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:48 pm
censorship
i never understood why some people get so uptight about the way things are formatted on a blog

Comment by anon Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:48 pm
How about ‘lemme” and “ya”. I know language evolves, but all evolution isn’t progress.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:48 pm
loose (for lose) just kills me

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:48 pm
I think it should be mandatory to drop the g off of anything ending in -ing

Comment by thoughts Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:48 pm
WOW!! Your a byt tence.

Comment by Anon Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:49 pm
Anonymous

Comment by Name Withheld Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:49 pm
“Job creators” when not used in a way describing the middle-class masses that demand and buy goods and services in the state of Illinois and country as a whole.

Comment by Ole' Nelson Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:49 pm
Anonymous

Comment by Scamp640 Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:49 pm
fake news

Comment by Just Sayin' Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:50 pm
“Dribble” when “drivel” is intended.

Comment by Peter Torque Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:50 pm
remember folks at the place of homes, spelling wrong things isnt objective of the knight. we want grammar of badness to become ultimate winners

Comment by Uncle Sams brother Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:50 pm
Here, lots. In life, working with kids, I used to ban “umm” and “like”.

Comment by LibrarianRyan Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:50 pm
Failure to use the Oxford comma.

Comment by Flip357 Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:50 pm
Madigan

So trolls would be forced to explain the Governor’s conduct.

Comment by Henry Francis Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:51 pm
Would of, should of, could of instead of would’ve, should’ve, could’ve. That’s my pet peeve.

Comment by Casual observer Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:51 pm
“Empathetic.” The word is “empathic.”
And the words “impacted” and “impactful.” Only wisdom teeth should be impacted.
Unfortunately, we do seem to have a shortage of empathy and wisdom in this state.

Comment by Keyrock Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:51 pm
Their, there, they’re are not interchangeable. The misuse of the word “literally” figuratively drives me crazy.

Piece out!

Comment by Pale Rider Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:52 pm
I’d like to see capitulatin’ banned

Comment by J IL Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:52 pm
Guess I’ll have to write out “factorial” now. As in, 13 factorial is equal to about 6.227 billion, which is a small number compared to the fiscal mess in the state.

Comment by The Old Professor Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:53 pm
Literally–maybe it is just in speech but I hear and read it all the time.

“Less” used incorrectly, when you should be using “fewer”

Comment by 32nd Ward Roscoe Village Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:53 pm
There. As in ‘The kids played with there ball’.

Comment by McLean County Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:53 pm
“Rayner”

Comment by Fax Machine Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:54 pm
Not really specific, but any hyper partisan talking point or comment which obviously doesn’t tell the full story of anything. In Illinois, no party is innocent.

Comment by Clark Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:54 pm
Workmen’s Compensation. Looking at you Leader Durkin. Just say Workers’Compensation. I would prefer they stop using injured workers as a business development tool altogether, but I would settle for them not using outdated terminology.

Comment by Ned Nederlander Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:54 pm
“Right Wing” when use solely as a pejorative instead of as a descriptive policy counter to “Left Wing”. (And vice versa.)

Comment by Responsa Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:54 pm
Annoying, yes. Ban worthy, nyet.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:56 pm
“most taxed”

Comment by Robert the Bruce Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:56 pm
Anything to do with blame. We need solutions, not whiny old blame comments. And blame comments are so totally unoriginal. It’s Madigan’s fault. It’s Rauner’s fault. It’s the teachers’ fault. It’s state employees’ fault. It’s the Union’s fault. It’s the GA’s fault. It’s the Supreme Court’s fault.

Perhaps if we weren’t running around blaming each other, we could come together and develop a solution to the state’s problems.

Comment by A Jack Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:56 pm
Will you accept a Word document in lieu of a post?

If forced to pick one I would go with troll. Troll is in the eye of the beholder.

Comment by Curl of the Burl Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:56 pm
Taxpayer or worker when used in the context implying that state workers aren’t taxpayers nor perform actual work.

Comment by Thoughts Matter Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:56 pm
“Governors own”

Comment by Shemp Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:57 pm
Love it. The grammar cop. How about “over” when it should be “more than?” And not understanding the difference between “less” and “fewer.” This is great and I’d put an exclamation point on it but don’t want the delay.

Comment by Chicago Cynic Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:57 pm
Cubs

Comment by Leatherneck Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:57 pm
And if I can add a phrase - I’d vote to ban ‘Now, more than ever’. Not just from this blog, but from the English language.

Comment by McLean County Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:57 pm
Anonymous

Comment by Ron Burgundy Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:58 pm
Leatherneck, your submission is under active review. lol

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:58 pm
“Rauner” and “Madigan”

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 12:59 pm
I’m more bothered by the use of “mute” where the writer means “moot,” but I guess since the opposite bothers you more, mine is a moot point
I’m also frequently amused by the use of “defiantly” where the writer probably meant”definitely,” but who knows? Maybe they just want to add some rebelliousness and oomph.
My pet peeve of all time is the use of “which” where it should be “that,” but some of my fave folks make that blunder, so I’ve learned to let it go.

Comment by it's just me Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:00 pm
I think I’d rather see caps banned than exclamation points, but then again those using all caps will probably have an exclamation point or two…

my suggestion…whatever you do - don’t ban “/snark”

Comment by A Modest Proposal Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:01 pm
“Hard-working families”

Someone needs to stand up for the slackers and single people. And single slackers.

Comment by Can Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:02 pm
I hate the phrase “common sense solution”. It implies there is no need for further discussion. And the “common sense solutions” proposed are often nonsensical

Comment by Last Bull Moose Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:03 pm
Snowflake

Comment by Just Sayin' Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:03 pm
Almost forgot my real pet peeve (and I had to go back and lower-case that) is video shot vertical instead of horizontal. Do those people have vertical televisions at home? Or vertical computer monitors?

Comment by it's just me Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:04 pm
I also don’t like “you know and I know”. Don’t tell me what I know as though it means we agree.

Comment by Casual observer Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:04 pm
Press releases that include “For far too long …” at the start of any sentence/paragraph. I can’t really justify why, it’s just a cringeworthy pet peeve of mine.

Comment by The Captain Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:05 pm
“Democrat party” it distracts from whatever the commenter intended to say.

Auto correct by default on both IOS and Android results in the governor being called “Rainer” but there’s a solution - automatically such comments until folks add Rauner to their dictionary.

I’m not sure how, but the recent spam comments on the Live posts are annoying.

Comment by AC Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:05 pm
Personal pet peeve is any formulation of ‘drinking the kool aid’.

No, supporting a tax hike to actually pay the bills of the state is not even close to analogous to a bunch of cult members being coerced into drinking poison and killing themselves.

Likewise, showing support for Rauner’s various attempts at reform (work comp, term limits, etc) is also not even close to analogous to a bunch of cult members being coerced into drinking poison and killing themselves.

It’s not clever anymore, it’s not cute, it’s a sick, mean cliche.

Comment by Shark Sandwich Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:06 pm
Oswego Willy

Comment by Exasperated Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:09 pm
Rich - your initial point reminded me of this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pdWAcK6Eh8

Comment by Curl of the Burl Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:09 pm
County/ies. Used as “he won more counties than she did.”

Comment by Amalia Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:09 pm
Snowflake

Comment by Honeybear Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:09 pm
The phrase “the only solution is raising taxes”

Comment by Hawkeye Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:09 pm
“Reform(s)” the most misused word. Falsely used as a synonym for retrograde policies and rip-offs.

Comment by UnReformed Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:13 pm
sham

(replacing with “fake” is not an option.

Comment by Stumpy's bunker Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:14 pm
Tax

Comment by Leadership Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:15 pm
“1st Amendment”. No, you don’t have a right to say anything you want in the comments of someone else’s blog. Stop whining if your comment is moderated. Try harder, be better, or find the ‘X’ button in the upper right corner of your browser.

Comment by Concerned Observer Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:18 pm
Can you ban ad hominem arguments?

Comment by Ex Clam A shunned Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:18 pm
I’d like to see the words “courage” or “courageous” banned when used to describe a political act. “Courage” is a quality found on a battlefield, among other situations, involving honorable men and women

Instead of using “courage” or any form of it, I recommend words such as “calculating,” “devious” or “tactical” when referring to political acts.

Comment by Cook County Commoner Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:18 pm
“Try to keep up.”

“Your ignorance of [ ] is noted.”

Both are smarmy, condescending and ultimately facile methods of avoiding actual substantive discourse on issues.

Comment by sulla Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:19 pm
“reforms” unless specifically detailed with their projected benefits.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:19 pm
Turnaround

Comment by illinoised Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:19 pm
commonsense. It’s usually means “my idea is great because I say so”.

Comment by DuPage Dave Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:21 pm
“Massive”, not only from the blog, but all media outlets.

Comment by Hyperbolic Chamber Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:21 pm
“grow jobs”. The expression gives me hives. Along with everything else Rauner repeats over and over….

Comment by pcjocky Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:24 pm
Impact, Impactful, Impacted. All I can picture is an airbag opening every time I see those words.

Comment by Columbo Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:24 pm
“Middle class families”. Anyone who refers to protecting them is typically directly involved with eliminating them.

Comment by Slugger O'Toole Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:25 pm
Business friendly reforms
Structural reforms
AFSC-ammy

These are just buzzwords for trickle down economics which never trickles down. Public sector workers choose to work for less pay than their private sector counterparts, because we need the legally guaranteed equality of opportunity and desire to serve the public.

Comment by Thomas Griffin Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:25 pm
Governors Own

Comment by Texas Red Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:26 pm
“It goes without saying” is always followed by the thing that supposedly goes without saying.

Comment by Cubs in '16 Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:27 pm
sulla at 1:01, you are so right, much like lol when you can’t dispute the facts that have been presented.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:31 pm
“Loose” rather than “lose” bothers me way too much, to the extent that I would like to see both banned, just in case.

On a more state-politics centered note, “democrat party.”

When it comes to open threads, there is no reason ever to see “Tottenham” on this page. Instead, “that side that Arsenal has long dominated except for a bizarre 2016-2017 quirk which shall not be repeated” should suffice.

Comment by Gooner Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:38 pm
Excessive use of periods, as in N.o. m.o.r.e. p.e.r.i.o.d.s.

Comment by OldIllini Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:40 pm
Any word ending in “ing” that drops the g.

Comment by Wensicia Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:44 pm
/s. People on here are rarely funny.

Comment by Trillinois Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:48 pm
“Free market” - as Adam Smith conceptualized it about the only thing to meet that definition is garage sales. Nearly every dollar I spend is with a monopoly, oligopoly, or monopolistic competition.

Comment by Smitty Irving Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:52 pm
“The legislator” instead of “the legislature”.

Comment by SAP Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:56 pm
your instead of you’re and

to instead of too

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:57 pm
“Job creators” when referring to businesses paying less than the MIT living wage and providing no benefits.

Comment by Markus Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 1:58 pm
Drury

Comment by John-on-the-spot Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:00 pm
Intentional/cheeky, misspellings of Rauner’s name

Comment by illinikid Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:01 pm
Seems like you are becomin’ a grumpy, hateful old man. Let’s play a new game…what state/city is Gov. Happy JUnk in this afternoon (pix from Dannenberger Winery welcome)

Comment by Annonin' Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:01 pm
Good try thou

Incorrectly confused regularly with old English “where for art thou Romeo” by a certain prodigious commentator here

Also, protecting middle class families from an extreme right wing agenda. Governor Rauner is a lot of things but an extreme right winger is not one of them. Can we also try to protect these same families from an extreme left wing agenda that is taxing them out of Illinois? Being reasonable requires more than just empty words. True compromise is required. That has been missing for the past two and half years in the House.

One more from the Speaker asking for the Governor to be reasonable but not holding himself to the same standard.

When you combine total compensation including pension and health care benefits, tier one public sector workers certainly make more than similar jobs in the private sector.

Comment by Lucky Pierre Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:03 pm
taxpayer

lucky

pierre

Comment by JS Mill Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:12 pm
LOL. Lucky always there to go off on some tangent completely unrelated to the conversation at hand.

To the post:

I would also ban the improper use of there and their. I’m guilty of it sometimes. Drives me up the wall when I catch myself doing it.

Comment by Demoralized Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:15 pm
Since you are JS you can call me LP.

Your comment dismissing the concerns of “taxpayers” who bear the highest middle class tax burden in America is duly noted and sadly shared by the majority in the General Assembly and Chicago city council.

Comment by Lucky Pierre Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:16 pm
ban grammar and punctuation. i just type like i talk

Comment by Bruce (no not him) Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:16 pm
I would also say that drive-by comments and nationalized talking points should be verboten.

Comment by Curl of the Burl Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:17 pm
Anonymous.

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:18 pm
I second “perfidy”.

Comment by Harry O Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:20 pm
I cringe when I hear someone say Irregardless. Nails on a chalk board

Comment by NorthsideNoMore Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:20 pm
Can we ban comments that have absolutely nothing to do with a post?

Stay. On. Topic. Lucky.

Comment by Demoralized Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:22 pm
Conversate, and the phrase, “at the end of the day”. Burns my behind.

Comment by Fan of Cap Fax Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:23 pm
“Democrat” when used as an adjective.

Comment by ryan Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:26 pm
“disinterested” when it is used to mean “uninterested”

Comment by Harry Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:37 pm
You’re blog, you’re rules.
Your the best, Rich.

Comment by Jake From Elwood Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:48 pm
Libbies

Comment by Dr X Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 2:53 pm
Were you educated by nuns? You’re insisting on good grammar and spelling?—-What a breath of fresh air–Thank you

Comment by Mac Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 3:10 pm
To in place of too.

Comment by NobodysAccountable Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 3:14 pm
The misuse of “beg the question”. Drives me nuts.

Comment by JoanP Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 3:40 pm
Anonymous

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 3:55 pm
Up yers

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 3:55 pm
Bankruptcy

Can’t happen but that doesn’t stop some from constantly bringing up the subject.

And while we’re at it why don’t we ban any references to Puerto Rico, Detroit, Greece or any other number of places people try to “compare” things to

Comment by Demoralized Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 4:04 pm
At the end of the day

Comment by ehh Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 4:05 pm
gonna

Except when used in a quotation or caption contest, it has no place in written English.

Comment by Streator Curmudgeon Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 4:16 pm
===Were you educated by nuns?===

My mom was an English major and a school teacher and my father was an… let’s just say he was a bit on the strict side.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 4:16 pm
My favorite style guide is “Wilson Follett Modern American Usage”. Very easy to use. I have the 1966 edition and it’s actually fun to read. Yeah, I know, I’m a big nerd.

Comment by Way Way Down Here Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 4:24 pm
That there: As used in sentences like “She knew that there was gold in them there hills”. Drives me crazy.

Comment by Papa2008 Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 4:55 pm
I think I just fell afoul (in another thread) of this new rule with what I would consider a perfectly reasonable use of the exclamation mark. Rules are rules.

Anyway–I’d ban the phrase “tax hike” if I could–at least from reporting on the matter. Reason: it casts such a tax increase with an aura of illegitimacy.

Comment by JPC Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 5:00 pm
Victim.
Please ban the word and anyone who is one; perceived or actual.

Please praise me for the proper use of a semi-colon. I learned today that you do that. lol

Comment by A guy Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 5:25 pm
Now that I’ve reviewed other posts, can we please deep six the use of the phrase that concludes “adult in the room”.

You could also ban “bite me”, but it would only affect one guy. The wrong guy. lol.

Comment by A guy Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 6:07 pm
Pithy

Comment by Winnin' Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 6:13 pm
All sorts of autocorrect fails.
“It’s” when the commenter means “it’s”.
Your vs.you’re; their, they’re, there.

And it’s ” y’all”, not “ya’ll”.

Comment by Lynn S. Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 6:15 pm
I’d ban the phrase “I’m banning the use of exclamation points in comments.” Censorship, regardless of its purpose, has no place on the Internet.

Comment by James Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 6:24 pm
I understand the irony of such a statement, and would emphasize that the first sentence is tongue in cheek.

Comment by James Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 6:26 pm
Rich

Comment by Anon Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 7:52 pm
“Willy”-speaks for itself

Comment by justacitizen Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 8:44 pm
“Seen” instead of “saw,” e.g. “I seen that on the internet.”

Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 10:49 pm
James - He who runs the blog owns the blog and can apply what he or she wants as the standards. Rich has set standards that keeps CapFax from becoming a toxic place like others are. If you think that’s censorship that’s fine, but I really prefer a place with rules that provide for civilized discussion, even on the internet. (I would ban ALL CAPS, which probably is censorship,but it does seem like being screamed at in print.)

Comment by West Side the Best Side Monday, Jul 3, 17 @ 10:58 pm
Shark sandwich, you should expand your mind, try reading the electic Kool-aid acid experiment

Comment by Rabid Tuesday, Jul 4, 17 @ 7:22 am
Rein and reign being misused. It’s happened so often, I now have to stop and think about which is which.

Comment by Soccermom Tuesday, Jul 4, 17 @ 10:36 pm