Happy Birthday to Russ Ortiz, 39. Not a bad pitcher in his prime, although his Wins/quality seems fairly high. And then two years after the Giants gave him a way for two guys who never worked out, he went from Atlanta to Arizona...and fell off a cliff. And yet he managed to hang around for at least parts of five more seasons, and more than 50 more starts, despite never again doing better than an 82 ERA+. Anyway, he was fun to root for.
Oh, the good stuff:
1. Ross Douthat takes on conservative libertarians. Interesting.
2. While Conor Friedersdorf really doesn't like elite-bashing by elite conservatives.
3. And Philip Klein understands the context of the situation.
4. Michelle Dean on Arendt and (Mary) McCarthy.
5. And I'm not a big fan of "derp," but Noah Smith almost convinces me.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
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My impression of 'derp' has been that it's commonly used by teenagers to make fun of the mentally disabled. It's akin to calling someone a 'retard.' I'm a little surprised to see none of the commentators discourage its use on those grounds.
ReplyDeleteI haven't witnessed "derp" being used in that way (and I work with kids!). I have seen it used in the Internet "rage comics" phenomenon, in which "Derp" is the name of the ubiquitous "everyman" character. "Derpina" is typically the name of his girlfriend/female friend.
DeleteI have two teenage sons who use the word "derp" a lot, and I have never heard them use it in a way even remotely related to the disabled.
DeleteI remember seeing it often used this way in High School. Granted it was 10 years ago, so maybe in that time it's gone from being an offensive way to call someone retarded to a more innocent way to signal that something is stupid.
DeleteBut given its reported Matt Stone/Trey Parker origins, I'm inclined to believe my first impression was right.
I'd be more convinced about derp if it were an acronym for "the constant, repetitive reiteration of strong priors." Crosp.
ReplyDeleteI like crosp. Lets make that a word!
Delete