Discussions, one liners, manners, and changing times :(
By vanny
@vandana7 (100053)
India
March 23, 2010 1:30am CST
I remember I was essentially a one liner person -unbelievable as it may sound. 
. You like the dress, no, you like the food, no, why? Its bland. And so on. Then one day, my elders taught me how to talk - it is impolite to talk like that. You should also add a drawl to your talk - you talk too fast. People shouldnt feel hesitant to ask you again or as if it is something wrong with their ears. I did protest - but they told me it is manners to start saying - I like something, or I agree with something and then go on to differ ever so slightly. I dont remember for which crime I was subjected to that lecture, but I gave them a patient hearing - and that is a lot of patience from a 7 year old keen to go out and play with her friends. To avoid such sermons of the four wise men, I started increasing the length of my responses. So if it was my neighbor, she would hear - how delicious her cooking was, even if it tasted terrible. Back in school (I was a boarder), I took a lot of scale beating on my knuckles for one line answers. It was only after getting that sadistic pleasure did my English teacher patiently explain why I shouldnt be a recluse and why I must "talk, think, and write" in English. I was convinced. Anybody who knows what beating on knuckles feels like would be. So I was transformed into a chatter box. Developed a habit of nervous talking rather than anything else. :( I am still here, nervous as hell - dont know why I talk/write. I see people get away with one liners, and honestly I envy them. :) I think a lot, and with all that nervous talk, I am still not able to express myself as concisely as I could when I was just 7 years old. :( When I see my one liner friends, I find everything they wanted to say in their one line! They dont hurt anybody - that makes them polite doesnt it? Makes me want to scream.
. You like the dress, no, you like the food, no, why? Its bland. And so on. Then one day, my elders taught me how to talk - it is impolite to talk like that. You should also add a drawl to your talk - you talk too fast. People shouldnt feel hesitant to ask you again or as if it is something wrong with their ears. I did protest - but they told me it is manners to start saying - I like something, or I agree with something and then go on to differ ever so slightly. I dont remember for which crime I was subjected to that lecture, but I gave them a patient hearing - and that is a lot of patience from a 7 year old keen to go out and play with her friends. To avoid such sermons of the four wise men, I started increasing the length of my responses. So if it was my neighbor, she would hear - how delicious her cooking was, even if it tasted terrible. Back in school (I was a boarder), I took a lot of scale beating on my knuckles for one line answers. It was only after getting that sadistic pleasure did my English teacher patiently explain why I shouldnt be a recluse and why I must "talk, think, and write" in English. I was convinced. Anybody who knows what beating on knuckles feels like would be. So I was transformed into a chatter box. Developed a habit of nervous talking rather than anything else. :( I am still here, nervous as hell - dont know why I talk/write. I see people get away with one liners, and honestly I envy them. :) I think a lot, and with all that nervous talk, I am still not able to express myself as concisely as I could when I was just 7 years old. :( When I see my one liner friends, I find everything they wanted to say in their one line! They dont hurt anybody - that makes them polite doesnt it? Makes me want to scream.5 people like this
16 responses
@krupesh (2608)
• India
23 Mar 10
Hello Vandana!
Its all easy for a chatterbox like you to always express your views for paragraphs together
....I make it a point to make it short & simple.See here also your discussions should have been a one liner but you have made it a big paragraph.
..hahaha.Now please dont scream at me...
....I make it a point to make it short & simple.See here also your discussions should have been a one liner but you have made it a big paragraph...hahaha.Now please dont scream at me...1 person likes this
You better start screaming, sweetie. Because now i am the oneliner. 
What did you do with Vandana? 
@ElicBxn (63517)
• United States
23 Mar 10
I can be concise, if that's what's needed. I can't BS with the best of them at any time. I can be polite when I'm feeling good and I can be nasty when I'm not.
But the reason I talk more than I used to is because the speech therapist said I needed to....
@ElicBxn (63517)
• United States
25 Mar 10
Oh, I'm long past that problem... Small trouble with "th" sound and a stutter, but I hardly ever stutter now, unless I'm nervous...
I think most have been taught to be polite, but some people either didn't "learn" it or they chose to be rude.
I can be rude when it seems the person asking the question is just being stupid.
I find some people here will start discussions that they could've just as easily looked up, choosing to start a discussion rather than actually look it up themselves. If its blatantly OBVIOUS I might give a short answer and if they think I'm rude - well, tough.
I think most have been taught to be polite, but some people either didn't "learn" it or they chose to be rude.
I can be rude when it seems the person asking the question is just being stupid.
I find some people here will start discussions that they could've just as easily looked up, choosing to start a discussion rather than actually look it up themselves. If its blatantly OBVIOUS I might give a short answer and if they think I'm rude - well, tough.@vandana7 (100053)
• India
25 Mar 10
Hi ElicBxn, I am very sorry to learn about that problem with your speech. Hope you are doing good.
I noticed one thing about you all in general - nastiness is very limited - and hardly any sentence comes out as rude! Unlike you all, when we try to convey something in single lines, it seems rather careless, and disrespectful. :( I did write a one liner in Dawn's discussion the other day. Initially I didnt think about it. Then when I read it again I found it sounded more like making fun of her discussion topic. I promptly explained that is not what I meant it to be. So to that extent - being concise is an art. Once you know how to be concise, you also know how to be nasty, though the skill doesnt work the other way round.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85147)
• Shingle Springs, California
23 Mar 10
Gosh I can't think of anybody here who gets away with one liners. Two liners, perhaps... 
@dawnald (85147)
• Shingle Springs, California
23 Mar 10
Heck, they even banned me from MoraChat for that. What a distinction!!!
@msfrancisco9369 (10002)
• Boston, Massachusetts
23 Mar 10
Hi Vandana,
Your parents and elders did a good job. see, it shows in your discussions. no one-liners, no single comment--but a lengthy and quality discussion, comments and responses. it's a good way to express your thoughts and feelings and ventilate negative ones. great friend. i am happy for you. it's really being POLITE! the transformation is excellent!
@msfrancisco9369 (10002)
• Boston, Massachusetts
25 Mar 10
you are right. we just have to conscious with our responses and lines. one or multiple what matters is ouor intention to make the received or the reader enjoy it and learn from it than making fun of someone or insulting other people. both can work to lift up or spirits!
@vandana7 (100053)
• India
23 Mar 10
Hi msfrancisco, it is not always true that people with one liners are impolite. While it is true that some one liners can hurt, many can be funny, and equally large number can convey the same meaning as perfectly as these multi-liners do. And it is also possible to be rude with multi-liner replies you know! So I think may be we do need to shed that bad image that one liners have acquired.
1 person likes this
@udayrao2 (781)
• India
23 Mar 10
Not changing for others- but after a certain time one gets used to that way - whatever it may be; and I did not change for others; as I was in a marketing job( later my own business) it helped to talk otherwise they thought I was a snob!!!
No one likes to change - least of all for others' sake, but then such is life!!
@beaniefanatic13 (5076)
• Grand Junction, Colorado
30 Apr 10
I think I remember hearing someone say "the story is in the details." While a point may be able to be conveyed with a one liner sentence, I don't think that a person's statements are remembered with out the little details. Just think how boring it would be if life weren't filled with “chatterboxes”, the “chatterboxes” are filled with so much detail and tell such amazing stories. No I don't think that I envy them in the slightest, I would miss all the little details. As always just my 2 cents worth! Happy Mylotting! 
@vandana7 (100053)
• India
13 May 10
Hi beaniefanatic, I am ok with somebody asking me for "the story" in detail, if they need an explanation. My problem is I am not perfect in any language. My English teacher observed that I tended to be lazy or preoccupied so I answered rather nonchalantly, which didnt go down too well with my friends, and I did lose a few more friends than the rest even though I was not a nasty soul then! So to make my life better (I love my English teachers - the trick helped), they suggested that I should never answer anything in single liners, and if I did, others could report on me. That forced me to give an explanation for everything I said. Thereafter my friends became more permanent. Subsequently of course, my relatives labeled me as chatterbox. But then, they are nasty folks, and I learnt how to be nasty as well. The trick is in using the lines judiciously I guess. :) But out here and even as I grew up, I've seen many people use single liners that are so perfect that there is no scope for any misunderstanding. It is those friends that I envy. :)
@Buchi_bulla (8298)
• India
6 Jun 10
One line answers look like a sort of blunt natured. People very easily misunderstand us to be proud in nature. So it is better to answer in at least two sentences. If we anwer in successive sentences, then we end up being titled as chatter box. The in between average will be ideal is it not?
@vandana7 (100053)
• India
10 Jun 10
Hi Buchi - yes indeed they look blunt - but not always. I have been going to some of these discussions of people from SA, and the US. There are many people who use single liners, and they are able to do it without being rude! So where we go wrong possibly is learning the art. I am now enjoying participating in them as well. :) I am sure my English teacher would turn in her grave. :)
@rajaiv0810 (1012)
• Philippines
24 Mar 10
Ooh it seems like a painful way for you to transform into a chatter box huh! With all the knuckles hahaha. I can only imagine. I was on the opposite side though. But at least I didn't get the knuckles because I was speaking too much.
Honestly, I hate the one liner person. I'm just so tempted to shout "Can you please talk to me????" But i know that he would just look at me for 3 seconds and get back to what he's doing...grrrr.
Honestly, I hate the one liner person. I'm just so tempted to shout "Can you please talk to me????" But i know that he would just look at me for 3 seconds and get back to what he's doing...grrrr.
@frontvisions101 (16043)
• Philippines
23 Mar 10
There are times when i blabber to eternity too. i m shooting blind and at times never hitting the point. but there are times when i say exactly what my point is but i don t consider myself a one liner. take for instance if it s a yes or no question, i ll say yes or no then i ll state my reason why. sometimes i state other choices. for example: hey man! dyou like my new car? no. it looks stupid. burn it immediately before i burn it myself. lol.
@vandana7 (100053)
• India
23 Mar 10
Your first line describes me. :) As to the stupid new car, I cant bring myself to tell that on the face of the person. :( I'd use a lot of words to appreciate other cars completely avoiding discussing this one. But my mind would be screaming - tell him "your money has gone in the drain". :( See what that training has done to me?
@allknowing (134096)
• India
23 Mar 10
I like the one liner approach vandana but here I get tempted to write more as the more you write the more one earns is what I understand. But that has not deterred me from my sticking to one liners as far as possible. What one should give importance is to the flow of thought and not the quantity.
@Aaleexix (2290)
• India
23 Mar 10
Describing anything briefly is the toughest thing in literature. Very few people has that capacity. But in expressing anything briefly, we should remind that it would not turn into a question like asked in quiz competition. The features we used in mylot is termed as discussion. And the direct meaning of discussion tend to expression and elaboration. Through our discussion we want to place here what we think on a matter. Now if we have the capacity to express eloquently even in a single word then I welcome such excellent discussion.
@vandana7 (100053)
• India
23 Mar 10
Hi Aeleexix, yes you got it! And imagine I would have been that kind of genius! I bet my English teacher felt the heat. Kidding. She really wanted to improve my language. She only wanted the best for me. Her knuckle beatings were also welcome because she cared for me. :) Somehow, I am impressed at the way some people are able to express out here. For example - Dawnald - one box above. And Saphrina. Lamb, Diana. All of them write very briefly, but the content is perfectly stated. While I might not have been as good as them, I would certainly not be filling up half or more of the boxes, forcing others to read lengthy responses. I often wonder if they find it boring.
I bet my English teacher felt the heat. Kidding. She really wanted to improve my language. She only wanted the best for me. Her knuckle beatings were also welcome because she cared for me. :) Somehow, I am impressed at the way some people are able to express out here. For example - Dawnald - one box above. And Saphrina. Lamb, Diana. All of them write very briefly, but the content is perfectly stated. While I might not have been as good as them, I would certainly not be filling up half or more of the boxes, forcing others to read lengthy responses. I often wonder if they find it boring.
@phoenix8606 (4942)
•
23 Mar 10
hell0! well, I am not a one-liner and have never been, because i really like to express myself the way I feel it, and it takes me really more than a line :)
well, as some o the people say in chatbox we all are one-liners, maybe because we are accustomed to it, but I think it is better to be a more-liner :) in order to express yourself and your thoughts right!
@Professor2010 (20162)
• India
23 Mar 10
Hello Vandana, i really don't like one liners whether it is a discussion or a response, nor the very lenghty ones, i prefer the middle path rather, neither too long, nor too short
Happy posting, cheers
Bhuwan
@anurag3786 (6267)
• India
23 Mar 10
I think one liner discussions should now allow in mylot.. because i have respond to some one liner discussions but i had received notice from mylot that my answers were deleted because of questions deleted.. and i also never ask one liner discussions.. i asked it in detail though any person can't face any problem to understanding thos questions.. have a nice day and keep mylotting always..
Start campaigning. You'd get at least my vote. @cowboyofhell (3063)
• Philippines
23 Mar 10
Wow the progress of women astounds me. It only proves that elders were right for teaching their children on how to have proper manners. My only regret is that women have the resources to change themselves while us men have scarce resource that help us to become more intellectual. For instance, women do not have to work dirty jobs like garbage collection and automobile repair so they have time to be mature while us men were busy gathering grease and sweat so we dont have the opportunity and time to become more intellectual. Because of this when a girl tell me as dumb I say, "Of course, I was not privileged to become intelligent."
If you are able to complain even about our kindness, then you are certainly not dumb. 