I agree, the topic has come up before.

The consensus then, after some discussion, volunteering, and even support for a few individuals...

was that Lexical Elitists does not NEED a moderator.

Of course, if there is a new quorum and established that a moderator must be elected...

if it does come to a vote, I would be happy to support Heather.

Heather, I am sorry if I offended you with my critique of Sarah Palin’s phrase “progress this nation” and her pronunciation of “nuclear.” (At least, I assume that this post disturbed you, since I am the member who quoted a politician most recently.) My criticism of Palin’s language was not a denigration of an individual. There were no political or personal issues raised, just the stated grammatical and phonological ones. I didn’t do a good job of hiding my feelings about her usage, because I didn’t think I was supposed to hide them. Similar posts have been made in the past by other avid participants of this tribe, and those tribers also named the sources of the offending speech. I don’t think this is a new phenomenon here, and I don’t think those posts were denigrating either. While it can be illuminating to name the language source, especially if it is a person of influence, it is true that in formal academic works, sources remain anonymous and are identified only by linguistic community and other sociological factors. If the tribe would prefer to apply these constraints, I would happily comply. Meanwhile, I will treat this as the casual forum that it is.

This brings up a broader issue. The stated purpose of this tribe is to “bring forth musty, dusty, antiquated or just plain obscure word or turns of phrase.” If we are trying to comply with the stated purpose of this tribe, then just about every post made on this tribe is in violation! The majority of posts pertain to errors, peeves, gaffes, spelling and misspelling, punctuation, usage and misuse, etymology, neologisms...anything OTHER than obscure or antiquated words. Since our spirited debate about Shakespearean English last winter, only two people have posted anything about archaic or obscure words or definitions (“sanguine,” by Fun Sway, and "pullulate," by Stephanie).

That said, I’m very happy with this tribe in its current form. Almost all the topics and posts are relevant and interesting. We have a diverse bunch of members, and everyone seems to be behaving themselves. I do think that the collective will of the members is more important than a tribe description written by a moderator long-gone, or than the values of a single person. If we choose a moderator, it should be someone who can, simply put, keep the tribe satisfied. So...what does the tribe want? Adherence to the existing description of the tribe? A revised description that encompasses the current real-life scope as defined by posts of recent months? A third option defined by the tribe? A new moderator, but otherwise for everything just to be left alone?

There are numerous people in this tribe who are eager and well-spoken and are excellent candidates for moderator: mindy ukelela, Stephanie, Josh, Heather (though I’m afraid you might censor people too much), a few more (and I’m also willing). I think we’ve done well without a moderator, but my vote is for mindy ukelela since she cared enough to bring it up.

Like I said, I think we've been doing fine without a moderator all this time. In all the time I've been participating with this group, I've never seen anything that I would have voted to take down. We all share a love of words and disdain for those who abuse them. Isn't that why we're all here?

Turly, I did not mean to rail against the Palin post. I will admit that it irks me just a little to see any particular name in a subject line, but it is absolutely not a big deal. I did not take the original post as anything so sinister and did not intend to villify by my own mention of it. I was thinking more of where it could go from there. Yes, folks, the old "slippery slope" idea jumped into my mind.

tribe facts for you:


www.alexa.com/data/detail...ls/tribe.net

status.tribe.net/


Well, if y'all insist.. I'll be a mod for the time being if the majority says so.. but I would consider it a flux position, where someone else could take over at any time..
Just like the security guard at the gates..keeping the baddies out.., but with no real authority to interfere with the party going on inside ;-)


Well, maybe by Sunday we could count the votes and send a request to Tribe. (It may well take a good while before we have a mod instated, for said staff shortages, anyhow).

Yes, I did find "chosing" a little bit ironic!