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Comment by Ensorceled | Hacker News Reader

I've been a fan of Scalzi's twitter and blog for a while and this is one of my personal favourites.

It's kind of the general case of Poe's Law.

I now ask myself (usually) "Does correctly interpreting my comment/joke require the reader/listener to know that I am clever, droll, sarcastic and definitely not-a-nazi?"

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> "Does correctly interpreting my comment/joke require the reader/listener to know that I am clever, droll, sarcastic and definitely not-a-nazi?"

This gets even more fun cross culturally. I used to practice emoting in the mirror when first moving to America because people couldn’t read me and would often joke/complain that I come off like a robot.

Even now it still takes some conscious effort to over-do my emotions. Especially around surprises and such.

Back home they now say I “grin like an american”.

Are you Russian?

Slovenian. But yes it’s a common slavic trait

Same, my humor is very dry. Everyone seems to laugh, but given it’s very deadpan I’ve made the mistake of being “humorous” around new people who don’t know me. Shockingly I later find their first impression was that I’m a complete ass. C’est la vie.

In university I was introduced to a group of people by a common friend. After ward she told me they all argued about me; half the group thought I was the funniest guy and the other half a complete ass.

Those aren't always mutually exclusive

"To Avoid Criticism, Say Nothing, Do Nothing, Be Nothing"... https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/01/09/say-nothing/

Nah, I just try to avoid being TOO clever until people get to know me. Then they know to look for the joke.

If the failure mode of clever is "you're definitely-a-Nazi.", that's on them.

Hmm interesting. Personally I'm willing to constructively critique the flaws of my communication style if other people are giving me feedback that I come across as an asshole or Nazi.

Even if that is so, I suspect it is more likely to be a problem for you rather than them.

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