Barry Breadline, over at Four-Day Party, has posted greetings for the festive season as follows:
A merry Christmas and very happy New Year to all my loyal readers. I hope you have a good one!On the face of it, this is regulation stuff for the time of the year, but there’s an element of it which I find faintly troubling. I don’t mean to be unfair to Barry, but had he been a little more sensitive to the various verbal mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, he might have done better to omit the word ‘loyal’. Like other blogs, Four-Day Party surely has a mixture of different kinds of reader. Not all of them will be, or feel, especially loyal. Some may visit only very occasionally; others may not like Barry’s repeated arguments in favour of the more humane treatment of farm animals. Does Barry really mean to leave such people out of his good wishes? Posted by John Z.
Comments: 1. Couldn’t agree more, John. In fact, I’d go further than you have. BB is also excluding all those who aren’t readers of his blog, whether loyal or disloyal ones. Why? Does he assume they’re all worthless? Steve Garibaldi. 2. Typical BB – farm animals he can care about, but people who happen not to visit, or like, his bdog, they’re just rubbish as far as he’s concerned. Maureen. 3. Sorry, I meant blog not bdog. I wonder if BB has a bdog. Tee hee, feeling a little silly. Too much to drink. Maureen. 4. He’s a complete tosser. I’ve read better Christmas greetings from non-Christians. Barry bleedin’ Breadline should go and stick his head down a hole somewhere and not come out till the end of March. Jug the Invader. 5. I have to warn people posting comments here that I reserve the right to take down anything offensive. Jug, I think that is OTT, quite frankly. I raised a question about modes of verbal exclusion – which are not always conscious or intentional after all. John Z. 6. Yes, John, I think people are being a bit unfair to BB. For example, if I meet a friend in the street and wish her (or him!) a good Christmas, this doesn’t necessarily mean I wish all others ill. Does it? What worries me more about BB’s post is the transition it makes from ‘merry’ and then ‘happy’ to merely ‘good’. I feel that, coming where it does, ‘good’ is a tailing off. It suggests that BB may not have been all that enthusiastic in his greetings. As one of his loyal readers, I did feel slightly miffed. Jane Smith. 7. He’s a bumhole. I’ve always said so. I’m not bothering with him. But Jug the Invader is also out of line. What’s he implying? That non-Christians shouldn’t be expected to rise to the level of a decent greeting? Crass stupidity. Noske. 8. Total piss and crap, Noske, Jug didn’t say any such thing. Angelina. 9. Noske and Angelina: this is my last warning; I don’t tolerate abusive comments on my bdog. John Z. 10. I know for an asboltue fact that BB hasn’t got a dog. Not only that; he’s never had one. He affects this concern about farm animals, but he can’t even bring himself to care for a dog. As the owner of three dogs, I can proudly say they’ve never given me a day of unhappiness. I love them, my dear dogs. Once when I was taking Spot-the-Blot for a walk, he did something so cute. I’ve never forgotten it to this day. Maurice Beltstrap. 11. What was it that Spot-the-Blot did, Maurice? Trish. 12. Who gives a xxxx? Why does BB say ‘a good one’ at the end of his greeting? What does ‘one’ mean in this context? It could be anything. How are we supposed to know that he’s not wishing us – or his oh-so-‘loyal readers’ – a good calamity? DontheCon. 13. Stop it. Mary M. 14. Mary, if you can’t stand the blood, stay out of the slaughterhouse. Never heard of free speech. Sheesh. Nazi! Max Shapiro. 15. Give her a break, Max. I, too, have begun to feel that things might be getting a bit out of hand on this thread. Not very out of hand. Just a bit out of hand. Lord Scrum. 16. Get lost, Scrum. Scum. Ha ha ha ha. DerekD. 17. Stop it. Please. Mary M. 18. I’ve often wondered whether people shouldn’t also bestow their festive greetings upon dogs. What has BB got against dogs? Jeremy Jeremy. 18. It was bdog, meaning blog, not dog – you cretins. Attila. 19. Attila! Stop it. John Z. 20. John, it was me that – no, it was I who – said ‘Stop it’. Please don’t steal my stuff. Mary M………. 347. Shouldn’t Christmas greetings be extended beyond the narrow circle of humans, dogs and farm animals, to blogs? I don’t mean to bloggers, since they are, after all, human, most of them. I mean to the blogs themselves. Colin. 348. There’s an interesting connection between blogs, dogs and country music, which BB and all the rest of you have missed. TracyBelle Trenton……….