Live data from Hacker News

“It turns out” (2010)

jsomers.net

71–80 of 99 posts

Re: “It turns out” (2010)

#72
One of my favorite additions to this phrase is Merlin Mann's use of "double turns out". This is useful for stuff like

"X is bad for you."

"Turns out X is actually great for you and it was Big Y spreading misinformation."

"Actually, turns out X is only terrible for dogs but nobody remembers that part of the story."

Re: “It turns out” (2010)

#73

There is however another very powerful aspect of the phrase: it suggests that something is not obvious. This makes it very powerful when correcting someone without making them feel like they said something stupid. "The sun is yellow" "You'd think that. But it turns out that without the atmosphere the sun is actually a blueish white, and high on the sky it's a neutral white"

There's a collection of Ben Goldacre's articles compiled in a book called "I Think You'll Find It's A Bit More Complicated Than That", which is a phrase I want to put on a T-shirt, or possibly my Teams background at work.

Re: “It turns out” (2010)

#75
Semi-related, something that kind of irritates me is the usage of "as" in online newspapers headlines:

   "$Something-is-happening as $Something-else-is-happening"
It's usually written in a way that might be suggesting a direct link between the two things to a layman, but often there's none, other than the fact those two things are happening around the same time.

This can be disorienting when the reader is not familiar with the subject discussed, and lead them to wrong conclusions.

Re: “It turns out” (2010)

#76
post #6

This was pointed out humorously by Douglas Adams: > "..am I alone in finding the expression 'it turns out' to be incredibly useful? It allows you to make swift, succinct, and authoritative connections between otherwise randomly unconnected statements without the trouble of explaining what your source or authority actually is. It's great. It's hugely better than its predecessors 'I read somewhere that...' or the crave…

It kinda reminds me of replying to a statement with "So...it's come to this..."

My friends and I use to do this all the time for no particular reason except to turn an otherwise ordinary conversation into challenge that can only be resolved by mortal combat.

Of course, we did it jokingly with each other. But when someone we didn't know heard us do this they were genuinely confused with what we were so offended by, which was half the fun.

Re: “It turns out” (2010)

#77

There is however another very powerful aspect of the phrase: it suggests that something is not obvious. This makes it very powerful when correcting someone without making them feel like they said something stupid. "The sun is yellow" "You'd think that. But it turns out that without the atmosphere the sun is actually a blueish white, and high on the sky it's a neutral white"

Right, to tease apart some other subtext it might be used with:

1. This stuff is is tricky, it's normal to guess wrong and need to revise our understanding.

2. We are both on the same side, facing the challenge.

3. The potential for surprise makes this stuff interesting.

Re: “It turns out” (2010)

#78

This is a nitpick, but since this essay is over 15 years old now I don't think the author will mind. This phrase always rankles me: > Let me explain what I mean. It turns out that if you're writing an essay or a youtube script you don't have to tell me that you're going to explain something to me before you explain it to me. I guess it acts as a "hack" to try to impart some gravity to what follows without actually ha…

I think it's more like a sign post in the text. At the start of any paragraph (or sentence, really) the text may go literally anywhere--could be a new thought, a continuation of an implicit list, an explanation of what came previous, or anything else. If you say something weird or apparently unsupported, the savvy reader at that very moment is going to be thinking so. So it's helpful to orient them like: > Here's a w…

It turns out that both phrases are used like this, similarly to how they teach in logic classes that "but" is just "and" in fancy clothing, but actual usage is quite different. Actually, a lot of language is just signpost phrasing that "helps the medicine go down" by giving hints at how the following idea will connect to this one.

---

Both phrases are used like this— let me explain:

Logic classes teach that "but" is just "and" in fancy clothing, and actual usage is quite different. A lot of language is signpost phrasing that "helps the medicine go down" by giving hints at how the following idea will connect to this one.

Re: “It turns out” (2010)

#79

Here are a few more scrutiny-deflecting phrases * just: "Just rewrite it in Rust" * simply: "To win at Jenga, simply remove one block from the bottom and put it on top." * should: "We shouldn't have to wait" I hate "should" the most because it can mean obligation, expectation, recommendation, or ideal. Any time you find yourself using "should", you should(I recommend) substitute something more specific

This mirrors my personal list very closely. I don't mind "it turns out" or "to be honest", but "just" and "should" I feel are often used to manipulate someone into agreeing.

Re: “It turns out” (2010)

#80

There is however another very powerful aspect of the phrase: it suggests that something is not obvious. This makes it very powerful when correcting someone without making them feel like they said something stupid. "The sun is yellow" "You'd think that. But it turns out that without the atmosphere the sun is actually a blueish white, and high on the sky it's a neutral white"

There's a collection of Ben Goldacre's articles compiled in a book called "I Think You'll Find It's A Bit More Complicated Than That", which is a phrase I want to put on a T-shirt, or possibly my Teams background at work.

This should be called “The Engineer’s Credo”
Post reply on HN