Massimo Pigliucci's favorite phrase. Used to drive me insane listening to Rationally Speaking
“It turns out” (2010)
91–99 of 99 posts
Re: “It turns out” (2010)
#92Haven't seen anyone else mention the following - but it more or less fulfills the same connotative role as the passive voice, no? Takes focus off the agency of -- well, the speaker, but actually anyone?
Passive voice refers to a particular grammatical construct that is unrelated to this.
Re: “It turns out” (2010)
#93I think Steve Jobs also used this phrase or something very similar often.
Re: “It turns out” (2010)
#94This 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…
Language is filled with those types of phrases, the one which bugs me once it was pointed out (even though I use it myself) is "to be honest...", which could carry the implication anything said without that qualifier may be dishonest. What including those phrases seem to come down to is an informal style, a bit more acceptable in a spoken conversation but for written it probably depends on the audience. Something I'd…
> the one which bugs me once it was pointed out (even though I use it myself) is "to be honest...", which could carry the implication anything said without that qualifier may be dishonest.
If you change it to "To Be Perfectly Honest...", then it doesn't imply that everything else was dishonest, merely elided.
Re: “It turns out” (2010)
#95( 2010 ) Original submission: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1162965 And with a response from pg.
Thanks! Macroexpanded: “It Turns Out” (2010) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25556578 - Dec 2020 (29 comments) Paul Graham and "It turns out" - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1633802 - Aug 2010 (15 comments) “It turns out” - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1162965 - March 2010 (63 comments, with pg's response here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1163194 )
It is mildly interesting that the top comment on all entries is the same callback to Douglas Adams, but in a natural way, and seems to be some kind of collective trigger.
Re: “It turns out” (2010)
#96Argument:
> It turns out it's X!
Counterargument:
> Ah, but here's the thing! Actually, it turns out it isn't X!
Everything is well with the world again.
Better yet. Make a cartoon / infographic / meme of someone 'superior' explaining to someone 'inferior' that X is true. Extra points if the 'inferior' person does something unrelatedly obnoxious or stupid in the panel. Seems to me this is the strongest form of argument used for anything these days.
The only way to counter that form of argument is to make your own cartoon / infographic / meme. Nothing else even gets close (it turns out).
Re: “It turns out” (2010)
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks! Macroexpanded: “It Turns Out” (2010) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25556578 - Dec 2020 (29 comments) Paul Graham and "It turns out" - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1633802 - Aug 2010 (15 comments) “It turns out” - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1162965 - March 2010 (63 comments, with pg's response here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1163194 )
It is mildly interesting that the top comment on all entries is the same callback to Douglas Adams, but in a natural way, and seems to be some kind of collective trigger.
It turns out that the most memorable usage of "it turns out" was by Douglas Adams.
Re: “It turns out” (2010)
#98[dead]
Re: “It turns out” (2010)
#99Haven't seen anyone else mention the following - but it more or less fulfills the same connotative role as the passive voice, no? Takes focus off the agency of -- well, the speaker, but actually anyone?
Passive voice refers to a particular grammatical construct that is unrelated to this.
Wrong. Stop nerding so hard. It's related in terms of how it functions as human beings use it.