Originally posted by Parallax Prefacing a post with "I don't mean to offend" is a clear indication that a person knows the post is going to be offensive to someone but is going to post anyway.
"I don't mean to offend" = "I don't care if I offend you"
(no offense intended)
No offense intended, but some times you say it because you know that
anything will be taken as an offense by whom it's addressed to and the "disclaimer" is for the rest of the spectators
In any case, I have to go with Thor in this one. It's easy to ignore the positive (or, you know, dismiss cheerful optimism and interest as "neutral"), but for example:
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https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/16-pentax-news-rumors/408441-pentax-dfa7...nt-public.html. In the first 4 pages there is
one negative comment (and that's if you stretch a "please not focus by wire" as a negative).
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https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/16-pentax-news-rumors/408001-dfa-85mm-f-...s-website.html : In the first 4 pages there are... 5 or 6 negative comments plus the customary rebuttals. Everything else is the fabled "neutral" or outright drooling about the lens (or tangential discussions as is typical
).
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https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/16-pentax-news-rumors/408251-dfa-85mm-f-...order-b-h.html : In the entire 5 pages of discussion (let's say three before it all went into exchange rates, shipping costs and sales tax) there were two negative posts... and about a dozen replies in varied tones, including a couple of pretty snarky ones.
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https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/16-pentax-news-rumors/395136-now-availab...hoe-cover.html : First two pages (I got lazy, sorry
) there are about 10 variations around "not paying 50 bucks for a hotshoe that I'm gonna lose anyway".
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https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/16-pentax-news-rumors/401866-ten-more-lenses-pipeline.html : In the first six pages, the only thing I'd call "negative" is a word of caution saying that Asahiman
isn't infallible and we shouldn't get too excited.
I'm tired and don't want to keep digging, but I think I've made my point; there is no endless sea of negativity unless people
insist on looking exclusively at the odd negative post. It's true that deeper* in the threads there can be more heated up arguments, but before it reaches those points the vast majority of posts (and by extension, the posters) are supportive, typically excited about new gear (what is speculation if not excitement about the possibilities) and showing interest in Pentax products.
It isn't all doom and gloom, not by a long shot. And that's the "News and Rumors" section, which is by far,
by orders of magnitude even, the worst. The forum at large is a cheerful place.
*this typically happens a bunch of pages after the original point has been lost forever because there's nothing else of substance to be said.