• Mossy Feathers (They/Them)
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    174 days ago

    I think a lot of millennials are “button-pushers” (aka enjoy pushing people’s buttons) and love that kinda stuff; and if Gen Z wants to continue to get along with us, they’re gonna have to learn how to not get mad when we intentionally press their buttons. Like, the 90s and 2000s were the best time to be a button-pusher because trolling at that time was an art form and form of internet comedy. Sure, trolls could be infuriating, but you knew they were fucking with you.

    Nowadays, the term has been appropriated and redefined to refer to someone who spreads propaganda. Pushing someone else’s buttons is now frowned on, not just irl but online as well. Sure, there are shitposts, but there’s sort of an expectation that you’re meant to ensure everyone is on the same page and not leaving people clueless. It’s not like trolling where you’re intentionally trying to mislead someone to fuck with them.

      • @accideath@lemmy.world
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        43 days ago

        No, “an” is correct, since the next word begins with a vocal sound.

        Although it would be funny if that’s just a troll.

        • @dmention7@lemm.ee
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          3 days ago

          “Trolling is a art” is an ancient meme. Kind of the internet equivalent of a Dad joke, which makes the downvotes pretty funny, given the comment I was replying to!

            • ASeriesOfPoorChoices
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              03 days ago

              what I love about it is that it isn’t exactly “when the following word starts with a vowel”, but rather when it sounds like it starts with a vowel, regardless if it does or not.

              my favourite example is “herbs”. In some versions of English, you say her-buh, so it would be “a herb”. Some parts of the world, the ‘h’ is silent, so it’s pronounced “erb”, and would “an herb”.

              that concludes today’s language lesson!