You ruined it with /s

Actually he saved it.

I don't know, it's my opinion, but I feel like the /s trend/adaptation has ruined a lot of the jokes for me by being overly explicit and not leaving any ambiguity...where is the fun in that :P

I think on HN the need for clarity is seen as more important than having fun, because misunderstandings can do more damage than fun can create pleasure. This unfortunately limits the number of meta-levels (or ambiguity) you can use in jokes or sarcasm. But I guess it's worth the tradeoff. And actually with a bit of effort you can often have both.

HN quote of the year IMHO: "I think on HN the need for clarity is seen as more important than having fun..."

2018 is still only 1/4 through.

I also understood it as a joke before I reached the `/s`, but not everyone might’ve. Case in point, there’s another post on this thread[1] where another joke (as I see it) was made and the first reply is someone taking it seriously.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16708477

> to use a real manly brush to do a real manly job

What does manliness have to do with this?

Because men were stereotypically more likely to do risky physical stuff. Especially if it's stupidly funny. But of course, that's less so now in many cultures, as women grow up feeling more freedom to Darwin out.

> Unintentional injuries are the #3 leading cause of death among men, but it is #6 for women. This is probably due to the fact that men are much more prone to saying things like, "Hold my beer, and watch this." Also, men tend to work in more dangerous professions where being killed on the job is a possibility.

https://www.acsh.org/news/2017/04/20/top-10-causes-death-are...