Fnord wrote:
I expect people to back up their opinions with valid and verifiable facts; and, if they do not (or can not), I openly dismiss their opinions as invalid.
I also avoid using contractions when speaking or writing. This seems to upset some people.
There seems to be more and more people today who refuse to back up their opinions that they state as facts with anything to justify those opinions.
For example, I have been getting in strange discussions with people who know absolutely nothing about network security who think that it is perfectly rational to expect Maricopa County to give out the passwords for their network equipment to people who have no legitimate need to have those passwords. They also seem to think that routers are some magical items that keep copies of all data that pass over them! Their reaction to being asked to justify their claims is to generally just call people names.
As for contractions, I often remove contractions out of habit when writing but rarely in speech. One major exception is that I am usually on the watch for double and triple contractions that I can use. I rarely find a time when I can use a double contraction and have yet to have occasion to use a triple contraction.
I usually think a little more highly of those who speak without contractions, though.