Tiki Barber for President!

[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:

Hilariously, we have written over and over on your use of the word ‘opponent’, and now you come out and try to defend it? Can’t unring that bell, Professor. And given your desperation for victimhood, it makes perfect sense that you think everyone else is an ‘opponent’.[/quote]

I see you can’t take a challenge. I haven’t even been able to log on regularly for the past few days which is why I haven’t responded to every single post thrown up in this thread. You then take this as me running from dealing with your attempt to misquote me? I seem to be dealing well with it now…and you seem to still be running from that challenge. Again, post the specific quote and tell where I wrote anything like what you just said I did.

I’ll wait.

One more time, quit lying.

[quote]vroom wrote:
Once again it appears that a certain dynamic duo doesn’t have the ability to understand the concept of living a life with the breeze at your back instead of in your face.

I think the reason these two reject the concept is because they are unable to fathom the fact that for some people the situation is ever present, ever a consideration, while for others it simply does not exist.

Never having noticed it, it simply does not exist to them.

Agreeing that minorities have a different subjective experience every day, and while growing up, and then denying them the ability to determine whether or not phrases or compliments are the result of racial bias seems to be a contradiction itself.

Are these clowns suggesting that minorities are unable to or incompetent with respect to judging what they are living through?

Nope, no contradiction and no arrogance around here…

There are world views that are different than yours and simultaneously are also as correct as yours. I don’t know if that will fit in your tiny little craniums, but try to stuff it in there.[/quote]

Well said. I am blatantly being TOLD what I have experienced in life…while they also claim that racism exists…while also telling me that my experiences are not racism…while not even understanding the context…while also tell me that context matters.

Either they really are stupid, or this society has bred that much apathy to anyone else’s situation. Perhaps it is as easy as them possibly feeling some type of guilt if racism actually does exist…which obviously makes them want to force it out of everyone’s minds everytime it is mentioned by those who deal with it.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Either they really are stupid, or this society has bred that much apathy to anyone else’s situation. Perhaps it is as easy as them possibly feeling some type of guilt if racism actually does exist…which obviously makes them want to force it out of everyone’s minds everytime it is mentioned by those who deal with it.[/quote]

Possibly.

In any case, I’m curious about my brownie points score.

More seriously, I find this type of criticism, ridicule for trying to understand or explain a minority viewpoint, insidious.

If racism actually exists and is a bad thing, then how come criticism designed to draw battle lines between sides is being used?

Saying I’m trying to earn brownie points is vastly different than saying I’m a moron who talks a lot with nothing to say while missing the issues involved.

The character of such a criticism inherently establishes that there are “sides” and is clearly “designed” to push me away from the “wrong” side. Chastising me for being on the “wrong” side would itself seem to indicate a racial bias, would it not?

Oh, I’m sorry, did I notice another type of contradiction?

Anyway, I’m looking forward to the refutation. I’m curious to see how complex a knot these guys can tie.

[quote]vroom wrote:
Once again it appears that a certain dynamic duo doesn’t have the ability to understand the concept of living a life with the breeze at your back instead of in your face.[/quote]

This, despite the fact that the both of us has repeatedly said the opposite?

Why do you assume that I haven’t noticed it? What basis do you have? Could it be that I notice it but don’t think it is as large and automatic as you do based on other considerations?

Again, you resort to the “these individuals just don’t have the life experience” crap. I grew up in the American South - I had a front row view to the problems with race relations.

This is where you keep screwing up. Yes, minorities have different subjective experiences. So, when it comes time to make a claim that they presume racism - do I automatically defer to them? Or do I take the threshold higher and say you need more, that I am not automatically going to say “that must be a correct assessment based on your life” (as you do)?

There is no contradiction in that. When a minority says “I think that because I experienced that”, I don’t nod my head like a mindless lemming.

Read this carefully: just as in my example to Professor X, if a white person based his claim of being categorically prejudicial towards blacks on the basis that occasionally he had bad experiences with blacks, I wouldn’t just go “you must know what you are talking about…” - I would demand more of him before I would say he was ‘justified’ in thinking that way.

Same here. I won’t just do that as a matter of blind deference. You will, I won’t. There is your difference.

No, not minorities in general, but individuals, perhaps. See the above example with the white guy. See also Professor’s prolific slew of really dumb posts.

Hilarious, Vroom - thanks again on the useless hectoring that some people think and live ‘differently’ - very valuable, as me and Pookie both have no concept of other people or cultures.

What happens when I think one of the views different from mine…is…wait for it…wrong? Oh no! Brainlessly tolerant worldview collapsing!! Mush relativism disintegrating!! The death of political correctness, my holy writ!! Thinking a black person is wrong on an issue of race relations!!!

I give minorities their due level of deference in topics like this - but unlike you, I don’t mindlessly abdicate to it when I think I have a better idea. It’s very odd - despite your preaching to the contrary, you simply aren’t up to asking tough questions. You simply let other people make your mind up for you in this endless pursuit of tolerance.

Shame.

[quote]Professor X wrote:

I see you can’t take a challenge. I haven’t even been able to log on regularly for the past few days which is why I haven’t responded to every single post thrown up in this thread. You then take this as me running from dealing with your attempt to misquote me? I seem to be dealing well with it now…and you seem to still be running from that challenge. Again, post the specific quote and tell where I wrote anything like what you just said I did.

I’ll wait.

One more time, quit lying.[/quote]

Now, let’s do this one step at at time. I am perfectly willing to go hunt up the quote and discuss it. But you have to ask yourself one question - why would I bother when:

a) You won’t read what I write about it

b) You will make up your own version of what I think and then argue against that

Seems like a waste of time to me. And don’t say “I knew you weren’t up to the challenge” - I am fine to do it, but you have proven, not just in this thread, that you simply don’t read what I (or anyone) else writes and you fall into making a straw man [u]every time[/u].

You are exceptionally poor at it. It should be painfully obvious. I like a good debate and I am fine with people disagreeing with me, that is half the fun - but at a bare minimum, I expect people to at least read what I write and respond intelligently to it, rather than making the same error every single time and making for a lousy debate.

Hell, I may go get it anyway…since, Professor X, you are the low hanging fruit of the politics forum.

[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:

Now, let’s do this one step at at time. I am perfectly willing to go hunt up the quote and discuss it. But you have to ask yourself one question - why would I bother when:

a) You won’t read what I write about it

b) You will make up your own version of what I think and then argue against that
[/quote]

There is only so much bullshit one page can handle in this thread. I personally fear thread failure because you are filling it up fast. Who gives a shit what you write about it…if you have clearly shown your MISread and MISunderstood it to begin with? I wasn’t referring ANYWHERE IN THAT STATEMENT to some sweeping statement of race. Go play that game with someone much easier to pull a fast one on.

[quote]
Seems like a waste of time to me. And don’t say “I knew you weren’t up to the challenge” - I am fine to do it, but you have proven, not just in this thread, that you simply don’t read what I (or anyone) else writes and you fall into making a straw man [u]every time[/u]. [/quote]

Again, pure crap. Telling you to go and get the exact quote is now the definition of a “strawman”? You have used that word so much you have forgotten the meaning. Go find a dictionary and THEN come back and find that exact quote from me.

[quote]

Hell, I may go get it anyway…since, Professor X, you are the low hanging fruit of the politics forum.[/quote]

You wish this were actually the case. You and I both know otherwise.

[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:
What happens when I think one of the views different from mine…is…wait for it…wrong? Oh no! Brainlessly tolerant worldview collapsing!! Mush relativism disintegrating!! The death of political correctness, my holy writ!! Thinking a black person is wrong on an issue of race relations!!!

I give minorities their due level of deference in topics like this - but unlike you, I don’t mindlessly abdicate to it when I think I have a better idea. It’s very odd - despite your preaching to the contrary, you simply aren’t up to asking tough questions. You simply let other people make your mind up for you in this endless pursuit of tolerance.

Shame.[/quote]

Are you even falling for this? By this logic, you wouldn’t claim any statement was wrong…until you knew every ounce of factual evidence and then, according to what you wrote earlier, you would grant it validity due to the minorty’s “jaundiced” experience base.

Meanwhile, you have acted in the exact opposite manner in this thread. You have tried to tell me even how nice someone you never met was all so you could tell me how wrong I must be. Everyone else can see the contradiction in your own statements. I just pointed it out again. Let’s see how many times you keep this game up.

[quote]Professor X wrote:

There is only so much bullshit one page can handle in this thread. I personally fear thread failure because you are filling it up fast. Who gives a shit what you write about it…if you have clearly shown your MISread and MISunderstood it to begin with? I wasn’t referring ANYWHERE IN THAT STATEMENT to some sweeping statement of race. Go play that game with someone much easier to pull a fast one on. [/quote]

Then, tell us all what you meant, if it is that important to you. That shouldn’t be hard.

Er, no. It is a strawman when…

a) I go get the quote
b) I explain what I surmised from it - position A
c) You then invent what I surmised from it and it is completely different from what I posted - call it position B
d) Then you attack position B

Seriously, Professor X - you do it every time. Every time. Now, I don’t need a dictionary - but you do need to wise up really how awful you are at making that mistake.

No, actually, I really think it.

[quote]pookie wrote:
harris447 wrote:
Love how you, once again, pick and choose your points to respond to.

Let’s make it simple then. What point would you like me to address?[/quote]

Oh, it defintiely wouldn’t be your Zeb-esque use of the third definition of a word instead of the first two which disprove your argument.

Definitely not.

[quote]Professor X wrote:

Meanwhile, you have acted in the exact opposite manner in this thread. You have tried to tell me even how nice someone you never met was all so you could tell me how wrong I must be. Everyone else can see the contradiction in your own statements. I just pointed it out again. Let’s see how many times you keep this game up.[/quote]

See, you keep making an error. I wasn’t suggesting you were wrong because I think as a minority you didn’t have it right. I suggested you were wrong because you are a shallow, insecure blowhard with a persecution complex big enough to see some space and a maniacal desire for victimhood…who just happens to be a minority.

I never thought you were wrong because minorities can’t know what they are talking about. I thought you were wrong based on individual attitudes you have expressed here.

If you ever march into a thread and suggest someone acted in a racist way to you, it would be difficult to take seriously - not because you are a minority, but because of your desperate desire for attention. That transcends race - it has really nothing to do with race.

Get it now?

And, were it not you specifically, I would raise the same questions - are you sure the complimenter wasn’t being genuine? Are you sure he meant it in the way he did? Let’s think about it.
All because a common sense explanation might be the way to go to overcome this presumption of racism. Which I think is a good thing.

See, that is the difference between me and Vroom. If you say so, Vroom will believe you, no questions asked. I, on the other hand, would rather think about it and consider it, even if it turns out the minority was right. And I won’t always ask questions just because I think the minority is acting in bad faith - he could legitimately believe it, but maybe I can help him overcome the presumption of racism by explaining the context doesn’t warrant it.

After all, that would help us down the road in race relations, right? To begin to overcome those irrational presumptions, to begin to trust each other that we aren’t acting in bad faith to one another? I think questioning the presumption that Harris stated is actually good for race relations. To try and attack it, dismantle it would do us a world of good.

You, on the other hand, would rather nurse it, feed it, grow it. Sorry - I actually would try to get people past these irrational presumptions so we can move on to bigger race relations problems.

[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:

Then, tell us all what you meant, if it is that important to you. That shouldn’t be hard. [/quote]

Oh, it isn’t that hard at all. I meant…EXACTLY WHAT I WROTE. That is why I am STILL waiting for you to get the exact quote instead of twisting words or making them up completely.

[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:
Professor X wrote:

Meanwhile, you have acted in the exact opposite manner in this thread. You have tried to tell me even how nice someone you never met was all so you could tell me how wrong I must be. Everyone else can see the contradiction in your own statements. I just pointed it out again. Let’s see how many times you keep this game up.

See, you keep making an error. I wasn’t suggesting you were wrong because I think as a minority you didn’t have it right. I suggested you were wrong because you are a shallow, insecure blowhard with a persecution complex big enough to see some space and a maniacal desire for victimhood…who just happens to be a minority.

I never thought you were wrong because minorities can’t know what they are talking about. I thought you were wrong based on individual attitudes you have expressed here.

If you ever march into a thread and suggest someone acted in a racist way to you, it would be difficult to take seriously - not because you are a minority, but because of your desperate desire for attention. That transcends race - it has really nothing to do with race.

Get it now?[/quote]

You just made Al Durr’s case for him. If the person who makes the statement is the issue…then you haven’t had one valid argument in this thread other than the tantrum you are throwing because you seem to not like any attention I may or may not get on this forum in other sections. Shit like that matters to you. It truly doesn’t matter that much to me. Why would you care so much about it?

[quote]Professor X wrote:

You just made Al Durr’s case for him. If the person who makes the statement is the issue…then you haven’t had one valid argument in this thread other than the tantrum you are throwing because you seem to not like any attention I may or may not get on this forum in other sections. Shit like that matters to you. It truly doesn’t matter that much to me. Why would you care so much about it?[/quote]

I have no idea what Al Durr has said, but what I am saying now comports with what I have said all along. That was my argument from the get go - a blanket presumption, without some consideration of who said it and who heard it, all of which is covered as part of ‘context’, is no good, and blanket presumptions like the one Harris made is likely the result of something other than legitimate experiences.

So, you can’t just say “when a white man calls a black man ‘articulate’, it is condescending because of racist overtones” - more is required for that to be believable.

And, I couldn’t care less about how much attention you get or don’t get - it’s about how much attention you seek. When someone wants to be a victim, it is difficult to take them all that seriously when they complain about being victimized.

Oh, and are you saying that attention doesn’t matter to you? C’mon, Prof - you can barely type three sentences without trying to squeeze in some story of how someone was all panicky around you because they were soooo intimidated. No one is buying that one from you - least of all me.

[quote]vroom wrote:
Edders wrote:
Wahahaha OWNED!

Loser. When the grownups are talking they don’t need a cheering section. Thanks for playing.[/quote]

Hey Mr. 4000 posts, maybe you should consider getting a real life beyond the Internet.

Wahahahahahaha

Don’t like it when your buddy harris gets owned huh?

Write back soon tool.

[quote]Edders wrote:
vroom wrote:
Edders wrote:
Wahahaha OWNED!

Loser. When the grownups are talking they don’t need a cheering section. Thanks for playing.

Hey Mr. 4000 posts, maybe you should consider getting a real life beyond the Internet.

Wahahahahahaha

Don’t like it when your buddy harris gets owned huh?

Write back soon tool.

[/quote]

The lamest tool uses by many trolls on the internet is trying to point out how many posts someone has as if it is a bad thing…while they themselves post on a discussion forum making them hypocrites of the highest order. This is a discussion forum. I know I’ve been here for six years so how many posts should I have after over half a decade?

You know what’s truly worse than someone who has a lot of posts on a DISCUSSION FORUM? Some kid who has less…but not one of them worth reading.

[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:
Professor X wrote:

You just made Al Durr’s case for him. If the person who makes the statement is the issue…then you haven’t had one valid argument in this thread other than the tantrum you are throwing because you seem to not like any attention I may or may not get on this forum in other sections. Shit like that matters to you. It truly doesn’t matter that much to me. Why would you care so much about it?

I have no idea what Al Durr has said, but what I am saying now comports with what I have said all along. That was my argument from the get go - a blanket presumption, without some consideration of who said it and who heard it, all of which is covered as part of ‘context’, is no good, and blanket presumptions like the one Harris made is likely the result of something other than legitimate experiences.

So, you can’t just say “when a white man calls a black man ‘articulate’, it is condescending because of racist overtones” - more is required for that to be believable.

And, I couldn’t care less about how much attention you get or don’t get - it’s about how much attention you seek. When someone wants to be a victim, it is difficult to take them all that seriously when they complain about being victimized.

Oh, and are you saying that attention doesn’t matter to you? C’mon, Prof - you can barely type three sentences without trying to squeeze in some story of how someone was all panicky around you because they were soooo intimidated. No one is buying that one from you - least of all me.[/quote]

Dude, I won 200 bucks worth of free supplements explaining why I come to this board in that writing contest. Everything I wrote there is still true. No, my motivation is not “attention”. I am simply fairly good at getting people to listen to what I write even if that isn’t always the goal. Oddly enough, it isn’t much different in real life. That’s just me and it isn’t something I work hard at. It just happens. It also just so happens that this is the only forum I currently write on so naturally, it would contain more frequency as far as my ideas are concerned. If this bothers you so much you can’t think outside of it, perhaps you are the one with the issues.

As far as the topic of this thread, in many cases, more than the accusation is not needed. As several people have pointed out, even though you and pookie skip right over it, what is being referred to is not some concept of “being good at public speaking in front of large audiences”. That alone is a rare quality as many freeze up in public speaking. What is often referred to is ARTICULATE, as in, “wow, that black doctor sure can string words together into audible sentences that can be understood”. You, however, refuse to acknowledge that this happens in large amounts to blacks and especially some black professionals.

You would have to be rather blind to think something like that.

You have shown us again and again…that you really are.

While I truly believe that things have changed in a very large degree over time due to several blacks being casted into positions of authority on television programs and reaching higher public levels in society, I still no doubt get this attitude from quite a few “older” non-minorities who somehow think it is a compliment. I mean, hell, some of them were still alive when there were separate drinking fountains based on color so to them, that half witted retort may actually be a compliment. Someone of the newer generation would have no such hidden intent if for no other reason than their source of remembered history is coming from a different place.

This needed to be explained?

Oh, still waiting on that quote.

[quote]harris447 wrote:
Oh, it defintiely wouldn’t be your Zeb-esque use of the third definition of a word instead of the first two which disprove your argument.[/quote]

You want me to address the order of definitions in the dictionary? You want to know why I’m using the third one? Well, that’s because in usage, the third one is the one used in a compliment. But let’s have a look anyway.

Now let’s see. The ‘AskOxford’ dictionary Oxford Languages | The Home of Language Data echoes my understanding of the word, giving ‘able to speak’ as the verb and ‘fluent and clear of speech’ as the adjective.

Wikipedia http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Articulate also gives the positive meaning as the adjective and the speech-capable as a verb. They give ‘She’s a bright, articulate young woman.’ as an example.

Merriam-Webster Online Articulate Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster backs your and vroom’s dictionary, giving the less flattering ‘intelligible’ as one of the adjective’s meanings. Although the only example given is ‘an articulate teacher’ (probably not you) it is associated with the positive meaning of the word.

Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/articulate gives 8 meanings for the adjective; and specifically uses the example of ‘an articulate speaker’ with the 3rd (positive) meaning and ‘an articulate thought’ with the 4th meaning, also positive.

While there are differences among various dictionaries, all the examples given with ‘articulate’ are with the positive meaning. Similarly, you can find hundreds of articles on the web and in print, and in books where ‘articulate’ is used positively to describe someone who can convey his thoughts fluently and with clarity.

So while you and Prof can spout about it until you’re blue in the face, you’ll never convince anyone that using ‘articulate’ and ‘eloquent’ is in anyway insulting towards a black person; UNLESS it is said in a sarcastic manner, in which case it’s insulting towards anyone, regardless of race.

[quote]pookie wrote:

So while you and Prof can spout about it until you’re blue in the face, you’ll never convince anyone that using ‘articulate’ and ‘eloquent’ is in anyway insulting towards a black person; UNLESS it is said in a sarcastic manner, in which case it’s insulting towards anyone, regardless of race.

[/quote]

…and like has been said several times, if you truly believe that, it isn’t us that has their head up their ass. If you really believe that it can not be taken as an insult based on race for a non-minority to act as if it is a miracle that a black person can string words together, you are pretty damn clueless.

It doesn’t have to be “sarcastic” for it to be an insult in those terms. It means the person who made the comment is so clueless that they act surprised that a black person can accomplish such an act.

This had to be explained to you. That says much. For you to then act as if it simply can not be shows you not only are in the dark, but you refuse to see your way of it.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
No, that isn’t what I wrote. I wrote you
REFUSE to understand. Whether you actually CAN understand it has yet to be seen.[/quote]

You wrote both. Before writing that I refuse to understand, you wrote: ‘I personally wouldn’t expect you to be able to respond to any of it with any amount of understanding worth reading.’

‘with any amount of understanding’ indicating that whatever amount of understanding I have is insufficient; in other words, that I don’t understand. Or at least don’t understand sufficiently.

Apparently you have trouble understanding what you write yourself. Maybe if you didn’t confuse being articulate with using as many words as possible, you’d encounter less confusion from your readers.

My experience where some act has not occurred?

That sure makes a whole lot of sense.

Do you have a lot of experience based on acts that haven’t occurred?

Oh, but I guess you do. You have plenty of experience, it appears, at being insulted and offended when none of those acts really happened.

So basically I can’t understand what you’re saying because I don’t get my experiences through make believe.

Well then, you’re entirely right.

Who gives a shit about a random experience you had? We are discussing whether calling a black man ‘articulate’ is de facto condescending.

Your tales about being a smarter entity who battles idiotic opponents are not relevant in any way, except to show how far backwards you’re willing to bend to claim victimhood. While ‘articulate’ has at least some meanings that can be construed as insulting, ‘eloquent’ doesn’t.

Your tale also begs the question: If those patients are such hateful racists, why the Hell do they see a black doctor in the first place?

No one I guess, since mine apparently haven’t received enough creative interpretation to make a good story.

We aren’t discussing anything. You’re playing semantic games to achieve… I don’t really know what you’re trying to achieve. I guess you’re waiting for us to tire of your childish stupidity to claim some kind of victory?

You call that an explanation? Maybe you should organize your thoughts a bit before writing. Of course, I understand the convenience contradicting yourself constantly affords you, as you can later claim to have said A or B depending on whether someone claims you’ve said B or A.

Yes, moron. You want quotes, here we go:

Harris said:
There is very little as condescending as referring to a black man as “articulate.”

I asked:
How should we indicate that a black man can speak eloquently and express his thoughts clearly then?

Still unanswered, by the way…

Harris then answered:
[i]How about just assuming that a man who graduated as Valedictorian of his high school, earned cum laude honors at his college while playing football, and is now a well-paid and sought-after broadcaster and speaker might, you know, be able to string a sentence together.

A white man with these credentials would never be referred to as articulate or someone who “speaks so well”.[/i]

And later, Harris said:
[A little HeadHunter bashing here…]
I stand by what I’ve said.

And still later, Harris said:
[i]Please ask black people if they find being called “articulate” condescending.

Most that I know class it with being asked to touch their hair.

I wasn’t offended, merely pointing out…[more Headhunter bashing here.][/i]

Oddly, Harris here points out that he wasn’t offended. Apparently once you jumped in, he decided that he was, after all, offended. Being victims is apparently easier as a group activity.

The YOU came in and said:
You’re right. Any minority with half a brain would have agreed with you.

You said: ‘You’re right.’ And you’ve clearly indicated to Thunderbolt that YOU MEAN EXACTLY WHAT YOU WRITE.

So, to recap, Harris claims that ‘articulate’ is an offensive word to a black man; with the implication that it is always the case. He’s asked for clarification, he stands by what he says. You come in and say ‘You’re right.’

Of course, you were, as usual, so eager to share with us another one of your life experiences where you dominate hapless opponents, you probably didn’t even care what stance you were taking.

And since then you’ve been dancing around like a centipede on a hot plate; contradicting yourself from one post to the next; asking for quotes because apparently you’re as confused about what you write as everyone else.

‘some sort of truthful sense’ what the fuck is that supposed to mean? Why don’t you just write clearly instead of bending english in a pretzel in some pathetic attempt to pass yourself off as a smarter entity than you actually are?

No, fuckwit, your very first fucking words to Harris were: ‘You’re right,’ not ‘Well, Harris, we have to take context into account here’ which would’ve been entirely reasonable.

I know you’ll spend another ten pages if you must trying to convince everyone that CONTEXT was always the issue; no one expects you to be man enough to admit it when you fuck up. Your ridiculous insecurities trip you up every time.

We understand what you write as well as can be expected, given the level of confusion and contradiction in your posts.

You couldn’t prove that water is wet. Give us all a break.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
If you really believe that it can not be taken as an insult based on race for a non-minority to act as if it is a miracle that a black person can string words together, you are pretty damn clueless. [/quote]

I’m quite sure it can be taken as an insult. By fucking idiots who go out of their way looking for ways to be insulted.

Your interpretation of the word as ‘can string words together’ is not the usual meaning seen in, oh, about 100% of the articles or speeches where it is used to describe someone.

I challenge you: Find me one, just one example from an article on the web where ‘articulate’ is used in a condescending way.

Harris and you both claim that the first meaning, as listed in a dictionary, are the common ones.

How can you know? Whether the person is expressing surprise or whether they’re actually sincere, how do you know? Do they jump back in surprise? Do they grab their faces à la McAuley Culkin? Do they go wide-eyed as they say “Oh my God, he’ soooo eloquent!” Wouldn’t real surprise simply come out as “Wow, he speaks!”

Something appearing at first so uncomprehendingly stupid does require explanation. Unfortunately, all your explanations simply confirm that the first understanding was the right one.

The only ones in the dark here are those blinded by your bullshit.