You won't believe how sweet this anti-hyperbole plugin is

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I wonder if there is a Firefox version of this debait plugin?

Everyone else is disappointed that the future hasnā€™t given us flying cars or jetpacks. Iā€™m disappointed there arenā€™t software programs that allow me to reach through the internet and strangle the people who write that crap for a living.

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Cory Doctorow writing a post about hyperbole is like the NFL starting a campaign to end television commercials. Now Iā€™ve literally seen everything. Incredible. That dudeā€™s ability to over sensationalize every article he posts puts MSNBC and Fox News to shame.

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Iā€™m so torn on it because I do want to reach through the Internet and slap them. But, at the same time, I recently found out that Upworthy actually treats their employees surprisingly well ā€¦ good pay and bennies and generally stuff that I donā€™t expect from a Dark Satanic Content Mill. So now I donā€™t know how to feel. Is there a German word for ā€œPeople Who Seem Generally Decent Yet Inexplicably Keep Doing Evilā€?

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This came up not too long ago in regards to a similar Chrome plugin based on a XKCD comic, in short, use http://code.google.com/p/foxreplace/ and implement the list yourself.

Nazis?

What we actually need is a word for things which are ā€œinternet evilā€: evil which, after pushing back in your chair and staring at the ceiling for a minute, isnā€™t really meaningfully evil, but which, deep inside, one canā€™t shake the sense that it should earn the perpetrator a spot in the lowest pit of hell.

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Iā€™m not sure the Nazis seem generally decent. A better answer might have been a broader, ā€œGermans?ā€

What we actually need is a word for things which are ā€œinternet evilā€: evil which, after pushing back in your chair and staring at the ceiling for a minute, isnā€™t really meaningfully evil, but which, deep inside, one canā€™t shake the sense that it should earn the perpetrator a spot in the lowest pit of hell.

YES. Somebody get on this.

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WEvil. (Web-Evil.)

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Donā€™t know about that particular one, but there is the word Schlimmbesserung, which seems to mean ā€˜an improvement which makes things worseā€™. Years ago I posted a letter in the Austin Chronicle about that one along with an even longer German word because they seems so ā€˜end-of-year holiday festiveā€™. An Improvement That Makes Things Worse.

eWWWil?

Crowleys?

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It needs a rule to leave the hyperbole in place - or even insert it - when used with specific key words. For example:

ā€œLaser eye surgery, at an eye-popping low price!ā€

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I disagree.

On the other hand, Iā€™ve wondered whether Mr. Doctorowā€™s head would explode if he encountered a steampunk surveillance camera.

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Blink (the html tag) evil.

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Yes, always choose the lesser of two WEvils.

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Evilite?
Evilescent?
Ish? (as in both evil-ish and a representation of the thought it generates. A backronym might be Internet Spam Heuristic, but would mandate caps ā€œISHā€)
Astley? (nominally from rickrolling, but more just because it sounds negative)

Look at this steampunk surveillance camera.

Just look at it.

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This plugin rocks.

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eWWWil is so last century. Itā€™s iWWWil.

Not that Iā€™m accepting any marriage proposals right now thank you very much for arsking.