I used to like bacon.

From someone who tends to lurk on both but mostly hasn't been posting - the Asia board has had some fights - but they do seem to be exactly that. Disagreements on a point that got out of hand. Very little of what I would consider snark, especially towards newer posters. The Europe board has had a very different tone and for a very long time. There does seem to a greater number of instances where the sneer or smirk almost jumps off the page and not because someone's English has been misunderstood. It is particularly striking in how often it happens to newbies, IMO, and that is a significant difference between the two pages. Don't think I've ever seen anyone's initial thoughts on a trip described as "nutty", for instance, even when someone thinks to discourage the anticipated speed of the trip.

Agree that someone who lurks around the US/Canada forums and then posts on Europe could be surprised by the different tone. I guess that as someone who mostly reads posts here, I could be immunized to how it may appear to newbies.

Something like coming across Cholmondey for the first time...RIP.

Here, I believe, is the post Myer is referring to:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...eting-time.cfm

You be the judge of who was "snarky" and who was trying to be helpful. And can we drop the "gods" bit? People should be thankful anyone tries to help them out at all.

Preface this with I certainly dont think I am a god of any type (goddess maybe haha).

I think the example StCirq posted above may have been a result of the OP not providing the non-negotiable aspects of the trip and the timelines. I dont see it stated up front that public transport was to be used and how long the trip was going to be. I would certainly recommend differently for a 3 day trip rather than a 7 day trip to the area. People will make assumptions if you dont give full disclosure, or they will ask for more info. I dont think they mean to be snarky in those cases. I also wouldnt have taken the time and clicked on the OPs name to see what other info has been posted to learn the non-negotiables or timelines from a previous post.

Sometimes the more you give the more you get...?

The love you make is equal to the love you take? BMK

It doesn't pay to argue with an idiot.
They win by experience.

jamikins: <i>I dont see it stated up front that public transport was to be used and how long the trip was going to be.</i>

That's because the thread that StCirq linked to was only the final (?) in a series of threads that Myer had started on his trip to the south of France.

You'll see his irritation at not having his questions answered started in earlier threads.

So, it's a matter of siding either with a poster asking for specifics and feeling he's not getting information addressed to his specific questions

or, posters who offered suggestions for other places than those mentioned by Myer and then feeling misused because Myer apparently didn't appreciate their input

None of all this, however, rises to the level of "snark", IMHO. It's just what in our family in our fractured Franglish called a "little tiffle", but I may be wrong...

A snark.

Is that like a walrus? Bigger than a sea lion?

We have haggis but they're fast and difficult to catch.

Don't think I have ever seen a snark in the wild.

"Said the walrus to the snark..."

Indiginous to the swampy regions of Elbonia.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry, see what all your friends and neighbors are talking about. The only wild Snark in captivity --- found forty miles from land or sea ----"

illustrated Snark,
https://sites.google.com/site/lewisc...ustratedsnark/

nukesafe: <i>...found forty miles from land or sea...</i>

which would place it as a creature from above the stratosphere, i.e., the mesosphere

>>"Scientists know less about the mesosphere than about other layers of the atmosphere. The mesosphere is hard to study. Weather balloons and jet planes cannot fly high enough to reach the mesosphere. The orbits of satellites are above the mesosphere. We don't have many ways to get scientific instruments to the mesosphere to take measurements there. We do get some measurements using sounding rockets. Sounding rockets make short flights that don't go into orbit. Overall, there's a lot we don't know about the mesosphere because it is hard to measure and study."<<

http://www.windows2universe.org/eart...esosphere.html

How exciting! What a rare creature this snark is!

And we thought there were any number of them resident on the Fodors boards!

I'll assumme the WWF Save the Snark campaign was a bust :)

Fair enough - I guess my point was that if I hadnt seen the other threads (I would never even open or read a thread about Provence with public transit because I know nothing about it) then I would have assumed he was using a car (because I did) and would still want to know how long the trip was so I could cater my response. Thats just me, but I think a quick note about basics like this would help get more helpful responses.

I also think some consideration of this would have been nice on the OPs side. We arent mind readers :)

Anywho - cant we all just get along?? :)

Thank you chigalechanta

I knew that Snark from somewhere. Turns out to be 40 years ago in the depths of my past.

Snarks?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU44KwIfBXM

Certainly look familiar in a Fodors context.

A 'snark' is a cross between a shark and a snake. It swims up and down the murky coasts of travel forums, preying on innocent newbies who seek travel advice.

Snarks are easily provoked by what they regard as 'stupid' or repetitive questions, and will attack unsuspecting prey mercilessly.

Despite continued efforts of peacekeepers to tamp down the number of attacks, snarks continue to flourish and wreak havoc on what would otherwise be healthy domains.

Related words: snarky, snarkier, snarkiest, snarkfull, snarkability.

Reading the above, it seems there are those who see themselves afflicted with psuedo-snarkism, and not true snarkism, and others who feel they are immune to it altogether. And some have a terminal case of it.

Seriously, agree with OP. Nothing wrong with being civil when responding or just plain choosing not to respond. As my DH says, "If you're not being part of the solution, you're automatically being part of the problem".

It's very easy to take things out of context and use them to your advantage. Most of us do that and I'm surely as guilty as the next.

If you look at the post that was used as an example (this is part of a series of posts/questions for that trip) I didn't in any way indicate that this was a complete itinerary nor was I asking that one be built.

We had already gone thru the auto vs public transport several times.

I picked several cities/towns that I figured wouldn't be an issue and tried to get a feel for how much time I should expect to spend in each.

I thought that was very simple. I guess not.

Then after 3-4 responses that didn't provide much help, I decided to clarify (read add a bit more info though it added little to my question). I included the number of days (though not relevant), etc.

I mentioned public transportation and how I might handle a selection of Luberon villages.

It was then that a response appeared (similar to what appeared in a few of my other threads). A list of villages was displayed to show what can't be seen using public transportation.

I realize that with a car you have more flexibility than with public transportation. I realize that we will not visit some places.

The intention of that response was to show that it's impossible to visit that part of the world without a car.

I then tried to repeat what I was requesting. Information on a specific list of places.

At that point a few family insults appeared.

I am very organized and have planned many trips in the US, Canada and Europe (I did start to investigate China but it slid onto the back burner).

I reject the view that posters who spend most of their time on the North American boards do not understand the different tone of those on the European boards and visa versa.

I have been to Europe well over a dozen times (France 4 times (Paris 3 times)) and obtained a lot of information here.

I never had a problem.

Two years ago we went to Tuscany using only public transportation. I'm sure there are things we didn't do that we could have with a car. But we had a great time.

Getting back to the post used as evidence. If I read it really carefully there are one or two tidbits of useful information mixed in with the insults.