Is my thread title too ambiguous?
 

It's time, once more, for a "welcome to fodors" thread.

When posting a new topic, please include your destination city with your question. It makes all the difference in the whole world.

In your question:

1) include your price range for the hotel you're seeking;

3) include the time of year of your visit;

5) include your expectations;

okay, next addition?

Does anyone know what is one the menu?

I guess I'm lost once again. I realize that you're posting these as help aids to new posters, and that is great. But aren't you the same poster who has often talked about giving your post a clear and concise title so people don't click on it for no reason? If so, why did you post this title which I clicked on and found it had no meaning for me?

So to answer your question "is my thread title too ambiguous?", I'd say, yes, MaxwellSmart, it is!

OK, I'll bite. My favorites:

What's the weather like 5 months from now?

How long does it take to drive from X to Y?

Can we drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 6 hours?

How much should we budget for our trip?

Hey, Max, we liked you better when you were pestering that guy on the Euro board.

Reminds me of when I was travelling in the Maritime Provinces with my kids when they were young. I was getting a bit fed up with unanswerable questions of the "Are we there yet?" variety so I decided to offer a prize for the most unanswerable question. This kept everybody quiet for some time, and eventually #1 son won the game with the following:

"Mom? How old was I?"

We all thought that was pretty good.

"I need a quiet, romantic, inexpensive hotel on the beach, with a good pool. Within walking distance of all the fun things."

Define please:
Quiet
romantic
inexpensive
walking distance
fun things

Beach and pool, I understand

Whenever the kids ask, "Are we there, yet?" I answer, "Yeah, get out" at 55mph. That stops the rhetoric.

TSD - I love it!

Title just above this one, at this minute:

"Advice"

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34666574

LOL! Just 3 minutes after the last reply to this thread was made, a post was made with the subject "advice". :-D

Though, you know, the question on the 'Advice' post is pretty specific... however, the only reason I read it was because some one mentioned it here... then I saw that it was about Hawaii... and I have never been to Hawaii...

Which brings me to one of my favorite unanswerable questions...

<b>Is it worth to </b><i>[Fill in the blank]</i><b>?</b>

Well it least it wasn't looking for &quot;advise&quot; which is even more common.

And I'd rather hear &quot;inexpensive&quot; than the even more meaningless &quot;affordable&quot; or &quot;reasonable&quot;. Gee, is a five star resort for $600 night &quot;reasonable&quot;? -- sure, I'd think so. And it's also quite &quot;affordable&quot; to the Donald Trumps of the world.

My favorites, in addition to those listed above:

What is there to see in Barcelona [or London, or Paris, etc.]?

What is the *one* best sight in the U.S. [or Europe, Asia, etc.]?

I'm the one who posted the thread with the title &quot;Is my itinerary too ambitious&quot; referring to a wine country itinerary. When I posted it, I thought it was going to a board with just California posts. That's how the Fodors site makes it seem.

Exactly! Please don't take this the wrong way, mujd96--regulars on this board sometimes get snarky, but they're really trying to help, not insult you. The board makes it seem as though your post will fall into a location-specific area; that's why some regulars post threads instructing newbies how best to title their posts so they get the most responses.

How about, &quot;money is no object, I'm willing to spend up to $200/night&quot; Huh? ((?))

mujd60,

Most posters here genuinely want to be helpful (although some feel the need to do this in a smarta$$ way). Even if your post did just go to a California board, California is a huge state. You need to be more specific to get more responses to your post.

Many of us, who might have some insight for you, will not even click on a post with such a vague title. I gave up a long time ago, when a majority of these ambiguous titles seemed to be about Alaska.

lvk, I laughed when I read that one, also. AKA : &quot;Money is no object, but I'm going to make it one now&quot;.

I saw this one today called &quot;advice&quot;. Are you asking for advice or giving advice?

Tara- I saw that one, too. Even if you think your post is going to a specific board, it almost could not be more vague.

I don't understand why posters think the messages are going to specific boards (Texas, Hawaii, Excalibur...)? Don't you have to click on &quot;talk&quot; and then into &quot;U.S.&quot;? Or is mine obviously clear and different from others?