(Sigh) Maybe I'm just in a weird mood now, but this bugs me:
Banjo Bonnie: "As for degrees, I find the only degrees I am very concerned about now are my oven's. If I am off 25 degrees, my muffins burn."--Obviously a lighthearted remark indicating no significant interest in academic degrees.
Moonchild: "Bonnie ... Your last post just diminished the integrity of this thread."--A rather inscrutable statement in that it really doesn't make sense. How in the dickens does Bonnie's expression of no personal interest in academic degrees diminish the integrity of the thread? Even the method of expression, while far from deathly serious in tone, is not so outrageous as to harm the thread in any way.
McGrath:"'Your last...this thread' - I'm not even sure what that means."--Another way to indicate that the statement doesn't make sense, while graciously allowing a chance to clarify or restate it.
Moonchild: "Perhaps my vocabulary is a bit more sophisticated than that which you are accustomed."--A rather snotty reply, in my opinion. When it's plain that one's point has not been made, why not rephrase it rather than make "brainier than thou" digs at those who question it?
Ibid."The definition of the words 'diminished' and 'integrity' are very clear to me."--I'm sure they're clear to all of us. What's not clear is how they would have applied to Bonnie's post.