Life In 19x19

SmoothOper wrote:So whats the difference between casual and informal? I'm fine with an informal game of go.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/informal

It seems the dictionary makes a distinction: "suitable to or characteristic of casual and familiar, but educated, speech or writing."

",but educated "

What does that mean to you in the context of a go game? What makes a game of go formal, informal, or casual?

SmoothOper wrote:So whats the difference between casual and informal? I'm fine with an informal game of go.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/informal

It seems the dictionary makes a distinction: "suitable to or characteristic of casual and familiar, but educated, speech or writing."

",but educated "

My understanding is that casual and informal both mean a range of things, and that there's a nexus where they mean the same thing, basically: without prescribed regulation or ceremony. A formal dinner has rules about dress and etiquette and using your forks in the right order. An informal dinner or a casual dinner mean basically the same thing: don't worry about that stuff.

In this context, informal seems more focused on the lack of a larger structure to the games, or say, a pre-agreed upon super-ko rule. Casual seems more focused on the lack of ceremony: Maybe played without clocks, with new matches being struck up at random after the previous one ended, and results remembered but not recorded.

You can of course also describe a game as casual to mean the players weren't really trying.

So a casual club could be that they don't try hard, or it could be that there's no ceremony and little structure. So it might be different than informal or synonymous. I tend to interpret casual in this context to mean informal, but it's not the only possible reading.

Polama wrote:

SmoothOper wrote:So whats the difference between casual and informal? I'm fine with an informal game of go.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/informal

It seems the dictionary makes a distinction: "suitable to or characteristic of casual and familiar, but educated, speech or writing."

",but educated "

My understanding is that casual and informal both mean a range of things, and that there's a nexus where they mean the same thing, basically: without prescribed regulation or ceremony. A formal dinner has rules about dress and etiquette and using your forks in the right order. An informal dinner or a casual dinner mean basically the same thing: don't worry about that stuff.

In this context, informal seems more focused on the lack of a larger structure to the games, or say, a pre-agreed upon super-ko rule. Casual seems more focused on the lack of ceremony: Maybe played without clocks, with new matches being struck up at random after the previous one ended, and results remembered but not recorded.

You can of course also describe a game as casual to mean the players weren't really trying.

So a casual club could be that they don't try hard, or it could be that there's no ceremony and little structure. So it might be different than informal or synonymous. I tend to interpret casual in this context to mean informal, but it's not the only possible reading.

I don't think casual denotes a lack of structure, but simply denotes lack of stated structure, which is another annoying aspect of casualness, though some people prefer the cliquishness, gold chains, petty politics and such.

Polama wrote:

SmoothOper wrote:I don't think it is the word casual that I have a problem with as much as the antonym being "Serious". Do you seriously think people who like to study, are taking the game seriously?

I think in this context "casual" is being used as the antonym to "formal", not "serious".

That.

SmoothOper wrote:So whats the difference between casual and informal? I'm fine with an informal game of go.

I still think that its a matter of a word, nothing more.

People say baduk or go, why?
People say goban or go board, why?
People say kifu or game record, why?
And does it matter?

For whatever reason the informal games are called "casual" games.
Do you really think it is worth to make a fuss over that?

If you can show that the word has some negative effects on something, acquisition of beginners for example, then you might have a point. Otherwise, it is just some little thing that everybody is ok with but for some reason it bugs you personally. I'd say - get over it, it is really not very important.

Bantari wrote:

SmoothOper wrote:So whats the difference between casual and informal? I'm fine with an informal game of go.

I still think that its a matter of a word, nothing more.

People say baduk or go, why?
People say goban or go board, why?
People say kifu or game record, why?
And does it matter?

For whatever reason the informal games are called "casual" games.
Do you really think it is worth to make a fuss over that?

If you can show that the word has some negative effects on something, acquisition of beginners for example, then you might have a point. Otherwise, it is just some little thing that everybody is ok with but for some reason it bugs you personally. I'd say - get over it, it is really not very important.

Well, I just think that people playing online seem to prefer(if not preferring, at least being accustomed to) a less casual style of play, why wouldn't that also be the case in person.

SmoothOper wrote:
Well, I just think that people playing online seem to prefer(if not preferring, at least being accustomed to) a less casual style of play, why wouldn't that also be the case in person.

Bantari's point was that you can't just infer from the use of the word any particular or significant consequence. So unless you've played most of these people and thus have empirical evidence that they prefer a "more casual style of play" (whatever that is), it's bizarre that you're getting worked up about it.

Monadology wrote:

SmoothOper wrote:
Well, I just think that people playing online seem to prefer(if not preferring, at least being accustomed to) a less casual style of play, why wouldn't that also be the case in person.

Bantari's point was that you can't just infer from the use of the word any particular or significant consequence. So unless you've played most of these people and thus have empirical evidence that they prefer a "more casual style of play" (whatever that is), it's bizarre that you're getting worked up about it.

I'm starting to think casualness is bigger problem than just games...

SmoothOper wrote:

Monadology wrote:

SmoothOper wrote:
Well, I just think that people playing online seem to prefer(if not preferring, at least being accustomed to) a less casual style of play, why wouldn't that also be the case in person.

Bantari's point was that you can't just infer from the use of the word any particular or significant consequence. So unless you've played most of these people and thus have empirical evidence that they prefer a "more casual style of play" (whatever that is), it's bizarre that you're getting worked up about it.

I'm starting to think casualness is bigger problem than just games...

Like casual thinking?

skydyr wrote:
Like casual thinking?

Maybe having a good time...

Just gonna put this out there....

Preparing for CASUAL Development