User blog comment:Jack Pistol/Chat Mod Promotion Request: Albert Spark and Voxelplox/@comment-3242795-20130406200121/@comment-3112181-20130406212953

- sigh -

I can see you're confused.

"Whichever side": There are two "sides" in this vote. The side that votes "support", and the side that votes "oppose". The term "side" can be used loosely, but nevertheless indicates these two opposing factions, which are in turn comprised of the various voters and which of the two options (or three, counting "neutral") they have registered as their vote.

"Wins": This might be the word you're having the most trouble with. It's okay. In this context, "win" means whicever of the two opposing "sides" (see above) succeeds first: support, or oppose. In the case with any vote, only one of these two sides (support or oppose), can fully succeed in being passed (we'll get to this in a second, don't worry). Now, let's set up an example so you can fully understand the concept. Say five people vote for the "side" of "support", and two people vote for the "side" of "oppose". From what we can learn from the great abstract science known as math, 5 > 2 (that is, "five is greater than two", if you don't understand math symbols. It's okay, don't worry). Now, remember, since we now know and understand that five is greater than two, let's back-track and go back to the part of the example where I said "five people voted support and two people voted oppose"... :O ! Would you look at that! That must mean, from the math equation we just worked out, that more people voted support than voted oppose...! Therefore, that means, in this example, the "side" of "support" did indeed "win".

"Depends on": Dependency, being the opposite of independency, means that something is subordinate (I know, it's a big word; it's okay) and cannot be done without something else. Here, in the sentence, I'm saying that the "winning side" (see above if you're still confused about that) is indeed dependent! That is to say, it isn't going anywhere yet. We'll investigate what I mean by this in a second. Just draw yourself a picture if it helps you understand. You might be able to find some markers and blank paper at any office store, if you want to do that. You can draw a little person with a chain around their ankle to represent the word "depend" here.

"Whether": Now, this word is tricky because there is another word just like it, "weather", that means rain and stormies and cloudies and snow and stuff that Hannibal doesn't like. But, it's okay. The "whether" I'm talking about here doesn't have the "a" in it, but instead has the "h"! I know, it's confusing, don't worry. So now you are probably wondering what this kind of "whether" means. Well, trying to avoid anymore big vocabulary words for you, this kind of "whether" can go hand-in-hand with the phrase "depends on" (see above if you're confused about that; it's okay, don't worry). This is really more of a set-up word for more words to come in the sentence. Let's investigate.

"They": Well, the word "they" is indeed a pronoun; third person plural to be exact. Sorry! That's next year's grammar. Sorry, I forgot. What I mean to say is, "they" can be used to substitute certain words! Cool! In this case, I used the word "they" to substitute Voxelplox and Albert Spark, which, if you need to scroll up to refresh your memory, are indeed the subjects of this blog who might just be promoted.

"Are": The verb of the sentence! We found it!

"Promoted": Ah, this is also part of the verb phrase. I'm going to trust you know what promoted means: it's like when Daddy gets to be a bathroom attendant instead of a ditch-digger. Now, in this context, I'm referring to the possibility that Voxelplox and Albert Spark might be promoted to chat moderators. Wait a minute... This all ties back with what we talked about earlier! Notice how in that last sentence I said "might" be promoted. It's confusing, I know, don't worry. That means, though, that they are not promoted yet, but very well might be. So... How do they get promoted? Well, there are two "sides": the "side" of support, and the "side" of oppose. Whichever "side" "wins", that is, get the most votes (need to use math again!!), will determine, or "depend on", whether they are promoted...! :O

"Or not": There is always the chance that neither of them will get promoted. Or one of them will and the other one won't. Or one of them will get banned and the other will become the president of Kuwait. The possibilities are endless.