be it off topic or on topic

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(1) No spamming. Spamming is characterized by the initiation of threads or posts that contribute nothing to a forum, be it off topic or on topic.

Does "be it off topic or on topic" mean "whether or not it will be off topic or on topic"?

(2) IM gunna have to go with fill me in.

"with fill me in"?

(3) A: hutton's been bribed!
B: I'm from Missouri, you've got to show me.
C: It was a white wash to say the least, i wouldn't put it past blair to bribe hutton.
D:The wheel on Blairs train fell off, but then recovered!

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I could not get " i wouldn't put it past blair to bribe hutton" .

Does "past" mean " later than"? "put it" -- put what? Does it mean the white wash? If so, how could "I" put it to bribe hutton?

What is "Blairs train"? Does it mean "Blair's train"? What does the train mean?

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It should be whitewash not white wash....but it was neither.

Frankly the whole thing is idiomatic english from the poorly educated .

"Blair's train"?
LOL

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Re: be it off topic or on topic

oristarA wrote:

Does "be it off topic or on topic" mean "whether or not it will be off topic or on topic"?

YEs, that's pretty much it.

Quote:

(2) IM gunna have to go with fill me in.

"with fill me in"?

go with = opt for, choose

e.g. "I'll go with choice number 5.

Quote:

I could not get " i wouldn't put it past blair to bribe hutton" .

I would not put it past ______ means I would not consider the act beyond what this person is capable or willing to do.

For example:

The Pope? Robbed a bank? Well, that doesn't surprise me, I wouldn't put it past him.

Quote:

What is "Blairs train"? Does it mean "Blair's train"? What does the train mean?

It was a metaphor, what the writer was trying to express was that Blair is encountering some problems.

His train's wheels fell off is the metaphor.

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Hi Craven, your explanation was excellent. But, since Laptoploon has indicated that "white wash should be whitewash", which means "concealment or palliation of flaws or failures", so I think there is a self-contradiction in the sentence "It was a white wash to say the least, i wouldn't put it past blair to bribe hutton". The writer said "it is impossible that Blair has bribed Hutton," and he also said "To say the least, it was concealment of Blair's flaws". What? What did the writer want to say? Hutton has not been bribed, so all he could do was Be frank and Come to the point, any acts concealing Blair's flaws were unnecessary.

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I'm not sure what the writer wanted to say. I don't suspect the writer knows either. ;-)

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Re: be it off topic or on topic

oristarA wrote:

(1) No spamming. Spamming is characterized by the initiation of threads or posts that contribute nothing to a forum, be it off topic or on topic.

Does "be it off topic or on topic" mean "whether or not it will be off topic or on topic"?

"Be it off topic or on topic" is actually a subjunctive construction. The subjunctive is rarely encountered in English these days, so I'm not surprised that this kind of construction would give a non-native speaker some trouble. But your interpretation of the phrase is largely correct: the author means "whether it is on topic or not."

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Craven de Kere wrote:

I'm not sure what the writer wanted to say. I don't suspect the writer knows either. ;-)

My point exactly.

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be it off topic or on topic

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