This comment is cool
Posted by Mark Hanson on June 04, 1998 at 18:42:43:

• first thinks of movements, not modems, when hearing the number 28,800
• But probably the best:
• has a annual budget of $500 on the purchase of a new watch and posts the question on the Timezone forum "which one is better? a Rolex or a TAG?"

 

Isn't putting "idiot" and "savant" in the same meaning like that a sign of ignorance? Or are they just trying to be funny...

 

I don't particularly like the term WIS because of the actual definition of an idiot savant, which I doubt any of us actually are, but that post did make me chuckle.

 

I detest all those terms like that and WUS.

stupid in my opinion

 

Hi Adam,

I first heard the term over in the public forum but I have my own take...

Wonderfully Insane Sideline
Watches Impacting Savings

Regards,

 

Now 'they' make a lot of sense
Thanks
a

 

It is a REAL term. Did you ever see the movie "Rainman"?

Idiot savant - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

 

It is a REAL term. Did you ever see the movie "Rainman"?

Idiot savant - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Yes I saw that fantastic film
Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman - I have their signed autographs on a photo.

I never knew that official definition. Maybe it should now be dropped as a joke by Horologists?

Thanks for posting
a

 

Hah! I remember back in 2008 when I sheepishly asked and 'old timer' and moderator name Eric what the hell WIS meant. I thought it was pretty damn stupid but eventually came to see it as a badge of honor-of a sort-that ONLY a vintage (or other watch nut) could appreciate. I never force the use of the term however and only assume that a limited few here on WUS know about it. Even worse-try using a sentence with both WUS and WIS together and see how bad it looks.

 

funny comments in there

 

Didn't get it. Don't get it. Still don't know what WIS really is or means... Seriously.

Anybody?

 

...really it's just a term for someone that is into watches...

Regards,

 

I think the "origin" of the term has a lot to do with the fact that historically, Watchmaking was a true science. There's a comment on OFrei.com that notes that Watchmaking was "rocket science" before there was rocket science. And that's probably just a little bit frustrating in this modern age of disposable watches and parts if you happen to be one of the people who is actually capable of sitting down at a pair of turns and fashioning a balance staff out of piece of wire. There are whole books of mathematics and theory behind the design of the lever escapement that even many "watchmakers" neither know or care about, becuase the industry has consumed it and turned it into a literal cliche. People like us, who fumble about on the edges of the science, really do operate more on "instinct" then on actual, hard understanding, so the comparison to an "idiot savant" isn't entirely inappropriate.

 

I find the term quite endearing, I have struggled to fit in to normal society boundaries all my life and I was finally diagnosed with High Functioning Autism when I was 39:-! some people call this a disability, I like to call it an Improvement;-)

Collecting watches gives me something to focus my brain on and can help me forget the myriad of thought processes going on at any one time, it can't improve my ability to function in the "Normal" world but I feel at home here on F11 as I can talk vintage watches all day long and no one thinks I'm a weirdo;-) something I've been called on numerous occasions in the past by what can only be described as, idiots, with the IQ of a turnip.

Matt

 

WEIRDO, WEIRDO!!!! (jokeing)