what are those for

I seem to recall that Flora comes from their god of Spring, or something like that.  I don't know about fauna.  Probably the same sort of thing.  They probably are not nouns that end with -um.  Don't quote me, though.

Oh, Thomas Brown, post 19, this is what we need in these forums, HUMOUR, like Belgian Victor wrote a few days ago, it makes one smile !

But what a disappointment for you, to learn that Flora is just a Roman Goddess of flowers, blossom and springtime ; and Fauna is the sister of Faunus, a Roman God like the Greek Pan, grandson of Saturnus.

A Faun is a Roman country God, protector of shepherds, farmers and animals, he is hairy and has horns, and the paws and tail of a he-goat.

Forgive me the following, but while I found all above in old books, I also saw that a Faun is a voluptuous, lascivious old man; English is not my mother language, so, I hope not to have mis-translated... ( by the way, I am an young old man, don't feel involved...)

There is also a forum, these days, about the low level of subjects in forums and the way we write about things, so we just need more florum and faunum !!!

Ah thanks for clearing that up, RomyGer. 

I like languages, and translations, and because English is not my mother language ( I am Dutch ) I always consult more dictionaries when necessary.

Moreover I have lists of American, British and Australian English words, we have relatives in England, I like to play with Dutch words and phrases.

My best dictionary ( Longman ) says the following about the words used above :

A forum is a place where public matters may be talked over and argued about  (  "...  the letters page of this newspaper is a forum for public argument ..." ).

A thread is a line of reasoning, connecting the parts of an argument or story  (  "...  I'm afraid I've lost the thread of your argument ..." ).

To keep someone posted is to continue to give someone all the latest news about something.

Virtually posting is to put up a notice about something on the internet, so as to make it public.

A topic is a subject for conversation, talk and/or writing at that moment.

Two remarks : I am an engineer, but never saw the word thread in this way; and hurrah for the Dutch schools, teaching English, French, German and Spanish, the advantage of a small country !

This is a thread and it's a forum. The threads within the larger forum are also forums themselves. Calling them forums instead of threads is not a mistake. In fact some of the threads on this site are forums for heated debate.

There is specific terminology. That it fits another usage of the world isn't relevant, as it's not generally the intended use. Just a diversionary tactic.

Mwahahahaha.

That's the original intent, but in reality, it's just a shouting and whining place for trolls, a hunting place for troll hunters, and a terrible place for people looking for real information.

And my shirt isn't clothing either. There is a specific terminology there; I have to use the word shirt. People will have no idea what I'm talking about it if I call it clothing.

(eventually I will stop biting at these) A "forum" is a place to gather and exchange ideas. A "thread" is the common name for a topic in an online message board (Although on this site the word "forum" is used in the place of "thread.") It was suggested that the use of the word "forum" to describe such a topic was incorrect and that the term "thread" should be preferred. I argued they are both good words to describe individual topics as the individual topics are places to gather and exchange ideas as well... eg... "The Ponziani thread is an outstanding forum for theoretical discussion of that opening." As I suspect you got my point the first time and are just joking now, and seriously as well as you are making a point yourself, I will also agree with you that "arena" could be a good word to describe some of these threads... eg. "That one thread on the King's Gambit is a fine arena, a varitable colosseum of mud slinging and debate." (note: I haven't actually read much of that thread and I have reason to suspect it's most just one troll repeating the Fischer Bust over and a over.)

The fact that another definition is 'correct' is a coincidence, because people aren't using it with that definition in mind but the technical one.

Ok you are probably right about that most of the time.

I do argue about some pointless stuff...have a good day.

I agree, points are activity indicators (such as forum posting).

And, I suspect that's a design element intended to make posts no matter how inane, have a point.

sftac

would mentiong Monty Python's "Argument Clinic" sketch be too off-topic in this context?