> I simply didn't know the notation and that's why I wanted to know if that was a mistake or intentional.

The problem is that "aren't you confusing" comes across as very snarky. That's WTF is with the downvotes, and getting upset about those downvotes doesn't help.

> The problem is that "aren't you confusing" comes across as very snarky.

Does it really? My bad then, English being hard once again…

> and getting upset about those downvotes doesn't help.

It did actually, the comment isn't at record breaking level anymore ;)

> Does it really? My bad then, English being hard once again…

So in a situation like this, "are you confusing" sounds somewhat presumptuous, but "aren't you confusing" sounds like you're quite sure you're right and they're wrong.

"are you maybe confusing" is probably the best way to use that phrasing, but better still would be "do you mean", so What's “θ” in your comment? Do you mean the letter “O” in “big O notation”[1]?

Though ideally when you're linking a page like that you ctrl+F it first.

I didn't mean for it to be snarky, I just found it funny.