Comments on: Is humor verboten in the Green?

Is humor verboten in the Green?

theonetruebix — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:24:58 -0800

This certianly isn't a question that impacts the stability or sanity of my life, but: Is humor verboten in the Green? Over on this question, as people got worked up in one direction or another over the topic, I posted a humorous comment placing the question on the Bridge of Death from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

I notice this morning that it was deleted. Are we so high-strung here that people can't take a joke?

By: mischief

mischief — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:25:48 -0800

yes

By: Gator

Gator — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:26:48 -0800

You're not supposed to post wisecracks. It says so right there at the bottom under the comment box: "note: Ask MetaFilter is as useful as you make it. Please limit comments to answers or help in finding an answer. Wisecracks don't help people find answers. Thanks." So, yes.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:28:32 -0800

Are we so high-strung here that people can't take a joke?

No. However, wisecracks that don't even address the poster's question tend to get flagged and removed. There are many ways to get your joke in and still contribute something useful.

By: cortex

cortex — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:28:42 -0800

We're not so high-strung (in general, at least) that we can't take a joke. The issue is more one of utility -- AskMe is intended to be functional, and so throwaway comments (however clever, funny, whatever) are more literally useless on the green than elsewhere. Hence, they are more likely to be deleted (and, you'll note, a lot less likely to be posted in the first place.)

By: kcm

kcm — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:31:50 -0800

if you have something funny to say, think up a piece of useful advice and tag your quip on to the end if it if apropos. that's your price of admission.

By: crunchland

crunchland — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:37:36 -0800

yes.

By: theonetruebix

theonetruebix — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:44:19 -0800

I see. Jokes permitted if you assume people are too stupid to understand how they fit into the discussion without having it spelled out for them.

Got it.

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:47:34 -0800

Ooooo, someone's bitter. Better luck next time.

By: The Jesse Helms

The Jesse Helms — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:49:02 -0800

Gator has a great user page.

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:49:23 -0800

Ooooo, very pretty gator ::golf claps::

By: Gator

Gator — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:51:24 -0800

bix, your comment was funny...sorta...but it wasn't helpful. AskMe is supposed to be less about "discussion" and more about "helping people find an answer to their question," that's all.

Oh, hey, thanks TJH and TPS! I'm just glad I snuck my stylesheet in there before the lockdown.

By: freebird

freebird — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:52:54 -0800

jokes permitted if you assume people are too stupid to understand how they fit into the discussion without having it spelled out for them

No - it's not just whether they "fit in". Lots of witty, clever, and enjoyable comments might "fit in" without providing concrete information about the discussion. It seems likely that a Monty Python reference was all three of the above, but didn't really help actually provide an answer in any but the most philosophical, abstract of ways.

No matter how well written and apropos, if it doesn't provide concrete info, it's not a good comment in AskMe.

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:54:36 -0800

Yea, I'm glad I missed the lockdown as well.

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:57:40 -0800

You have to be subtle, like the time I recommended Clifford Irving's book in a thread on biographies of Howard Hughes...

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:58:10 -0800

Metafilter: get your joke in and still contribute something useful.

By: cortex

cortex — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:11:31 -0800

I see. Jokes permitted if you assume people are too stupid to understand how they fit into the discussion without having it spelled out for them.

Um. Willful misreading of several matter-of-fact answers to your question is just plain shitty behavior.

There is a rough set of conventions on AskMe, reflected in both administrative actions and the general social concensus of the folks who are active there. That set of conventions differs from the set you'll find on MeFi proper or in MeTa, and differs more from both of the latter than they do from one another.

All of that is observable from even relatively little reading of the various subsections. A willingness to respect those conventions is in my opinion actually a strong refutation of the idea that folks on AskMe are "too stupid to understand" clever comments and throwaway humor. They are not too stupid; they are wise enough to perceive and respect the prevailing social code.

By: Plutor

Plutor — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:16:21 -0800

cortex: "Um. Willful misreading of several matter-of-fact answers to your question is just plain shitty behavior."

It seems to me that theonetruebix started this thread off badly: "Are we so high-strung here that people can't take a joke?" The longer this thread goes on, the more it seems clear that xe doesn't want an answer to the Why-Is-This-Wrong query, but rather wants us to change.

AskMe is about asking questions and getting answers. Period. Use the grey or the blue for your oh-so-unique brand of Monty Python humor.

By: majick

majick — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:20:20 -0800

Keep your chuckleheaded noise out of Ask. If it's not an answer to the question, don't post it. There's enough blathering, grandstanding, and informationless noise in there without you smearing shit all over the walls.

And enough about discussion. Discussion ought to be the exception, not the rule. What makes it good is not discussion or your "entertaining" wit (and I question whether referencing Monty Python even qualifies as wit any more), but answers.

By: cortex

cortex — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:21:31 -0800

In other words, jessamyn's suggestion that "there are many ways to get your joke in and still contribute something useful" is best targeted at people smart enough to realize that the key part of that sentence is "contribute something useful".

The "get your joke in" clause is a concession to the instinct toward humor that neither the admins nor the general populace want to stamp out.

Plutor, you may very well be right, but I'm going to play it straight here.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:26:14 -0800

HELP, HELP, I'M BEING REPRESSED. NOW WE SEE THE VIOLENCE INHERENT IN THE SYSTEM!

By: selfnoise

selfnoise — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:27:46 -0800

Where did this "chucklehead" thing come from anyway? I never heard this word before 2005, and now everyone's a chucklehead.

By: scody

scody — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:38:03 -0800

Where did this "chucklehead" thing come from anyway? I never heard this word before 2005, and now everyone's a chucklehead.

Webster's (11th ed.) lists it as a synonym for blockhead (chuckle = lumpish), and gives 1748 as the date of first recorded usage.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:38:14 -0800

We're all chuckleheads on this bus.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:38:51 -0800

Chucklehead. Apparently dates to at least 2003, even on the web.

Ah, this is better. 1880, Mark Twain. Also use by Wodehouse in "Sunset at Blandings".

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:39:19 -0800

scody, damn you, you... chucklehead!

By: scody

scody — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:40:14 -0800

hee!

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:41:39 -0800

Please state your joke in the form of an answer.

By: JeffK

JeffK — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:47:57 -0800

...or your answer in the form of a joke. As long as there's an answer in there somewhere.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:51:41 -0800

I'll take the Penis Mightier for 300.

By: I Love Tacos

I Love Tacos — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 13:27:20 -0800

My joke answer got deleted. As did somebody's joke followup to my post.

<shrug>

By: yhbc

yhbc — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 13:37:52 -0800

Is this the right room for an argument?

By: Gator

Gator — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 14:01:10 -0800

I've told you once.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 14:03:11 -0800

Oh, oh I'm sorry, but this is abuse.

By: brain_drain

brain_drain — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 14:35:45 -0800

Shut your festering gob, you tit!

By: JeffK

JeffK — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 14:50:51 -0800

brain_drain, you need to find a way to work that comment into every thread.

By: onalark

onalark — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 14:57:27 -0800

*Does the Kettle/Pot whistle*

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 15:36:43 -0800

No jokes. No jokes at all.

By: scarabic

scarabic — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 15:38:31 -0800

I, for one, could not possible care less about the usefulness of AskMe. I am simply so fucking high-strung that I cannot take a joke. No more goddamn humor. Every wisecrack is like a little splatter of urine across my cornflakes.

By: Decani

Decani — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 15:49:41 -0800

This happens all the time. Thou shalt not make comments which do not directly address the question. PERIOD. Got it? Lordy, what a nightmare it would be if we didn't have rules. Why... it would be anarchy! Now trim that tidy little moustache, put those shoulders back and answer the question properly, like a good little Stepford.

I had one deleted recently myself. I'm starting to take a certain pleasure in making jokes on the green just to keep the protocol nazis' flagging fingers busy. This is pretty sophomoric of me, for a change.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 15:58:35 -0800

Hey! You got your cornflakes in my urine!

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 16:00:31 -0800

Guess urine luck, then.

By: brain_drain

brain_drain — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 16:09:40 -0800

On a scale of 1 to 10, urinate.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 16:10:54 -0800

koeselitz: "No jokes. No jokes at all."

In one of the most beautifully MetIronic moments I've ever witnessed, they just stripped the jokes in the AskMe thread you linked. The thread about the guy who got himself into trouble with inappropriate jokes. Then finished his thread off with another one - which did not get deleted. But the lame jokes referencing his joke did.

Not complaining, actually - I find this response funnier than the jokes, themselves.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 16:27:18 -0800

Which brings to mind another question: What if I someone legitimate were to post an AskMe thread requesting lame jokes (let's pretend I they had a legitimate need for lame-tainted humorous material)? Would the mods have to delete any "serious" replies as derails?

/theater of the absurdly literal

By: pithy comment

pithy comment — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 16:42:09 -0800

Strangely, I was seriously thinking of posting an AskMe thread asking for good suggestions of jokes (lame or not) to increase the size of my joke repitoire from 2 to something greater than 2. Maybe I'll do that.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 16:48:19 -0800

As the policy against noise in AskMe has settled in and grown stronger, the rest of the site has grown correspondingly noisier, I reckon.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 19:32:44 -0800

Jokes permitted if you assume people are too stupid to understand how they fit into the discussion without having it spelled out for them.

Wow. What a prick.

Or, rather, what a prickish thing to say. Come on, bix. Tell us you failed to see the 'no wisecracks' note at the bottom of the post page.

I could use a good laugh.

By: oddman

oddman — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 19:46:40 -0800

"What if I someone legitimate were to post an AskMe thread requesting lame jokes "
IRFH

That is why we have the blue.
Thoug, for the record, I love shaggy dog jokes.

By: thejoshu

thejoshu — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 20:34:22 -0800

Y'alls is about as high-strung as they come.

But then again... most internet communities are.

By: blueberry

blueberry — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 21:23:30 -0800

See also September 8th, 2004's AskMeFi query "Is there a way to gently steer someone away from constant Simpsons or Monty Python quoting?"

By: staggernation

staggernation — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 06:12:43 -0800

By: tiamat

tiamat — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 07:07:43 -0800

Are we all 12 here or what?

By: quonsar

quonsar — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 08:49:13 -0800

no. you're nine.

By: terrapin

terrapin — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 10:10:56 -0800

An example of a funny reply that also answers the question.

By: Decani

Decani — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 19:25:24 -0800

Are we all 12 here or what?

No. That's just the protocol nazis. They still get excited about boy scout badges. Rrr! Mayor Curley did a bad! HIT HIM, MATT, HIT HIM! YAY! I saw it first! I posted to the grey! Did I do good, sarge, huh, huh, huh?

Cretins.