This "wins" meme is stupid.

February 6, 2006 9:42 AM

I know I'll probably get a lot of shit for this, like I do for every MeTa thread I post, but can we please please please put a moratorium on the phrase "X wins the thread" and all variants thereof?

Okay now please commence with snark and then others can quote that snark and say "[snarker] wins the thread" hooray!
posted by Optimus Chyme to etiquette/policy at 9:42 AM (35 comments total)

Optimus Chyme wins.

so predictable
posted by grouse at 9:46 AM on February 6, 2006

grouse wins teh meta
posted by keswick at 9:47 AM on February 6, 2006

No one has ever written "ND¢ wins the thread", and I dream passionately of it occurring one day if I ever manage to say anything intelligent or funny, and if we put a moratorium on the phrase, then no one will ever say it, and I will be sad. Therefore, I am against the proposed moratorium.
posted by ND¢ at 9:47 AM on February 6, 2006

I liked that suggestion someone made about "time-outs" for people who post trivial gripes to MetaTalk.
posted by smackfu at 9:47 AM on February 6, 2006

And by winning, I don't mean that you won the thread. You won all of MetaTalk! Congratulations, what are you gonna do next?
posted by grouse at 9:47 AM on February 6, 2006

So much effort, so much waste.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 9:47 AM on February 6, 2006

I know that this week is filled with complaints about anonymous posts on AskMe, but I've yet to see an "X wins the thread" comment on said posts. Congrats to OC for the preemptive call-out!
posted by Rothko at 9:50 AM on February 6, 2006

And by winning, I don't mean that you won the thread. You won all of MetaTalk! Congratulations, what are you gonna do next?

I think it's fairly obvious that he's going to Disney World™.
posted by matkline at 9:50 AM on February 6, 2006

omg I just won at the internet.

Seriously, how would such a moratorium be implemented? Jack booted Mefi thugs with snazzy black shirts and pillow cases full of door knobs?

Where is the sign up sheet, I needs me a new shirt.
posted by edgeways at 9:51 AM on February 6, 2006

As long as we're wishing for moratoriums that could never possibly be enacted, I'd also like to see one on posts whose sole purpose is to notify the community that you've flagged a post. The reason that flags were implemented in the first place was to cut down on exactly that kind of noise.

(By the way, I've flagged every single comment in this thread, including the OP's, and a couple of random posts in other threads for good measure.)
posted by Prospero at 9:53 AM on February 6, 2006

Anonymous wins.
posted by justgary at 9:56 AM on February 6, 2006

Fools, everyone knows the house always wins the thread.

Congrats, Mister Mathowie.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:56 AM on February 6, 2006

I'd like a moratorium on posts.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:57 AM on February 6, 2006

Hey - it worked!
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:58 AM on February 6, 2006

No it didn't.
posted by dersins at 10:01 AM on February 6, 2006

"When X wins the thread, we all lose... and that's one to grow on!"
posted by BobFrapples at 10:01 AM on February 6, 2006

Circle takes the square.
posted by dgaicun at 10:01 AM on February 6, 2006

I miss racist dunk-tank clown.
*flags Prospero's comment as Fantastic*
posted by If I Had An Anus at 10:03 AM on February 6, 2006

Why?
posted by orthogonality at 10:03 AM on February 6, 2006

Yeah, why?
posted by chrismear at 10:08 AM on February 6, 2006

If I Had an Anus, you sunk my battleship!

Er . . . I mean, you go guuurrrl.

Man meme generation is tougher than it would seem; looks like "X wins the thread" wins the thread.
posted by dgaicun at 10:09 AM on February 6, 2006

I for one would like to welcome our vibrating pancake overlords, for they have truly won the thread. Unfortunately they then went on to jump the shark, steal cameras, and eat mushrooms.

mushroom, mushroom!
posted by blue_beetle at 10:14 AM on February 6, 2006

Why?
posted by orthogonality at 10:03 AM PST on February 6

Yeah, why?
posted by chrismear at 10:08 AM PST on February 6

Any phrase used often enough becomes meaningless noise. Think of all the forums out there filled with "IBL" and "It's a trap" and shit; doesn't that bother anyone else?
posted by Optimus Chyme at 10:15 AM on February 6, 2006

Also I had posted a hi-larious gif of Zero Wing and it was deleted; are inline images now forbidden?
posted by Optimus Chyme at 10:17 AM on February 6, 2006

Any phrase used often enough becomes meaningless noise.
posted by quonsar at 10:17 AM on February 6, 2006

stupid inline images are.
posted by mathowie at 10:18 AM on February 6, 2006

Think of all the forums out there filled with "IBL" and "It's a trap" and shit; doesn't that bother anyone else?

yes, if we don't do something the internets will become choked with meaningless noise.
posted by quonsar at 10:19 AM on February 6, 2006

Thirteenkiller wins!
posted by thirteenkiller at 10:19 AM on February 6, 2006

Any phrase used often enough becomes meaningless noise.
posted by sgt.serenity at 10:20 AM on February 6, 2006

stupid inline images are.
posted by mathowie at 10:18 AM PST on February 6

I thought it was pretty relevant.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 10:20 AM on February 6, 2006

relevant? You were talking about repeated text, not images.
posted by mathowie at 10:22 AM on February 6, 2006

stupid inline images are [forbidden].

And yet, the remainder of this thread, a towering tribute to the intellectual heft of the combined MetaFilter community, remains. Bravo, I say.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 10:22 AM on February 6, 2006

Seriously, how would such a moratorium be implemented?

I'm wondering this too. Stupid catchphrases have a way of propogating (and, fortunately, dying out in some environments), and many (most? The vast majority of?) mefites don't read Metatalk. Your request, however well-intentioned it may be, is nigh pointless.

(Also, declaring that you suspect you'll get shit for this point, that you always get shit for your posts, and, after your thesis, that the snarking may now commence -- that's just way too defeatist. If you suspect that your MeTa post is shit, either don't post it or shine that fucker up, man!)
posted by cortex at 10:23 AM on February 6, 2006

Optimus, you can make a request that people refrain from jumping to tired phrases and state why it makes us look bad in a way that will change some minds, but your original post here has a kind of defeatist attitude that taunts everyone into yet another dumb metatalk thread.
posted by mathowie at 10:24 AM on February 6, 2006

And speaking of dumb metatalk threads, this certainly is one and isn't going anywhere good so I'm going to close it off.
posted by mathowie at 10:25 AM on February 6, 2006