An end to [more inside] "witticism".

May 11, 2007 9:41 AM

Could the "Post" button on new AskMe questions trigger a script to check that the first part of the question ends either in a "." or a "?"? This would bring an end to the [more inside] "witticisms" (e.g. Assuredly there's [more inside]). I realise it is minor, and that I have also once been guilty of propagating this lame disruptive meme.
posted by roofus to Feature Requests at 9:41 AM (105 comments total)

You can flag them and we will repair them, fwiw.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:48 AM on May 11, 2007

Assuredly there's... [more inside]
posted by turaho at 9:50 AM on May 11, 2007

Every single [more inside] on the Green right now has a properly-ended sentence before the break. This just isn't a problem.
posted by Wolfdog at 9:54 AM on May 11, 2007

There was at least one, 30 minutes ago that prompted me to post this. I think Jessamyn snuck it and fixed it just to make me look double foolish.
posted by roofus at 9:56 AM on May 11, 2007

I imagine a day when we no longer need to press little keys to enter in words that shimmer on a computer screen. We'll have neural implants that will send and receive impulses directly from the ethernet where information will be transmitted and processed at brain function levels. You'll know what I'm going to add almost as fast as I can add it. Transfer of knowledge will be virtually instantaneous, and we'll all know everything at once. One Global Human Consciousness. (OGHC ™).

And there will still be some nimrod who wants to control everything and everyone and force their way on other people, like not letting them make more inside witticisms.
posted by Dave Faris at 9:57 AM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

What she said. Just flag 'em.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:01 AM on May 11, 2007

roofus, shut up.
posted by Stynxno at 10:03 AM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Lame, maybe. But how is a two word witticism disruptive?
posted by DU at 10:05 AM on May 11, 2007

You can flag them and we will repair them, fwiw.
posted by jessamyn at 12:48 PM on May 11

that is good to know
posted by caddis at 10:10 AM on May 11, 2007

It's discussed ad nauseum in the previous Meta I linked to. It looks totally stupid if you read AskMe via RSS, because the [more inside] gets cut. If we were implementing my seemingly unpopular idea, could we also do something to help this guy, who wound up with (more inside) inside his [more inside].
posted by roofus at 10:12 AM on May 11, 2007

I get that an AskMe author might have their post appear not how they wanted it in another format. What I don't get is what, other than the author's attempt at being funny, this disrupts.
posted by DU at 10:13 AM on May 11, 2007

I think Jessamyn snuck it and fixed it just to make me look double foolish.

Not me, man.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:13 AM on May 11, 2007

That should have been "snuck in", which now makes me look triple foolish.
posted by roofus at 10:14 AM on May 11, 2007

Asked and answered.
posted by team lowkey at 10:17 AM on May 11, 2007

What did I ever do to you, man? I'm just trying to live my life and you people keep giving me shit.
posted by [more inside] at 10:17 AM on May 11, 2007 [5 favorites]

Wow. If I'd known how fascist MeFi was, I wouldn't have been so eager to pay my $5. It's a little joke in the middle of a post. Lighten up. (And easy back on the trigger fingers, moderators.)
posted by DU at 10:19 AM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Lame, maybe. But how is a two word witticism disruptive?
posted by DU at 10:05 AM PST

I take my dog out for a walk every day. She's a huge furry white Great Pyrenees. They're not a common dog - most people have never seen one. This is because they are snow dogs, mountain dogs with a thick year-round coat and so warm summers are not good for them. Luckily, the San Francisco fog assures her the year-round chilliness she needs.

Anyways, I mention this because on every walk I get the same comment: "Hey! It's a Polar Bear!" I'd say, on average, I get this comment about 2-3 times a day. And so by now I've heard it hundreds, maybe thousands of times.

Usually the person will smile at me when they say it. I know its a conversation-opener, a friendly gesture. Sometimes they look at me expectantly. They want me to say "HaHa! You know, you're right!" or maybe make some joke about global warming. Somehow to acknowledge their friendly witticism.

What suprises me though is that when people say it they really behave as if they might be the first person ever to make that observation. Depending on my mood, I'll either give a curt reply or maybe respond with the enthusiasm they're looking for.

In general, I find the whole thing a bit tiresome and annoying. I have to enact this forced amusement in order to be friendly. It does make me appreciate and remember, though, the few times that people do say something original and witty (or simply say "Beautiful dog!" to which I will always beam back a Thank You) rather than the same lazy cleverness.

I think that is how others here feel about the [more inside] thing. Be original or just be sincere. Otherwise you're just being annoying.
posted by vacapinta at 10:23 AM on May 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

What I don't get is what, other than the author's attempt at being funny, this disrupts.

It literally disrupts the flow of reading in both RSS and the post proper. Sentences shouldn't just drop off right in the

If you think that's fascism, I can't help you.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:25 AM on May 11, 2007

...I'll either give a curt reply or maybe respond with the enthusiasm they're looking for.

But you don't hold a gun to their head and make them unsay it, right?

It literally disrupts the flow of reading in both RSS and the post proper.

Not in the post proper. And does the whole post appear in the RSS feed anyway? Are other grammar or spelling errors corrected? Is the author contacted before his or her post is mangled?

Seriously, the attitude here seems to be that once it leaves the poster's keyboard, it's the property of MeFi to edit at will. I don't remember signing any agreement to that effect.
posted by DU at 10:29 AM on May 11, 2007

If I'd known how fascist MeFi was

But you don't hold a gun to their head

Can I buy some pot from you?
posted by Gator at 10:31 AM on May 11, 2007

Wow. If I'd known how fascist MeFi was, I wouldn't have been so eager to pay my $5. It's a little joke in the middle of a post. Lighten up. (And easy back on the trigger fingers, moderators.)

I've said it before, but I made my minimum donation of $5 with the expectation that the site's administration would be efficient, effective, and fair, and that has overwhelmingly been the case. If you feel you aren't getting your money's worth a) You're a tool, and b) Here are links to digg, FARK, YouTube, and Yahoo! Answers.

Tell 'em Alvy sent you, I get a nickle for every idiot referral.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:39 AM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

I wasn't trying to suggest that the "MeFi fascist machine" automatically re-edit the posts after submission, just that leaving off a "." or a "?" would bring up a prompt something like: "Are you trying to make a [more inside] joke? Please check the FAQ before doing so."
I think that's actually preferable to having your post flagged and altered by the hand of mod.
posted by roofus at 10:39 AM on May 11, 2007

Could the administrators please give DU his five dollars back, and also stop this awful genocide of thousands of bytes of unfunny jokes? This repression has got to stop. First they came for the IMG tag, but I was not a pissing elephant...

TIA!

on preview... I suggested the same thing, roofus. I guess it's deemed unnecessary.
posted by team lowkey at 10:43 AM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

...efficient, effective, and fair, and that has overwhelmingly been the case.

The existence of lots of good is not an argument to support the addition of evil.
posted by DU at 10:48 AM on May 11, 2007

Not in the post proper.

Yes, in the post proper. Click through to the post page of any thread with that moreinside cuteness, and you have the dropoff effect. The [more inside] tag does not appear.

And does the whole post appear in the RSS feed anyway?

Yes, it does.

Are other grammar or spelling errors corrected?

Occasionally, when the error significantly muddles the intended meaning of the post, or when the poster contacts us to ask for a fix.

Is the author contacted before his or her post is mangled?

For incidental things not affecting the meaning of the post? Probably not. For anything that involves more significant changes? Very likely.

Seriously, the attitude here seems to be that once it leaves the poster's keyboard, it's the property of MeFi to edit at will. I don't remember signing any agreement to that effect.

Actually, I think all three of us are damn cautious about making any qualitative changes to the meaning or content of a post or comment. I've actually had a couple arguments with folks because I wasn't willing to change the inline contents of another user's post without explicit permission from said poster. So I think you're inflating things pretty wildly.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:51 AM on May 11, 2007

MetaFilter: Sentences shouldn't just drop off right in the
posted by Plutor at 10:53 AM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

So I think you're inflating things pretty wildly.

I don't think I am. jessamyn deleted some comments of mine the other day because she (mistakenly) thought I was making metacomments about the post that belonged in MeTa. The only contact I received was a spanking email telling me to "knock if off".

Some sites have a link or preference that allow users to see deleted posts/comments. I've found that this helps keep moderators accountable (or the posters trusting, depending on your view). All the goodwill in the world in the world is less useful than transparency.
posted by DU at 10:56 AM on May 11, 2007

The existence of lots of good is not an argument to support the addition of evil.

Are you trying to take the piss or do you seriously believe improving usability and removing cruft is "evil"? Either way, I'm having a hard time taking you seriously.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:57 AM on May 11, 2007

I don't think I am.

Ohhhhhhhhhh, I think you are. "Fascist," "Holding a gun to their heads," "evil," and "minor cosmetic edits to certain posts for clarity purposes": ♪♫♪ One of these things is not like the others... ♫♪♫
posted by Gator at 11:00 AM on May 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

jessamyn deleted some comments of mine the other day because she (mistakenly) thought ...

Ok, now I understand. Its personal.
posted by vacapinta at 11:05 AM on May 11, 2007

Obviously I was using "evil" hyperbolically. But yes, I do consider editing a post in a way that changes the intent of the poster without at the very least asking them beforehand to be of a kind with low-grade fascism. Kind of a bureaucratic, homogenizing, gentrifying fascism that prefers conformity to letting people represent themselves (however lamely).
posted by DU at 11:06 AM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't think I am. jessamyn deleted some comments of mine the other day because she (mistakenly) thought I was making metacomments about the post that belonged in MeTa. The only contact I received was a spanking email telling me to "knock if off".

You are currently the heavyweight champ of jokey, off-topic or unhelpful comments on AskMe, DU. I'm not shocked that Jess would be triggerhappy. I've said it before: I don't think you recognize that you're making these arguments from an outlier position.

Matt has repeatedly declined to make deleted comments visible or even demarcated, and stated his reasons for it several times in previous threads on the subject. We try to provide as much transparency as we can by having open discussions about what's going on. I doubt either of those things are going to change, hyperbolic overstatements of the evils of minimal moderation bedamned.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:06 AM on May 11, 2007

Evil fascist moderators are what makes Mefi so much fun.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:08 AM on May 11, 2007

Ok, now I understand. Its personal.

Yes, that's right. Personal. That totally makes sense. A person makes a tiny, dumb joke and it gets a MetaTalk complaint asking for a change in how the software works to prevent it from happening again. I ask "WTF". And that makes me the crazy person.

Seriously, I do. Not. Get. some of you. I give up on this thread. A moderator can feel free to edit my posts to indicate how supportive I am of the policy.
posted by DU at 11:09 AM on May 11, 2007

"Wow. If I'd known how fascist MeFi was, I wouldn't have been so eager to pay my $5."

Caveat emptor, chump. I always recommend lurking for a while before dropping the $5. Because I am a fascist.

"The only contact I received was a spanking email telling me to "knock if off". "

I usually get IMs which start threatening and devolve into conviviality. Perhaps you're just not as charming?

"Some sites have a link or preference that allow users to see deleted posts/comments. I've found that this helps keep moderators accountable (or the posters trusting, depending on your view). All the goodwill in the world in the world is less useful than transparency."

Too bad you paid $5 to join THIS SITE, which has more goodwill than you'd like, but doesn't cater to your every transparent whim. You must feel like a sucker.
posted by klangklangston at 11:09 AM on May 11, 2007

I'm not fat, there's just [more inside].
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 11:09 AM on May 11, 2007

You are currently the heavyweight champ of jokey, off-topic or unhelpful comments on AskMe, DU. I'm not shocked that Jess would be triggerhappy. I've said it before: I don't think you recognize that you're making these arguments from an outlier position.

I'm not talking about an AskMe thread. Though it is revealing that you think it's OK to err on the side of deleting comments from people you don't like.
posted by DU at 11:11 AM on May 11, 2007

"Obviously I was using "evil" hyperbolically. But yes, I do consider editing a post in a way that changes the intent of the poster without at the very least asking them beforehand to be of a kind with low-grade fascism. Kind of a bureaucratic, homogenizing, gentrifying fascism that prefers conformity to letting people represent themselves (however lamely)."

And now, ladies and gents, we see the vast failure of American high school civics.
posted by klangklangston at 11:11 AM on May 11, 2007

But yes, I do consider editing a post in a way that changes the intent of the poster without at the very least asking them beforehand to be of a kind with low-grade fascism.

So do I. That's why we usually get ahold of the user if we're going to make an edit that recharacterizes their intent.

I have never, ever seen an askmetafilter question where removing the "there's [more inside]" has had any affect on the intent or meaning of the post. It's consistently a substanceless one-off joke, like the buffer panels on Sunday comic strips. Even then, though, every once in a blue moon someone will write the [more inside] joke so heavily into the structure of the break between front page and [MI] that I've just left it alone to save the headache.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:12 AM on May 11, 2007

jessamyn deleted some comments of mine the other day because she (mistakenly) thought I was making metacomments about the post that belonged in MeTa. The only contact I received was a spanking email telling me to "knock if off".

I removed one of your comments and I dropped you an email to let you know with the subject "please knock it off" which perhaps didn't come across the way I intended it. If we think people are not going to understand comments we moderate, we'll sometimes do that. You asked to not be contacted via email again so you can either email us to ask about other deletions or you can bring them to MetaTalk.

We have an admin-facing list of what gets edited or removed so that the things we do are transparent to each other and that seems to work for most purposes. We're contactable via email or here if people have specific questions about mdoeration generally.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:12 AM on May 11, 2007

"I'm not talking about an AskMe thread. Though it is revealing that you think it's OK to err on the side of deleting comments from people you don't like."

"Now we see the violence inherent in the system!"
posted by klangklangston at 11:12 AM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Why not just add something on the end of the rss feed - like the characters '[more to the question]'. Then the RSS feed would say things like "Should I divorce him? Of course theres [more to the question]" instead of "What should I name my three legged cat? Assuredly, there is". Which is less jarring.
posted by handee at 11:23 AM on May 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

Roofus you need a hobby. OK I need a hobby too, probably all of us need a hobby, but not as bad as you.
posted by LarryC at 11:23 AM on May 11, 2007

vacapinta : Anyways, I mention this because on every walk I get the same comment: "Hey! It's a Polar Bear!" I'd say, on average, I get this comment about 2-3 times a day. And so by now I've heard it hundreds, maybe thousands of times.

Next time it happens, just stare at them blankly. They same way you would if they just mentioned in passing that water is wet.

If they pursue this conversational thread, just say flatly, "Yes. It is a Polar Bear. I rescued her in Northern Alaska two years ago. You know, with the threats of global warming, they're finding it harder and harder to forage for food. I figured I would give her a good home."

If they point out that they were joking and admiring your dog, freak out, go on a long rant about how you sat outside in the freezing cold for days waiting for the chance to capture a live polar bear.

This won't have any effect on people asking you about it in the future, but it will give you something to laugh about whenever it does come up again.
posted by quin at 11:24 AM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

DU: "Yes, that's right. Personal. That totally makes sense. A person makes a tiny, dumb joke and it gets a MetaTalk complaint asking for a change in how the software works to prevent it from happening again. I ask "WTF". And that makes me the crazy person."

Maybe you're just not reading thoroughly. It's not one tiny joke. It's not even one MeTa call-out. There have been times when this "joke" was being made several times a day, and there have been several MeTa threads on the topic in which people have overwhelmingly said DO NOT WANT. There have been very good reasons given as to why it is removed, and why this tiny, dumb joke is singled out for editing, but you're clamoring about evil and fascism and a lack of transparency. Yes, that tends to make you look like the crazy one.
posted by team lowkey at 11:27 AM on May 11, 2007

Though it is revealing that you think it's OK to err on the side of deleting comments from people you don't like.

Perhaps you could expand on how cortex noting that you've had a lot of off-topic comments deleted suggests that he doesn't like you. Because I tend to see hyperbolic unsubstantiated ad hominem attacks on those whose policies you are trying to decry as a kind of creeping fascism.

I don't, actually. I think it's inane to throw around the word fascism as if you don't know what it means.
posted by OmieWise at 11:27 AM on May 11, 2007

it is revealing that you think it's OK to err on the side of deleting comments from people you don't like.

Actually usually the reverse is true. Though I like almost everyone here, if someone is getting on my nerves I'll be double-plus-extra uncertain about removing any of their stuff and will usually just leave it in, lest I be perceived as wrathful.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:30 AM on May 11, 2007

In that case: Screw you jessamyn!

(not really)
posted by Pollomacho at 11:38 AM on May 11, 2007

I don't dislike you, DU. I dislike comments that lazily disregard the established askme guidelines, because they create work for us; and I dislike that you do so habitually and without apparently addressing or even acknowledging that. It's not personal, and it doesn't motivate me to go after you; it just makes your stuff pop out, from an administrative perspective, when I'm trying to give the flag queue a pass, for example.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:39 AM on May 11, 2007

Tell us the truth vacapinta, how many chicks have you picked up gallivanting around town with one of these? I may have to add one to my repertoire.
posted by peacay at 11:39 AM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

And you people complain about Wikipedia.
posted by nixerman at 11:43 AM on May 11, 2007

[I] will usually just leave it in, lest I be perceived as wrathful.

Noble, but the truth of the matter is that punks jump up to get beat down.
posted by kosem at 11:48 AM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

DU: gtfo
posted by Stynxno at 11:51 AM on May 11, 2007

kosem-You ain't no punk, you punk.
posted by OmieWise at 11:53 AM on May 11, 2007

Hey! It's a polar bear!
posted by Zed_Lopez at 11:56 AM on May 11, 2007

That would be a hell of a mashup, Omie.
posted by kosem at 11:56 AM on May 11, 2007

Could the administrators please give DU his five dollars back

Seconded. He clearly is not enjoying the MetaFilter Experience, and I think it would be a nice gesture to give him his five bucks and a pat on the back and point him to greener pastures.
posted by languagehat at 11:57 AM on May 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

Hey, vacapinta, is that an albino collie?
posted by Cranberry at 11:57 AM on May 11, 2007

DU: [go outside]
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 11:57 AM on May 11, 2007

Give the mods a break. If they don't delete a certain quota of comments monthly, they don't get their gift cards.

I hate that [more inside] stuff.
posted by inigo2 at 12:02 PM on May 11, 2007

If a dissatisfied $5.00 noob has "put his 2¢ in" 250 times, is any refund due to him?
posted by Cranberry at 12:02 PM on May 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

I think it's funny that the user with the worst askme answer history out of the entire userbase (namely, an entire almost perfectly consistent history of derails, jokes and general non-answers) thinks getting his comments deleted is personal. Since tracking down all of DU's nonsense is rather a job for our moderators, I dare say the better term would be professional.
posted by shmegegge at 12:03 PM on May 11, 2007

Give the mods a break. If they don't delete a certain quota of comments monthly, they don't get their gift cards.

I've got my eyes on these super-cute capris at Old Navy.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:05 PM on May 11, 2007

Everybody ready? OK... Let's Gooooooooo.

One-two-three-four I'm a shock trooper in a stupor
yes I am
I'm a nazi schatze y'know I fight for fatherland

Im a shock trooper in a stupor yes I am
Im a nazi schatze y'know I fight for fatherland

Little german boy being pushed around
little german boy in a german town

Im a shock trooper in a stupor yes I am
Im a nazi schatze y'know I fight for fatherland

Im a shock trooper in a stupor yes I am
Im a nazi schatze y'know I fight for fatherland

Little german boy being pushed around
little german boy in a german town

Eins-zwei-drei-vier

Today your love, tomorrow the world
today your love, tomorrow the world
Today your love, tomorrow the world
today your love, tomorrow the world
Today your love, tomorrow the world
posted by Divine_Wino at 12:05 PM on May 11, 2007

I really want to play Battlefield 1942 now.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 12:08 PM on May 11, 2007

What about just a warning on the posting page say "Please don't make cute [more inside] jokes. We will kill you."?
posted by blue_beetle at 12:25 PM on May 11, 2007

Tell us the truth vacapinta, how many chicks have you picked up gallivanting around town with one of these? I may have to add one to my repertoire.
posted by peacay at 11:39 AM

That looks like a male. They are slightly bigger and can be a bit more aggressive. Mine is a female and she looks exactly like this (photo taken by a friend)
posted by vacapinta at 12:35 PM on May 11, 2007

All the goodwill in the world in the world is less useful than transparency.

No.
posted by Kwine at 12:37 PM on May 11, 2007

I suggest we start shunning people, because this bit from Wikipedia is just too perfect:

Targets of shunning can include, but are not limited to apostates, whistleblowers, dissidents, persons classified as: "sinner" or "traitors" and other people who defy or who fail to comply with the standards established by the shunning group(s).

posted by smackfu at 12:39 PM on May 11, 2007

DU: And that makes me the crazy person.
klang: And now, ladies and gents, we see the vast failure of American high school civics.

When I went to your schools... I went to your churches... I went to your institutional learning facilities?! So how can you say I'm crazy?
posted by team lowkey at 12:41 PM on May 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

If you had a pretty pyr, what would you need with... oh, never mind.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:41 PM on May 11, 2007

That should have been "snuck in", which now makes me look triple foolish.
posted by roofus at 1:14 PM on May 11

Man, the roofus on fire.
posted by grateful at 12:44 PM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Right, I'm bored. Time for filthy jokes.

Q: How do you stop a dog from humping your leg?




A: Pick him up and suck his cock.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:53 PM on May 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

I wish I could bring myself to favorite that.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 12:55 PM on May 11, 2007

Well, I was going to tell this joke:

Q: How do you stop sucking a dog's cock?
A: Put him down and let him hump your leg.

But now my thunder has been stolen.
posted by Kwine at 1:05 PM on May 11, 2007

If we're done with that, can we have another round of Put the damn question on the front page already, or maybe some nice Rant-thinly-disguised-as-a-questionFilter?
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 1:25 PM on May 11, 2007

Why not just add something on the end of the rss feed - like the characters '[more to the question]'. Then the RSS feed would say things like "Should I divorce him? Of course theres [more to the question]" instead of "What should I name my three legged cat? Assuredly, there is". Which is less jarring.

The only reason that the phrase "[more inside]" exists is because it's not obvious from the front page of ask.metafilter.com whether or not there is more to the question. However, on the question page and in the RSS feed it is blatently obvious that there is in fact more to the question because it's all right there in front of you. Adding useless redundant crap in brackets for the sole reason of allowing some incredibly lame people to continue to make a tired pun/joke that has literally been done hundreds of times over the years and is completely worn out is the last thing I want to see added to Ask Metafilter.
posted by Rhomboid at 1:38 PM on May 11, 2007

"I suggest we start shunning people, because this bit from Wikipedia is just too perfect"

I will not take the thing from your hand.
posted by klangklangston at 1:47 PM on May 11, 2007

Before there was the formal [more inside] button people used to add it anyway. I liked it best when people used a bracketed plus sign to indicate that there was more inside. I was sorry to see that go. I thought it elegant and descriptive. Were [more inside] to get replaced with [+], there would be far fewer jokes incorporating it.
posted by OmieWise at 1:51 PM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Were [more inside] to get replaced with [+], there would be far fewer jokes incorporating it.

Though it would look like the favoriting link. This is an awesome idea otherwise, something symbolic that can't be used as part of a sentence. A little arrow? Something?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:10 PM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Were [more inside] to get replaced with [+], there would be far fewer jokes incorporating it.

But now we've got [+] to let us favorite things, so the double-usage would be a bit confusing. On preview, yeah.

Honestly, I don't understand why everyone is ignoring handee's simple and level-headed suggestion to add some "[more inside]"-style text to the rss feed when needed. As far as I've heard, people have two problems with the [more inside] jokes:

1) It looks funny in the rss feed
2) You don't like cuteness

Making the question appear the same in the rss feed and on the front AksMe page just makes good sense, and solves problem #1. As for the other problem, maybe people need to lighten up. There are plenty of other lame jokes and puns going on around here, and people (myself included) generally seem tickled by them. Y'all seem to think this particular breed of joke is infuriating, but come on . . . it's mildly annoying, at worst. Just deal with it.
posted by vytae at 2:15 PM on May 11, 2007

Perhaps an ellipses?

ExampleFilter: I need a good lorem ipsum generator, but there are a couple of important caveats. [...]

It's straightforward as a common-trade symbol, but non-textual. Of course, then we could end up with double ellipses...
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:17 PM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Since tracking down all of DU's nonsense is rather a job for our moderators, I dare say the better term would be professional.

Is that the Victorian "professional", the Amsterdam "professional" or the real-world, everyday "professional"?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:21 PM on May 11, 2007

Oh god... AskMe, not AksMe! sorry!
posted by vytae at 2:22 PM on May 11, 2007

"Is that the Victorian "professional", the Amsterdam "professional" or the real-world, everyday "professional"?"

$10, same as Cleveland.
posted by klangklangston at 2:30 PM on May 11, 2007

Making the question appear the same in the rss feed and on the front AksMe page just makes good sense, and solves problem #1.

disagree on the 'good sense'. see my comment here.

many people* who use RSS readers do so because they can get MORE information FASTER. Reducing the amount of information available before click-through affects them detrimentally.

*IE ME ME ME ME ME ME
posted by fishfucker at 2:41 PM on May 11, 2007

Damn you admins and your unfiltered <font> privileges! *shakes ceilingcat pitchfork*
posted by Rhomboid at 3:17 PM on May 11, 2007

Oh, and yes, removing the full text from the RSS feed and having only the opening line just so it looks like the front page would be a mind-numbingly stupid thing to do.
posted by Rhomboid at 3:24 PM on May 11, 2007

We should have an extra button:

[Post] [Preview] [I just want validation]

And if you click it it makes up a fake page with a bunch of fake users saying stuff like "Yes, you're right. Your husband/girlfriend/doctor/teacher should be sternly reprimanded"
posted by aubilenon at 3:42 PM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

[ Post ] [ Preview ] [ I need a hug ]
posted by Rhomboid at 4:45 PM on May 11, 2007

aw, hugs Rhomboid
posted by Cranberry at 5:09 PM on May 11, 2007

Hugs all around! [more hugs inside]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:18 PM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Don't forget the spankings. We should have a good round of them as well.
posted by mds35 at 6:19 PM on May 11, 2007

I second the arrow thing. I quite like how MetaChat has it set up.

I also second the hugs.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 6:58 PM on May 11, 2007

vacapinta, she's adorable. Even more adorable than her conspecific, Knut.
posted by katemonster at 10:19 PM on May 11, 2007

Look, just do what I do, and [pettily], don't answer any questions which end with

if it's enough of a problem that it bothers the majority, it'll sort itself out.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 12:23 AM on May 12, 2007

I like the ellipses idea.

(But I'm not hugging anyone.)
posted by rjs at 2:33 AM on May 12, 2007

And after the spankings?
posted by h00py at 7:53 AM on May 12, 2007

Is that the Victorian "professional", the Amsterdam "professional" or the real-world, everyday "professional"?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:21 PM on May 11 [+] [!]

Can't it be all three?
posted by shmegegge at 10:10 AM on May 12, 2007

Yeah, but it'll cost you extra.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:41 AM on May 12, 2007

Are you a cop? If you're a cop you have to tell me or else it's entrapment. I know my rights.
posted by shmegegge at 11:35 AM on May 12, 2007

N'th the [...], the mecha [Read More:] can still be used for "witty" jokes.

i.e. "My eyes hurt when I read! Help me [Read More:]"
posted by philomathoholic at 4:28 PM on May 12, 2007

Come for the snark. Stay for the fascism.
posted by The Deej at 6:03 PM on May 12, 2007

If a dissatisfied $5.00 noob has "put his 2¢ in" 250 times, is any refund due to him?

Hold it! I've been paying $5 every time I post! Damn!
posted by The Deej at 6:16 PM on May 12, 2007

Come for the snark. Stay for the fascism entrapment.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:58 AM on May 13, 2007