gnocchi and a double-fudge cupcake February 23, 2010 3:53 AM   Subscribe

Pasta and cupcakes? What is going on here? (links to AskMe that may be NSFW)

I've seen this happen before in other threads, although I can't find an example after a bit of searching. I do remember it rubbing me a bit wrong in the past, though - and usually it is because the time stamp of the comments is a bit more separated, and its clear that someone saw an answer they liked, and basically copied it while changing a few things. It strikes me almost like a somewhat informal kind of plagiarism. Here, though, sallybrown's comment came roughly 60 seconds after bondcliff's. I suppose its within the realm of possibility that they were both writing a similar point-of-view answer to the question, and decided to use 2 different types of Italian main courses, but it still seems...off - unless there's some trend of Italian restaurants serving ridiculously good chocolate cupcakes for desert that's somehow escaped my attention? Is there something I missed in the FAQ about this or a general policy on this kind of thing?
posted by allkindsoftime to Etiquette/Policy at 3:53 AM (85 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

What about plates of beans?
posted by chillmost at 4:04 AM on February 23, 2010 [4 favorites]


This is amusing, but I don't see the problem.

Apparently blowjobs and cupcakes are linked in the human brain. Also sex and italian food.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 4:04 AM on February 23, 2010 [3 favorites]


chillmost, let me just say that I LOVED your plate of beans. The broccoli was good, but MY GOD THOSE BEANS WERE AMAZING.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 4:08 AM on February 23, 2010 [7 favorites]


That's very odd.
I mean what kind of Italian restaurant serves cupcakes for dessert? I'd think a tiramisu would be more appropriate.
posted by vacapinta at 4:09 AM on February 23, 2010 [5 favorites]


Past & cupcakes have nothing on a good grilled cheese sandwich.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:10 AM on February 23, 2010 [19 favorites]


pasta, dammit
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:13 AM on February 23, 2010


My goodness that's insanely strange. Great minds... or they're soul mates...
posted by disillusioned at 4:34 AM on February 23, 2010


Honestly, I'm as weirded out as you are. Totally coincidence.
posted by sallybrown at 4:39 AM on February 23, 2010 [2 favorites]


You know how you like softcore taters but then once in a while you get a hardcore tater and it totally blows your mind?
posted by DU at 4:41 AM on February 23, 2010 [7 favorites]


Pasta and ceci? Or pasta and peas? Or delicious, nutritious pasta and beans? I like cannolini beans in mine.
posted by fixedgear at 4:51 AM on February 23, 2010


Maybe both commenters were both just hungry.
posted by vapidave at 5:07 AM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


And it seems to be catching.
Damn, somebody order that thread a pizza stat.

(-1 "both") above
posted by vapidave at 5:18 AM on February 23, 2010


Cupcakes, beanplates, pancakes, HAMBURGER
posted by The White Hat at 5:20 AM on February 23, 2010 [2 favorites]


When I hovered over the links here before clicking, I totally misinterpreted what sexual practice the thread was going to be about.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:26 AM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


Horace, you couldn't stop thinking 'butt' when you saw 'but', could you?
posted by Grither at 5:34 AM on February 23, 2010


To be fair, this is not an isolated instance.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:46 AM on February 23, 2010 [2 favorites]


I like both.
posted by OmieWise at 5:51 AM on February 23, 2010


Is there something I missed in the FAQ about this or a general policy on this kind of thing?

I'm not sure what you're asking. I would say the timestamps make it impossible that this was one person copying another. You seem to think the same thing but then ask for a solution or policy. For what, coincidence?
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 6:33 AM on February 23, 2010


I was left wondering what foods equate to which other sex acts. What's anal work out to?
posted by Chrysostom at 6:38 AM on February 23, 2010


All I want is a woman who gives cupcakes like my grandma.

what?

Also, they are linked in the human brain. Good food and good sex both release oxytocin, the hormone related with love and trust.
posted by mccarty.tim at 6:40 AM on February 23, 2010


Here's the original grilled cheese sandwich thread, FWIW. Perhaps this is what got food and sex linked in MeFi's consciousness. Granted, I still want to play the neurology angle, in that they both release oxytocin and thus feel really good.
posted by mccarty.tim at 6:42 AM on February 23, 2010


Always about food with you people!
posted by The Whelk at 6:43 AM on February 23, 2010


Er, I forgot the link that should have gone for "grilled cheese sandwich thread."
posted by mccarty.tim at 6:43 AM on February 23, 2010


then whoever says "Jinx, buy me a coke" first

I'm sorry, the correct answer is: whoever says "jinx" first gets to punch the other person.

Which will then spawn an AskMe about whether it's worrisome that your partner keeps asking for "gelato."
posted by kittyprecious at 6:46 AM on February 23, 2010


Anyone with an fMRI want to set up a MeFi project where we scan people's brains in coitus and while eating foods to form scientifically-verified sex-to-food metaphors?

I assume it's safe to eat in an fMRI, right? I'll bring wipes to clean it off.
posted by mccarty.tim at 6:46 AM on February 23, 2010


Something something hardcore tater gnocchi.
posted by anthom at 6:48 AM on February 23, 2010


Tater cupcakes, anyone?
posted by jbickers at 6:49 AM on February 23, 2010


No euphemism here: I just fucking love to fuck cheese.
posted by Damn That Television at 7:25 AM on February 23, 2010 [2 favorites]


I think the reference to cupcakes stems from the recent trend of cupcakeries sweeping the country. However, the cupcake crash is impending.
posted by desjardins at 7:25 AM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


Food analogies to sex are pretty common. And the wacky coincidence was acknowledged here.

I think it's a little weird to be insinuating some sort of plagiarism.
posted by desuetude at 7:29 AM on February 23, 2010 [2 favorites]


This girl once gave me a great blow job, but I was kinda disappointed when I learned she was just copying someone else.
posted by planet at 7:36 AM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


Something something hardcore tater gnocchi.
posted by anthom at 9:48 AM on February 23 [+] [!]


Tater cupcakes, anyone?
posted by jbickers at 9:49 AM on February 23 [+] [!]


The jinx virus is spreading CLOSE THE BORDERS BEFORE IT INFECTS THE FRONTPAGE
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:50 AM on February 23, 2010


Every once in a million comments, something weird happens. We definitely deleted some lulzy food/sex comments after that point.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:51 AM on February 23, 2010


cupcakes are teh new grilled cheese.
posted by special-k at 7:52 AM on February 23, 2010


I can't recall ever having a bad cupcake.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:02 AM on February 23, 2010


Creme-filled Ho Hos amirite
posted by klangklangston at 8:15 AM on February 23, 2010


Yeah, there's not really anything to say here other than "two people made food/sex analogies at the same time, it was odd". Food-as-sex metaphors have been around for a long time; certainly they've been rolled out on AskMe any number of times, whether because the answerer is trying to bring some levity to their answer or because, I guess, they'd rather be euphemistic than type out the bits about the actual sex acts and props and so forth.

The only problem I have with any of it is the way it can, as in this case, lead to a critical mass of people making food/sex jokes or reacting to same in a noisy way which creates a bunch of cleanup work for us as we chase around the folks who want to get it out of their system. But that's a general human behavior problem that's not contained to food/sex analogies.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:20 AM on February 23, 2010


Whatever. It's a useful metaphor, no big deal.

However: I did start laughing uncontrollably when we got to cupcakes with gravy. Are we talking Italian-American "gravy" (ie, tomato sauce) or Southern "gravy" (ie, meat drippings with flour and cream)? Either way, it makes for a pretty delightful mental image.
posted by ourobouros at 8:45 AM on February 23, 2010


I just pulled an analogy out of my ass, which is where most of my posts come from. Then I saw Sallybrown's post and I was kind of freaked out about it. I just chalked it up to coincidence and moved on, then the rest of the posts sort of jumped on a bandwagon for some reason.

I felt a little bad that I started something like that, but what are you gonna do?

FWIW, cupcakes and lasagna both rule.

"A lot o' people don't realize what's really going on. They view life as a bunch o' unconnected incidents 'n things. They don't realize that there's this, like, lattice o' coincidence that lays on top o' everything. Give you an example, show you what I mean: suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' beans. Suddenly someone'll say, like, "plate," or "beans," or "plate o' beans" out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconsciousness."
posted by bondcliff at 8:48 AM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


I was left wondering what foods equate to which other sex acts. What's anal work out to?

Pasta = regular sex because it's regular food and who doesn't like pasta?
Chocolate cupcake = blowjob because some are good and some are bad but goddamn the good is good
Seafood = anal because not everyone is crazy about it. (There's also a really crude "see? food!" joke in here somewhere)
Christmas fruit cake = handjob because who the hell wants one of these? You just end up giving them to your relativ- ...actually, forget that last part.
Taters = Well, we all know what taters are.
posted by battlebison at 8:49 AM on February 23, 2010 [6 favorites]


Don't forget brownies.
posted by bondcliff at 8:53 AM on February 23, 2010


Metafilter: a general human behavior problem that's not contained to food/sex analogies.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:01 AM on February 23, 2010


Of course it was plagiarism, silly people. What I'm confused about, though, is this. Sallybrown, you obviously reworded, retyped, proofread, and posted your new message in under two minutes.

What took you so long?
posted by Malor at 9:04 AM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


I can't recall ever having a bad cupcake.

Even a bad cupcake is better than a day of tofu.
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:10 AM on February 23, 2010


(is that a common idiom? "even bad sex is better than a day at work")
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:13 AM on February 23, 2010


What about bad sex at work?
posted by kingbenny at 9:15 AM on February 23, 2010


I think this is actually an example of the human brain's ability to find pattern in coincidence. It's like the digits of pi - if you read down the digits, you may start to get the sense that there are an uncanny number of "remarkable" or "pattern-like" sequences. For example, I've bolded some "eerie" patterns in pi:

.....7385044527182892749689.....
.....3092666123458887310.....
.....599725222228080142357.....
.....2113499999983729.....

The problem is, the sheer number of sequences that the human brain considers interesting, or "pattern-like", makes coincidence exceedingly common. In nature, this sort of pattern-induction is quite useful, because the ability to recognize patterns is crucial to the process of learning to avoid threats. However in modern society, our overactive pattern-sensing cognitive equipment often sends us awry; we end up worshipping pieces of toast because our poor brains have found a match to the face of the Virgin Mary in the toast pattern, or we assume black people are inherently dangerous or poor because our silly little pattern-sensors notice that in the US, crime rate and unemployment in African American populations is high. In the wild, hyperactive pattern-recognition was evolutionarily favored because the occasional false-positive pattern was less dangerous than occasionally missing a pattern that did exist. Now that we're not being hunted by saber-tooth tigers, it's usually a good idea to dial back the pattern-recognition sensitivity, or at least take what it tells us with a grain of salt.

This has been another episode of "Ramblings with Salvor". Until next time,

* 1 favorite goes to the creator of the best catch phrase.

posted by Salvor Hardin at 9:15 AM on February 23, 2010 [2 favorites]


Clearly the answer is to clone the saber-toothed tigers and let them roam freely in our towns.
posted by The Whelk at 9:19 AM on February 23, 2010


"Don't Be Hard up! Be Hardin with Salvor!"
posted by The Whelk at 9:19 AM on February 23, 2010


(is that a common idiom? "even bad sex is better than a day at work")

Unfamiliar to me. The comparable idiom that comes to mind is the t-shirt/bumpersticker classic "Sex is like pizza: even when it's bad, it's pretty good".
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:20 AM on February 23, 2010


Which isn't really an idiom at all, I guess, since its meaning is transparently parseable1 without special knowledge, but let's not be pedants2.

1 Parsable?
2 No, let's do!

posted by cortex (staff) at 9:27 AM on February 23, 2010 [3 favorites]


Oooh, I hope we have Italian tonight!
posted by amtho at 9:40 AM on February 23, 2010


I think that bad sex at work usually falls under the umbrella of sexual harassment.

But if we are going to be pedantic, I had actually translated for the international audience "even a dud root is better than a day at work" - just in case that's any less transparently parseable.
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:43 AM on February 23, 2010


Eh, I'm just hoping for cupcakes. I've been having so much Italian recently ;)
posted by Salvor Hardin at 9:43 AM on February 23, 2010


Lasagna cupcakes?
posted by pianomover at 9:50 AM on February 23, 2010


My husband is making me eggplant marinara tonight - my favorite dinner. I think I'll surprise him with chocolate cupcakes as a thank you. He really likes chocolate cupcakes.

I mean.....who doesn't? They're delicious. I might have one myself if I'm not too full.
posted by iconomy at 9:51 AM on February 23, 2010


Curry linguini?
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:52 AM on February 23, 2010


Sometimes all I have time to make is cupcakes.
posted by theredpen at 10:06 AM on February 23, 2010


What took you so long?

I was busy eating a cupcake, obviously.
posted by sallybrown at 10:16 AM on February 23, 2010 [4 favorites]


Leaving aside the coincidence, the idea of "plagiarism" in AskMe answers is really weird to me. I think people benefit from hearing essentially the same answer from different people. If a bunch of people say "It's no big deal, you're overthinking it," then presumably that makes it easier for the poster to realize that it's no big deal and they're overthinking it. Throw in some sort of over-vigilant "You stole my answer!" taboo, and then suddenly you throw off that dynamic.

Admittedly, if someone really did just retype a multi-paragraph answer, changing a few words, that would be strange behavior, but even calling that plagiarism is a stretch, considering the original comment is timestamped directly above. It's like calling someone a plagiarist for walking out of a movie and repeating their favorite lines.

To sum up: cure worse than disease.
posted by lore at 10:21 AM on February 23, 2010


All this talk of cupcakes isn't very considerate to those of us on diets.
posted by JeffK at 10:28 AM on February 23, 2010


The jinx virus is spreading CLOSE THE BORDERS BEFORE IT INFECTS THE FRONTPAGE

*moves to Madagascar*
posted by shakespeherian at 10:32 AM on February 23, 2010


I just wish I had the ability to make my own cupcakes. I'd probably spend less time on Metafilter.
posted by bondcliff at 10:33 AM on February 23, 2010


Am I the only person who doesn't especially like cupcakes? I'd much rather have pie or a danish (or basically anything pastry-based).
posted by jb at 11:00 AM on February 23, 2010


bondcliff, perhaps something like this might help your problem?
posted by deacon_blues at 11:01 AM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


I'm a fan of cookies, personally.
posted by serazin at 11:05 AM on February 23, 2010


Thanks, deacon_blues, now I just feel creepy.
posted by bondcliff at 11:18 AM on February 23, 2010


All I could think of when I read that was, "Sex reminds her of eating spaghetti."

We as a society clearly have some sort of pasta/sex brainlink.
posted by brina at 11:25 AM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


I like Greek.
posted by box at 11:34 AM on February 23, 2010


Feta, tzaziki, all that stuff.
posted by box at 11:38 AM on February 23, 2010


you ....pervert.
posted by The Whelk at 11:43 AM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


I just wish I had the ability to make my own cupcakes.

I hear it's a lot easier if you have a few ribs removed.

That, or take some baking classes.
posted by iconomy at 11:57 AM on February 23, 2010


Creme-filled Ho Hos amirite

Chocodiles for the reptilian bent.
posted by carsonb at 11:58 AM on February 23, 2010


I think the real mystery is why the foods in question aren't snails and oysters.
posted by valkyryn at 12:02 PM on February 23, 2010


All I could think of when I read that was, "Sex reminds her of eating spaghetti."

Slurp...slurp...What, no one else remembers Joe Millionaire?
posted by sallybrown at 12:04 PM on February 23, 2010


Forgetting the commonality, I find the concept of "copying" in AskMe replies really weird. I perceive benefit from reading what amounts to the same answer from various sources. If lots of posters say "plate of beans," then I suppose that makes it easier for the poster to realize that it's no big deal and they're overthinking it. Throw in some GRAR taboo, and shortly you throw off that interplay.

Admittedly, if someone really did just retype a multi-paragraph answer, changing a few words, that would be strange [find suitable replacement for 'behavior'], but even calling that plagiarism is a streeeeetch, considering the first comment is timestamped somewhere above. It's like calling someone a plagiarist for walking out of a movie and repeating their favorite lines. Their favorite lines.

To sum up: lasagna worse than cupcakes.
posted by pkphy39 at 12:44 PM on February 23, 2010


some people must really have too few problems in their lives that they have to go around a find new ones to poke at. i mean - i could almost see this complaint if the answers had been 20 minutes or more apart - but, as was pointed out upthread, do you really think sallybrown is such a fucking rockstar* that she could have read 149 words, come up with the idea to plagiarize, typed, edited, and proofed her 220 words, and posted it all within a minute? you find that more possible than a coincidence? do you also believe the moon landing was faked?



*not implying the rockstar status of sallybrown is actually in question
posted by nadawi at 1:02 PM on February 23, 2010


Chili's Molten Lava Cake is anal. Obvs.
posted by Juicy Avenger at 1:11 PM on February 23, 2010


There could possibly be an argument here if I ever wrote anything worth plagiarizing but I'm pretty sure I haven't.

Still though, at the bottom of every page is says "All posts are © their original authors.", so sallybrown will soon be hearing from my lawyer. Prepare to have your rockstar pants sued off, Ms. Brown.
posted by bondcliff at 1:19 PM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


Prepare to have your rockstar pants sued off, Ms. Brown.

Sadly for bondcliff, and despite my side career in rockstardom, I am a lawyer. *Courtroom erupts into melee*
posted by sallybrown at 1:45 PM on February 23, 2010 [8 favorites]


bondcliff's comment now has 69 favourites. Awesome.
posted by futureisunwritten at 2:04 PM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


I mean what kind of Italian restaurant serves cupcakes for dessert? I'd think a tiramisu would be more appropriate.

Let me blow your mind. (possibly NSFD)

Also, you didn't hear this from me, but you do NOT want to mess with the cupcake stealth seo mafia.
posted by juv3nal at 3:20 PM on February 23, 2010


Seafood = anal because not everyone is crazy about it. (There's also a really crude "see? food!" joke in here somewhere)

I would have said Greek. Maybe a souvlaki.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:48 PM on February 23, 2010


Fine, sallybrown. You win this time.

I'll just sit here, sulking about my loss and eating this GIANT PLATE OF LASAGNA with a CUPCAKE for dessert.

Sadly, I'm talking about food.
posted by bondcliff at 8:09 PM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


Yo, your lasagna was great and imma let you finish, but that cupcake was one of the best of all time!!
posted by sunshinesky at 5:49 PM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]


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