Beanplating SLYT

May 3, 2012 12:49 PM

Okay, so what does SLYT really mean?

The Mefi Wiki says:
SLYT: Single Link You Tube. A post that points to one video clip, usually (but not necessarily) hosted at YouTube.com

But I think general usage of the term means more than that. The definition above seems to boil down to: "This FPP has one video link". Common usage seems to actually be: "This FPP has one video link, and it is the only link in this FPP"

When I posted my first FPP I applied the "SLYT" text even though said FPP contained two links total (thus following what I understood to be the appropriate way to use it).

Today I see another FPP using "SLYT" in the same manner that I did.

This is major beanplating - I know. I just gotta get this figured out.

posted by MustardTent to Etiquette/Policy at 12:49 PM (57 comments total)

I always read it to mean 'this FPP has exactly one link, which is a link to a YouTube video'.
posted by unSane at 12:52 PM on May 3, 2012 [7 favorites]

I just gotta get this figured out.

Ain't gonna happen.
posted by Think_Long at 12:53 PM on May 3, 2012

It means "this is really awesome, and it's so awesome I'm not putting in any effort to add any other information. It awesomely stands by itself"
posted by Big_B at 12:54 PM on May 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

Single Link You Tube.
If there are Multiple YouTube links, then it should be MLYT.
However, posters do not always describe their posts accurately.
posted by zarq at 12:54 PM on May 3, 2012

Two wrongs don't make a right.
posted by Mizu at 12:54 PM on May 3, 2012

I always read it to mean 'this FPP has exactly one link, which is a link to a YouTube video'.

This is how I think of it. But it's also a made-up word described on an unofficial wiki, by wendell. And I also always found it strange since most of the time you can tell that's what it is, but I guess people on mobile devices can't hover over links, so it's polite to tell them "Hey you will be watching a video now, for this post here."
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:58 PM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

SLYT a playful nod to that old expression, "Shelly Long, Your Tuba", which in the eighties was another way to say "It's just one video, nothing else". Before You Tube and community weblogs came onto the scene the expression seemed sort of impractical and seldom came up in conversation.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 12:58 PM on May 3, 2012 [11 favorites]

Sort of a cargo cult at this point. I think it was originally a term of derision that people started including in their post to ward off complaints about yet another thin FPP consisting of a single link to a video on YouTube, back when YouTube was new and novel, and some users here thought that FPPs should consist of more than just a single link to a YouTube video.
posted by Edogy at 1:02 PM on May 3, 2012 [7 favorites]

The Wiki is saying the same thing as what you describe as Common Usage -- there's one link, it's to a video, which is usually but not always on YouTube.

Your usage is incorrect, but not punishable by death.

We will, however, require that you bake us cookies.

Or beans.

But we prefer cookies.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:02 PM on May 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

Cookie Beans!
posted by zarq at 1:05 PM on May 3, 2012

You are WRONG. I prefer BEANS.

I think.
posted by gauche at 1:06 PM on May 3, 2012

Well okay that was me - but it looks like I did it wrong. I was intending to say that the link went to a YouTube video, so if you clicked it, music would start playing.

Sigh.
posted by carter at 1:07 PM on May 3, 2012

I'll never get used to all these new-fangled expressions. So mods, please feel free to edit to delete the 'SLYT' bit if it is confusing, inappropriate, etc.
posted by carter at 1:09 PM on May 3, 2012

carter, that post was perfect. You are fine.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:09 PM on May 3, 2012

Oh, for that you'd use: APNRRMuYTL

(AutoPlaying Non-RickRoll Musical YouTube Link.)
posted by zarq at 1:10 PM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Don't try to figure it out. Don't use it. It's terrible and needs to die.
posted by empath at 1:13 PM on May 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

Carter: I apologize that posting this made you feel like I was putting your post in a negative light. The reason I did no more than just link to it was to simply emphasize that I saw SLYT used the way I once did, and to avoid something like this.
posted by MustardTent at 1:14 PM on May 3, 2012

That is, I meant to avoid making the poster of my second example feel like they did something wrong.
posted by MustardTent at 1:15 PM on May 3, 2012

No worries, MustardTent.

carter, that post was perfect. You are fine.

Yay!
posted by carter at 1:16 PM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Yeah, it 'means' Single Link YouTube and if it is more than one link or not a link to YouTube than it is not an according-to-Hoyle SLYT. However, colloquially, it is acceptable to use for basically any "this post is really about this video" post, even if it is Vimeo, even if there isn't just the one link.

It's like people using 'decimate' to mean 'completely destroy', except it doesn't make moan and groan at all.
posted by dirtdirt at 1:21 PM on May 3, 2012

So,
Liketh
You
Taters?
posted by SpiffyRob at 1:21 PM on May 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

Is "SLYT" unique to MeFi? To me it seems like it should be "SYTL" for "Single You Tube Link", but I just chalk it up to yet another bit of internet slang I shouldn't question.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 1:24 PM on May 3, 2012

SLYT a playful nod to that old expression, "Shelly Long, Your Tuba"...

I can't believe this stupid Hollywood urban legend is still going around. Do your research. This was a rumor started by Shelly Long's PR people during the time she was the official spokesperson for Tip-Top Tubas, who were the market leader across the states at the time (since supplanted by the Japanese Takahashi Tuba and Salmon Roe Concern.)

The real origin of the phrase dates back to vaudeville. If you wanted to make a living in the vaudeville scene, you had to tour extensively. A vaudeville act would, on average, spend 180 days on the road and 180 days performing. Vocalists found it necessary to preserve their voices through this grueling schedule, and would be reticent to really belt out songs. Because there was no real rehearsal period and because each vaudeville house was built differently, with different acoustics, they really had no idea how hard to sing to make sure it hit the cheap seats. Vaudeville houses would often get complaints from audience members in the back of the house, because they couldn't hear anything (coincidentally, this is where the well-known phrase "double-Z quiet" comes from; "ZZ" was as far back a seat as one could be in.)

So, in order to make sure people kept coming back, vaudeville house proprietors hired a guy to stand in the back and make sure the vocals were coming in loudly enough. Now, because you couldn't interrupt a performance, he was given a sign that read "SLYT," which was short for "Sing Louder, You're Turning." "Turning" was old vaudeville slang, short for "turning away," in the sense that people were getting up and leaving.

How did this end up being MetaFilter's indication for a single link YouTube (acronym completely coincidental, by the way) video? Well, YouTube was originally VaudTube and featured mainly modern-day recreations of vaudeville routines. These were amateurish at best, and the sound often suffered. When posting a particularly low-quality VaudTube link, you'd write "SLYT" after it to make sure that people knew to turn their sound up. Simple as that, really.
posted by griphus at 1:27 PM on May 3, 2012 [23 favorites]

Single Link YouTube means there is a single link, to YouTube, and no other links in the FPP.
posted by John Cohen at 1:35 PM on May 3, 2012

So
Long
You
Theorists
posted by snorkmaiden at 1:38 PM on May 3, 2012

Man, this is driving me crazy. There's usually a few jokes about it whenever the SLYT thing comes up in Metatalk, but I swear to god there was an epic riffing session at one point on alternative de-initialismizations of SLYT and I have no idea how to locate it.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:41 PM on May 3, 2012

ƧLYT is the name of my KOЯN tribute band.
posted by theodolite at 1:41 PM on May 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

griphus: "This was a rumor started by Shelly Long's PR people during the time she was the official spokesperson for Tip-Top Tubas, who were the market leader across the states at the time (since supplanted by the Japanese Takahashi Tuba and Salmon Roe Concern.)"

Remind me to buy you a beer in celebration of this comment at the next meetup we both attend.
posted by zarq at 1:47 PM on May 3, 2012

Some Loudly Yodelling Tenors (SLYT)
posted by snorkmaiden at 1:47 PM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

I would favorite a SLYT post that consisted of zarq and griphus talking at a meetup, especially if you guys figured out how to hyperlink half of your words. It would be like a LARPed FPP.
posted by catlet at 1:52 PM on May 3, 2012 [4 favorites]

They were a shitty band.
posted by Burhanistan at 2:02 PM on May 3, 2012

cortex: “Man, this is driving me crazy. There's usually a few jokes about it whenever the SLYT thing comes up in Metatalk, but I swear to god there was an epic riffing session at one point on alternative de-initialismizations of SLYT and I have no idea how to locate it.”

This is a total long shot, but is it possible you're thinking of the epic riffing session we had regarding the acronym SLBOE? Eh, probably not. But that one was fun.
posted by koeselitz at 2:20 PM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Head, SLBOE, knees and toes.

Knees and toes.
posted by griphus at 2:21 PM on May 3, 2012

> This is a total long shot, but is it possible you're thinking of the epic riffing session we had regarding the acronym SLBOE? Eh, probably not.

Au contraire, I'll bet that's exactly what he was thinking of, and epic it was. (Still laughing because of epic!)
posted by languagehat at 2:29 PM on May 3, 2012

Was it this one, cortex?
posted by batmonkey at 2:30 PM on May 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

I googled initialismizations and got this. How meta.
posted by cjorgensen at 2:34 PM on May 3, 2012

> Was it this one, cortex?

Dammit, I spoke too soon—that must be it. But I didn't participate in that one, so the hell with it. (So long, yesterday's thread!)
posted by languagehat at 2:37 PM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

So Long You turkeys
posted by edgeways at 2:46 PM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm looking forward to more single link animated gif posts. Mainly for the acronym.
posted by iotic at 2:47 PM on May 3, 2012

Okay, so what does SLYT really mean?

It means the poster is an extremely promiscuous linker, but chooses to link up only once each day, despite great temptation to do multiples.
posted by jamjam at 2:54 PM on May 3, 2012

postsluts
posted by Think_Long at 2:59 PM on May 3, 2012

Sandra Lobbed Yon Turnip. Sandra's got a wicked strong arm.
posted by From Bklyn at 3:24 PM on May 3, 2012

It and its variations are a way of indicating contempt for other users, by implying that they are too damned stupid to see with their very own eyeballs that there is only one link in the post.

Yes, I know that's not the intent. The intent, as far as I can tell, is to keep my annoyance-at-trivia level bubbling along at a slow simmer. Heh.

Or it means Show Languagehat Your Twinkie. One or the other.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:03 PM on May 3, 2012

Dang, batmonkey beat me to it.

Well, uh, here's an EPMD video, then. SLYT.
posted by box at 4:19 PM on May 3, 2012

I interpret its meta-meaning as being 'yes, I know it's just a fricken' youtube link and I'm aware how some people feel about those but I have weighed the pros and cons and, just trust me on this one, OK'.

I think it had more utility when people were down on SLYTs and SLFPPs in general but they seem to be taken on their merits these day, which is OK by me.
posted by unSane at 4:19 PM on May 3, 2012

I am once again going to weigh in with my strong preference for posting something more like "French and Saunders's great ABBA parody is so emblematic of the 1970s" than "ABBA lovers look out (SLYT)".
posted by Sidhedevil at 4:41 PM on May 3, 2012

Show Languagehat Your Twinkie. -- Sorrow, loneliness. Yes. Terpitude.
posted by crunchland at 5:13 PM on May 3, 2012

> Show Languagehat Your Twinkie

But... I don't want to be exposed to twinkie!
posted by languagehat at 5:48 PM on May 3, 2012 [4 favorites]

Something Like Your Television.

Of course, you'd need a television to understand the reference. Naturally it's pejorative.
posted by mwhybark at 6:07 PM on May 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

Seems Like You're Twitching.
posted by arcticseal at 6:51 PM on May 3, 2012

For some reason, I read it as SNIKT.

Which would give the whole "baby vs. lion" video another dimension.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:00 PM on May 3, 2012

Give me a link, Vasili. One link only, please.
posted by b1tr0t at 7:08 PM on May 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

(double) :P
posted by TangerineGurl at 9:45 PM on May 3, 2012

Sly-T, long-forgotten nineties rapper.
posted by Decani at 10:57 PM on May 3, 2012

Okay, so what does SLYT really mean?

Ahhhh Grasshopper... What does a rainbow mean? The way of the SLYT is subtle. Perfection can never be reaches only strived for.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:02 AM on May 4, 2012

>LOOK

You are in a MetaFilter thread. There is an exit north marked FLAMEOUT and another south marked 'THATSABANNIN'. Languagehat is here.

>TALK TO LANGUAGEHAT

Languagehat doesn't want to talk to you.

>I

You have a blue Twinkie, a red Twinkie, a green Twinkie and a yellow Twinkie

>LOOK AT LANGUAGEHAT

Languagehat is wearing a hat and a feather boa.

>GET HAT

Which hat do you mean - Languagehat or the Fedora?

>GET FEDORA

Languagehat doesn't want to give you the Fedora.

>LOOK AT FEDORA

It's a pink fedora with a jaunty brim and the words SLYT stencilled on the front.

>SHOW LANGUAGEHAT YELLOW TWINKIE

Languagehat is impressed. He gives you the Fedora

>N

This account is disabled.
posted by unSane at 5:10 AM on May 4, 2012 [12 favorites]

When I was still on dialup, I appreciated the SLYT notice since my connection was too slow to watch a video. I would then know not to click on it. That went on for years until Modernity came to rural NH via DSL. When the person signing me up for DSL asked what speed I wanted and started to explain the costs, I shouted, "The fastest one! The fastest one you've got!" And so it is that I have no money but very speedy internet.
posted by Hobgoblin at 10:30 AM on May 4, 2012 [1 favorite]