Comments on: Metafilter: More people have been to Russia than we have

Metafilter: More people have been to Russia than we have

168 — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:16:33 -0800

Let's collect a list of our favorite variants on "Metafilter: the mental equivalent of blue balls" that've been posted on the site so far!

I was reading that amazing bad advice best-of clip show thread, and came across "Metafilter: suit pants inexplicably stored in the freezer.". This reminded me of a really good one from last month, "Metafilter: a family reunion for some kind of emotionally stunted New England clan." And from 2009, "Metafilter: Helping awkward people have sex since 2003." And then a quick search brought up cortex's two lists from 2007. It's been 5 years since those lists were compiled! And they're thorough, not best of the best. I want an updated best-of list, please! What are your favorites?

By: jonmc

jonmc — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:19:26 -0800

Oh theyre all fucking special.

By: Slack-a-gogo

Slack-a-gogo — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:21:51 -0800

One man's best is another man's meh.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:25:27 -0800

MetaFilter: Thursday, July 19, 2012 5:22 PM Home FAQ Archives MeFi Wiki Tags Popular Best Of Search Random New Post My Profile Preferences Recent Activity Favorites

By: iamkimiam

iamkimiam — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:27:12 -0800

MetaFilter: community weblog

(it's a classic)

By: Elmore

Elmore — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:28:28 -0800

Metafilter: Let's collect a list of our favorite variants on Metafilter: Let's collect a list of our favorite variants on Metafilter: Let's collect a list of our favorite variants on Metafilter: Let's collect a list of our favorite variants on Metafilter: Let's collect a list of our favorite variants on Metafilter: Let's collect a list of our favorite variants on Metafilter: Let's collect a list of our favorite variants on Metafilter: Let's collect a list of our favorite variants on Metafilter: Let's collect a list of our favorite variants on, etc.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:33:06 -0800

Metafilter: Let's not and say we did Metafilter: Let's not and say we did
Metafilter: Let's not and say we did Metafilter: Let's not and say we did
Metafilter: Let's not and say we did Metafilter: Let's not and say we did
Metafilter: Let's not and say we did, etc

By: Elmore

Elmore — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:35:43 -0800

Metafilter: Let's collect a list of our favorites on Metafilter: Let's collect a list of our favorites

By: jjjjjjjijjjjjjj

jjjjjjjijjjjjjj — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:36:07 -0800

In early so that I can say: They're almost always "meh". I've seen, maybe, three or four thousand of them in the last 7 years. Maybe 3 of them weren't a totally forced, derail waste of effort.

Our lamest and laziest and most over-repeated in-joke by far. I'm not saying that people who like/use it should be sent to reeducation camps or anything; but I am saying that I'd remain silent and attentive to the argumentation of those who would advance such measures while such a debate/discussion was going on.

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:38:42 -0800

I've linked to this one before, but the comment just a couple down from this comment will always be my favorite, I think.

By: 256

256 — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:39:28 -0800

Metafilter: Our lamest and laziest and most over-repeated in-joke by far.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:39:36 -0800

Metafilter: like a lobotomy with a humanities icepick.

By: laconic skeuomorph

laconic skeuomorph — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:42:03 -0800

MetaFilter: You paste the words from a comment that suprised you here.

By: headnsouth

headnsouth — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:42:10 -0800

Those sometimes make me smile but they're really context-specific.

By: edgeways

edgeways — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:47:44 -0800

Metafilter:Metafilter:Metafilter:Metafilter:Metafilter:Metafilter

By: crunchland

crunchland — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:53:19 -0800

Our lamest and laziest and most over-repeated in-joke by far. -- There are some things that belong to metafilter, for better or worse, and participating in perpetuating them is a sort of initiation rite, and though the concept is way overplayed for some of us, there's always someone new who hasn't ever made the "Metafilter: _____________" joke. So anyone who has been here for awhile can sneer about, but we sort of have to lie in this bed we collectively made.

By: crunchland

crunchland — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:55:22 -0800

(See also.)

By: octobersurprise

octobersurprise — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:57:50 -0800

we sort of have to lie in this bed we collectively made.

Can't we ask for clean sheets, first?

By: Houstonian

Houstonian — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:02:46 -0800

Also compiled in October 2010.

By: eugenen

eugenen — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:09:41 -0800

I really like this one.

By: mph

mph — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:10:13 -0800

participating in perpetuating them is a sort of initiation rite

Is there any way I could skip this requirement? I mean, I have a lot of life experience related to insider jokes and such, so maybe just that and a five-page paper and I get the credit? For instance, after I got divorced I posted a really miserable screed on a local Usenet group where people went to complain a lot after years of lurking. I could write about that experience and maybe sort of transfer credit or whatever? Because I desperately want to be liked ... it's sort of my Big Flaw ... but I see potential "Metafilter:" gags go by and something inside me is all "pull the trigger! Pull the fucking trigger! Spike that sonofabitch, collect your favorites and don't even ask if some of them are from people who use favorites to mark people for death!" but another part of me is all "but what if it's lame? What about the people who hate Metafilter: gags?"

So then I don't do it.

By: Atreides

Atreides — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:11:32 -0800

Metafilter : retlifateM

Yes. We're through the looking glass.

By: vidur

vidur — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:11:58 -0800

Outing a stranger's address in public? One 4Chan board.

Creating and ruining an image macro? Two Reddit threads.

Helping a complete stranger from another country?

There are some things in life any crappy website can do. For everything else, there is MetaFilter.

Now available with Professional White Background.^TM

By: headnsouth

headnsouth — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:14:01 -0800

I desperately want to be liked ... it's sort of my Big Flaw ... but I see potential "Metafilter:" gags go by and something inside me is all "pull the trigger! Pull the fucking trigger! Spike that sonofabitch, collect your favorites and don't even ask if some of them are from people who use favorites to mark people for death!" but another part of me is all "but what if it's lame? What about the people who hate Metafilter: gags?"

So then I don't do it.

I recommend therapy.

Metafilter: I recommend therapy.

By: mph

mph — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:33:55 -0800

MetaFilter: Spike that sonofabitch, collect your favorites and don't even ask if some of them are from people who use favorites to mark people for death!

Oh, fuck yes!

By: mph

mph — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:37:30 -0800

Please just don't take this from me. I don't care if I did it wrong. I just needed to do it.

By: vrakatar

vrakatar — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:37:32 -0800

Metafilter: Bring more ice.

By: Ardiril

Ardiril — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:38:32 -0800

Metafilter: we sort of have to lie in this bed we collectively made

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:39:06 -0800

MetaFilter: I don't care if I did it wrong.

By: Gator

Gator — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:50:01 -0800

Todd Lokken.

By: vozworth

vozworth — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:52:12 -0800

Metafilter: Five dollars, same as in town.

By: furiousxgeorge

furiousxgeorge — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:54:48 -0800

It's Not News, It's Metafilter: How Mass Media Tries to Pass off Crap as News

By: bookman117

bookman117 — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:02:26 -0800

K, so I've been here for like three years so it's kind of embarrassing that I still don't get this particular in-joke I guess. I mean, some of them I think I've found to be genuinely been funny, but not in anyway I could verbally explain, so if there is in fact someone out there who could articulate exactly how and why this meme is supposed to be funny I'd appreciate it. The original one on the thread from 2005 doesn't really help on its own, though it is one of the better ones.

By: 1f2frfbf

1f2frfbf — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:09:29 -0800

All I know is that it may not still be okay to like Plastic.com.

But I do, oh, goddess help me, I do...

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:13:40 -0800

Metafilter: sex crazed tribbles

By: Errant

Errant — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:19:39 -0800

Up in the header, there used to be a rotating list of MetaFilter banners with different taglines; see here. They're all constant now, but the presence of those taglines inspired people to reframe out-of-context comments as "new" taglines.

It's supposed to be funny because the new tags are purported to be representative of what MetaFilter is, when in fact they are humorous stereotypes or non sequiturs. It's basically MeFites taking the piss out of themselves by arbitrarily summing up the entire experience of the site, playing on the synecdoche trope of the part representing the whole.

MetaFilter: ruining humor with overexplanation since 2012.

By: bookman117

bookman117 — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:30:47 -0800

It's basically MeFites taking the piss out of themselves by arbitrarily summing up the entire experience of the site, playing on the synecdoche trope of the part representing the whole.
Yeah, that's a really good explanation right there. I mean, it's something that you can figure out from context, but without knowing its origin I found it hard to articulate verbally.

By: Meta Filter

Meta Filter — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:36:29 -0800

Metafilter: posted by Meta Filter at 7:36 PM on July 19

By: tzikeh

tzikeh — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:38:16 -0800

It'd be nice if more people gave examples in response to 168's request, rather than complaining that they don't like the "Metafilter: $RECENT_COMMENT" tradition.

Blah blah MetaTalk is for snarkers blah blah

By: Bunny Ultramod

Bunny Ultramod — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:38:34 -0800

Meta: Filter.

By: tzikeh

tzikeh — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:39:36 -0800

By: Slap*Happy

Slap*Happy — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:40:53 -0800

My "Best Of" - complete with sequined tuxedo and white lacquered grand piano:

=/=/=/=/=

Metafilter: It goes off the rails around where she asks him about his studded codpiece.

Metafilter: cruising around the galaxy being Captain Spacedick to all sorts of annoying aliens.

Metafilter: Hey, That Graphic Kinda Looks Like a Flying Asshole

Metafilter: Still a bit put out that people are calling my initial position "maliciously self-centered"

Metafilter: our voices are too hoarse from continual vomiting to actually talk

Metafilter: mediocrity, noisemaking, and playpen-rattling

Metafilter: More brouhaha for the buck.

Metafilter: AN UNENDING FLAME OF FLAMEY LOVENESS AND SEXING.

Metafilter: Guys who just want to be kicked in the groin are so much easier to please.

Metafilter: sick of all these people who think smart music is good music.

Metafilter: Minimize the buzzing by applying one of those bulk tape degaussers to your ear.

Metafilter: diligent comments rebutting mischaracterizations.

Metafilter: BLOO-DOO-DOO-DOO-EE-EE-EE-EE-BSZLRLSZRHTSHTZHBS

(Halloween themed) Metafilter: Out of candy, knock for vegetables.

Metafilter: massive milkshake drinkage.

Metafilter: Not bad like an Edsel, bad like a BMW made out of plutonium.

=/=/=/=/=

You are welcome. Applause, please.

By: tzikeh

tzikeh — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:53:21 -0800

I enjoy the ones that best encapsulate the zeitgeist of the site (sitegeist?), but the problem is that the site contains multitudes. So here are two that might be considered the borders--and they RHYME:

Metafilter: randomly judging people to bolster our own pitiful sense of self-worth.

Metafilter: I figure it's about the best thing on earth.

BURMA SHAVE!

By: the man of twists and turns

the man of twists and turns — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 20:49:51 -0800

'sitegeist' belongs in this thread

By: Curious Artificer

Curious Artificer — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 20:57:23 -0800

MetaFilter: Perfect explanation, and succinctly put!

By: bookwibble

bookwibble — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:02:46 -0800

Metafilter: Previously.

Metafilter: Go to a meetup.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:11:04 -0800

I fucking love taglines and you, sir or madam, can just sidle off somewhere and suck it.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:11:53 -0800

Or, less crankily, what Errant said.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:15:38 -0800

METAFILTER: utterly fascinating and full of things i didn't know.

Which I found by searching Google for "how to search for punctuation on google" (complete with typo) which led me to this Stack Overflow question which led me to this search engine that lets you search for punctuation but then only gave me one actual result.

By: MoonOrb

MoonOrb — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:37:09 -0800

This gag reminds me of the Cheers episode where Diane kept a notebook where she wrote down pithy phrases she called "snippets of Americana" and Sam spent the whole episode trying to say something worthy of her notebook.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:52:48 -0800

Metafilter: the thinnest vinegar of plausible humanness.

By: furiousxgeorge

furiousxgeorge — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 22:27:16 -0800

One for the Book (9 Dec. 1982)

By: Cranberry

Cranberry — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 23:45:04 -0800

No one remembers?
MetaFilter: More addictive than crack

By: pracowity

pracowity — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:15:56 -0800

That's what she said.

By: MartinWisse

MartinWisse — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:58:05 -0800

Metafilter: What about the people who hate Metafilter: gags?"

Which is indeed a large part of what Mefiets is about, that relentless worrying about what other people whose opinions you don't share nor necessarily value might think of what you just posted. And arguing about same.

By: chillmost

chillmost — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 01:11:30 -0800

Metafilter: No.

By: Chekhovian

Chekhovian — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 02:03:35 -0800

Once we've herded all the "Metafilter:______"s into one place, maybe into some sort of stadium or something...can we then open fire on them with machine guns? And bury them in mass graves? And pretend they never existed?

A new policy of grammatical cleansing as it were.

By: littlesq

littlesq — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 02:35:46 -0800

Metafilter: IANYL but DTMF. Also, IANYD but you probably shouldn't of eaten that while stuck in your room.

...cats.

By: klausness

klausness — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 03:13:53 -0800

Metafilter: Can we open fire on them with machine guns? And bury them in mass graves? And pretend they never existed?

By: Namlit

Namlit — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 03:39:42 -0800

So we have two options, right?
1) Metafilter: thatrelentlessworryingaboutwhatotherpeoplewhoseopinionsyoudon'tsharenornecessarilyvaluemightthinkofwhatyoujustpostedAndarguingaboutsame.

2) what

By: ook

ook — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 03:42:01 -0800

that relentless worrying about what other people whose opinions you don't share nor necessarily value might think

That's not Metafilter. That's just life.

By: beryllium

beryllium — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 05:49:01 -0800

Metafilter: ...cats.

Metafilter: That's not Metafilter. That's just life.

Seriously, it seems like everything on Metafilter can be validly synecdochically conceived as a tag line. Perhaps someone can write a Greasemonkey script to prepend every sentence on MeFi with "MetaFilter"...

...and a second script to strip out all such sentences, of course.

By: sodium lights the horizon

sodium lights the horizon — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 05:50:51 -0800

Seriously? Guys? Are you slipping, or have I missed an in-joke?

Metafilter: Oh theyre all fucking special

By: R. Schlock

R. Schlock — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 06:19:58 -0800

Metafilter: In the name of the most holy and individual Trinity: Be it known to all, and every one whom it may concern, or to whom in any manner it may belong, That for many Years past, Discords and Civil Divisions being stir'd up in the Roman Empire, which increas'd to such a degree, that not only all Germany, but also the neighbouring Kingdoms, and France particularly, have been involv'd in the Disorders of a long and cruel War, usw.

By: agregoli

agregoli — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 06:49:03 -0800

Metafilter: BlueBalls Boyzone.

By: GenjiandProust

GenjiandProust — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 06:57:25 -0800

I am in favor of Metafilter: jokes.

There, I have said it.

By: El Sabor Asiatico

El Sabor Asiatico — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 07:57:39 -0800

Metafilter: people who like/use it should be sent to reeducation camps

By: Rory Marinich

Rory Marinich — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 08:12:09 -0800

It's lame. Lame things are fun. Guess what, you're on a website so old it has pit stains and pimples. It's hard if not impossible to do things on this website without several degrees of lameness. It is stupid to have a problem with that.

Oh nooooes thirty wasted vertical pixels of comment space.

By: subbes

subbes — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 08:30:54 -0800

Metafilter: it is stupid to have a problem with that.

By: scratch

scratch — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 09:25:56 -0800

Metafilter: This isn't what Metatalk is for.

just kidding. and the small type thing annoys me sometimes.

By: euphorb

euphorb — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 10:15:19 -0800

Some of my favorites:

Metafilter: A "crowdsourced" work of art with no definite purpose or meaning combining disparate elements harvested from the Internet.

Metafilter: Everyone manages to be so remarkably full of themselves, while simultaneously being wrong and missing the point.

Metafilter: lunatics screaming stupid shit.

and finally,

Metafilter: I'm glad others.

When combined in series like this they almost have a dramatic arc.

By: stormpooper

stormpooper — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 10:18:21 -0800

I went to Metafilter and all I got was flagged

By: herbplarfegan

herbplarfegan — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 11:12:20 -0800

I stand in awe of how cool it is to publically express your intolerance for favorites, taglines, and TED Talks. I just really admire that.

By: brundlefly

brundlefly — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 12:50:36 -0800

It's based on one of my comments, but this one made me giggle:

Metafilter: The butt jokes justify the anachronism.

I think the tagline format makes it much funnier than the original comment.

By: Pruitt-Igoe

Pruitt-Igoe — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 13:28:26 -0800

Second and third comment here

By: chinesefood

chinesefood — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:30:32 -0800

Metafilter: keep typing whelk

I mentioned him to the MeFite that introduced me to this place and they lovingly told me, "I love him [for his Metafiltering]." Weird but warming. Warming and understood.

Keep typing Whelk.

By: sacrifix

sacrifix — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 17:01:39 -0800

Metafilter: The only work-related thing I have done so far today is show up.

By: DevilsAdvocate

DevilsAdvocate — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 19:38:20 -0800

MetaFilter: I'm not saying that people who like/use it should be sent to reeducation camps or anything...

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 21:03:21 -0800

Metafilter quotes: a problem only regex could solve.

By: b1tr0t

b1tr0t — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 21:27:42 -0800

Metafilter: so that's why my old comment is suddenly getting favorited again.

By: spitefulcrow

spitefulcrow — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 14:51:42 -0800

These are all from searching my favorites.

Metafilter: the thunderous roar of dicks screaming for ever in your frightened mind's ear.

Metafilter: hoping for a demoralizing execution on the toilet.

Metafilter: BONK GABONK ABONK GABONK GABONKA

MetaFilter: a very alien, hostile planet besieged by anxiety gorgons on all sides.

Metafilter: smells faintly of lavender and is attended by the sound of gently tinkling bells

(two in one thread, even!)

Metafilter: It's somewhat like ignoring the vegetable drawer of your fridge for a year, then opening it to find a bunch of very grateful sentient tomatoes busily working on their third opera.

Metafilter: masturbators and liars

Metafilter: I just expected Hitler to be there.

Metafilter: Losing half its visitors and pissing off a lot of people for no good reason.

Apparently I can't search comments of mine that have been favorited. Shame, because I'm sure I've posted a few of these over the years.

Ah, here we go... the first one I ever wrote:

MetaFilter: sitting in on every lecture with straws rammed up their noses.

Okay, now I'm just clicking through all of my comment activity. Good thing I don't write that many, I guess...

MetaFilter: a huge, sprawling, indecipherable mess.

MetaFilter: lazy, thoughtless snark about how great civilization is.

Okay, done now. Gonna come back and read the rest of this thread later.

By: straw man special

straw man special — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 14:24:20 -0800

From my favorites:

MetaFilter: I was under the impression they had gotten rid of it, on account of all the murders.

From my comments (self-post!):

Metafilter: a hyperbolic and dramatic exaggeration that manufactures a caricature of its antithesis.

Metafilter: I didn't like it initially, but I forced myself to keep going. I didn't like the rest of it either.

Metafilter: Well put, weirdo.