Give Steve_at_Linnwood a timeout or delete his attacks

October 24, 2004 8:01 AM

You are such a cockface.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 1:05 AM PST on October 24

Matt, if you won't give this offensive ^%@&! a timeout, can you at least do your pointless-personal-attack-comment-deletion thing??? Or is this really how you want your site represented to the world? It's disruptive, divisive, and totally uncalled for.
posted by rushmc to etiquette/policy at 8:01 AM (80 comments total)

Everything is fake and faith-based nowadays.
Posted by Skallas

You are such a cockface. Posted by Steve in response.

Skallas trolled and Steve bit.

Personally, i don't think it is disruptive, divisive, and totally uncalled for. Skallas tried to use the thread to promote his agenda and steve called him out on it. Skallas's comment was barely related to the topic at hand and he said it to get that kind of reaction. A few posts later, the thread looked like it might derail into the typical MeFi religion thread but it didn't.

If it had been anyone else but Steve, three or four posts would go by before someone made the same point but used more words and more "proper" language. Rather than waste his time, Steve summed up the envitable conclusion and was able to stop the Skallas's derail. Steve might not have meant to do that but he did. And quite frankly, I'm glad because if we can't mock pisspoor singers who embarass themselves in public, than we as a community are in trouble.
posted by Stynxno at 8:24 AM on October 24, 2004

Anyway, he was just lip syncing.
posted by mss at 8:30 AM on October 24, 2004

"cockface" is funny. There was no foul!
posted by Mayor Curley at 8:38 AM on October 24, 2004

aw, lighten up.
posted by mcsweetie at 8:53 AM on October 24, 2004

A few threads earlier somone was called an 'imbecile'. Only calling out people you disagree with is so transparent.
posted by justgary at 9:08 AM on October 24, 2004

Vlad farted.
posted by angry modem at 9:08 AM on October 24, 2004

An actual cockface would look interesting. Sort of like an elephant.

The term also reminds me of this old filthy chestnut:

What did raggedy ann say when she sat on pinnocchio's face?

"Lie, Teel the Truth, Lie, Tell The Truth, Big Lie...."
posted by jonmc at 9:09 AM on October 24, 2004

I thought it was funny. Steve, very approriately, had very little patience for that kinda shit this late in the day.
posted by jmgorman at 9:27 AM on October 24, 2004

People get called names here. If you really expect MeFi to be polite, I suspect you are either a first time visitor, or ass-clenched to the point of needing medical attention.

While I personally think Steve is a dipshit, I'm capable of recognizing it's just my opinion, and his behavior is fully in line with the prevailing MeFi culture. And asking to have people banned just because *I* think they're a dipshit would be really silly.
posted by y6y6y6 at 9:27 AM on October 24, 2004

Shut up, dipshit. ;)
posted by jonmc at 9:30 AM on October 24, 2004

This is by far the most appropriate cockface I've seen.
posted by Krrrlson at 9:58 AM on October 24, 2004

Isn't the rule that you have to be at least marginally imaginative in your insults? I mean, calling someone a jackass is boring but calling them a cockface is really just kind of funny. Makes me wonder if there was an old disease called cockface (maybe Cyrano had it?)

Besides, there are some long established rivalries here, people who choose to carry thier discourse at a somewhat lower level. If both are cool with it and there are no impressionable kids learning new ways to swear at their parents then what's the real harm?
posted by fenriq at 10:04 AM on October 24, 2004

Skallas's comment was barely related to the topic at hand

it was a great comment, even coming from The SkallaTron. i find it deeply interesting that it grated on steve_at so. he protesteth a tad much.
posted by quonsar at 10:06 AM on October 24, 2004

Is it your position, rushmc, that skallas is not a cockface?

That's the most interesting theory that I have heard so far...which is nothing more than a theory, it can't be proved.
posted by Kwantsar at 10:16 AM on October 24, 2004

"how you want your site represented to the world?"

Like a significant number of people know anything about MeFi.
Sheesh!
posted by mischief at 10:43 AM on October 24, 2004

Actually I supect steve was just going through the motions and not actually all that offended.
posted by Space Coyote at 10:45 AM on October 24, 2004

Weird, I've had some sort of repeating-words-in-the-same-sentence tick lately. Weird.
posted by Space Coyote at 10:46 AM on October 24, 2004

weird, actually.
posted by quonsar at 10:50 AM on October 24, 2004

I'm surprised people think this is ok. This isn't discussion. Steve needs to get a grip.
posted by xammerboy at 11:06 AM on October 24, 2004

cyrano should have been so lucky…

xammerboy: This is par for the course on MeFi. Whether you think it's ok or not, calling out only those who you disagree with isn't going to do anything but create the MeTa chatter thread du jour ("not that that's necessarily a bad thing," he chattered").
posted by fvw at 11:13 AM on October 24, 2004

Thanks for that old filthy chestnut, jonmc :)
posted by ginz at 11:38 AM on October 24, 2004

still, let me reiterate: Shut the Fuck Up.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 11:05 PM PST on March 20


You make me sick...
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 3:39 PM PST on November 8


go fuck yourself...
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 4:51 PM PST on January 20


I'm glad you can count, dumbass.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 4:04 PM PST on January 20



"cockface" is a baby-step towards acceptable manners. let us not pile on poor Steve@Dimwood. he'll feel besieged by those evil lib'ruls, then. and go on a hiatus, or something
posted by matteo at 11:46 AM on October 24, 2004

A few threads earlier somone was called an 'imbecile'. Only calling out people you disagree with is so transparent.

A few thread earlier rushmc called someone (disclosure: me) an "idiot". That was his entire comment: that my idea was stupid and that I must be stupid for having it.

While I wish we would all agree to be civil and to condemn both types of personal attacks, that is clearly not going to happen on MetaFilter anytime soon. At a minimum, though, demanding civility only from our political enemies is hypocritical.
posted by gd779 at 11:52 AM on October 24, 2004

It's all well and good to publicly humiliate someone for being a potty-mouth (thank you, matteo, for doing the legwork on that), but "please do something about this, Matt?" God knows the man has better things to do than wash out Linwood's mouth with soap.
posted by scarabic at 12:07 PM on October 24, 2004

cockface :


posted by troutfishing at 12:19 PM on October 24, 2004

It was fairly obvious to me that the comment was in jest. Quit being cockfaces about it!
posted by neckro23 at 12:19 PM on October 24, 2004

posted by troutfishing at 12:44 PM on October 24, 2004

Why don't the lot of you go eat a bucket full of cocks.
posted by Quartermass at 12:58 PM on October 24, 2004

Or a bag of dicks.
posted by mrgavins at 1:06 PM on October 24, 2004

You are such a cockface.

This isn't a compliment?
posted by semmi at 1:21 PM on October 24, 2004

Cock faces.

</obvious>
posted by Space Coyote at 1:37 PM on October 24, 2004

Besides, there are some long established rivalries here, people who choose to carry thier discourse at a somewhat lower level. If both are cool with it and there are no impressionable kids learning new ways to swear at their parents then what's the real harm?

The harm is that they aren't talking to one another on the telephone, but in front of thousands of people. Even Jon Stewart's puerile "you're a dick" statement on Crossfire was 100x more relevant than Steve's shitbomb in that thread. If he had a problem with skallas' statement, he should have expressed it, not stooped to calling names and running like a kid leaving a paper sack of dogpoop burning on the doorstep. It's cowardly, and it's detrimental to the level of discourse of the community.
posted by rushmc at 1:44 PM on October 24, 2004

And the suggestions here that I only call out people "with whom I disagree" are preposterous. My history on that speaks for itself. Express any opinion you want...just offer more than vulgar namecalling.
posted by rushmc at 1:46 PM on October 24, 2004

um, matteo, as the man behind such gems as "likudgirl" "kkkrlson" etc. maybe you shouldn't be casting aspersions here. Or does the name calling rule only apply to people you don't like?
posted by jonmc at 1:47 PM on October 24, 2004

I don't think 'cockface' is either clever or funny.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:49 PM on October 24, 2004

I've always preferred 'doodyhead.' Stings to the core.
posted by Stan Chin at 1:52 PM on October 24, 2004

I am old enough to remember when Metafilter was polite.
posted by konolia at 2:50 PM on October 24, 2004

When was that?
posted by scarabic at 2:54 PM on October 24, 2004

It was before your time, young'un.

Nailing down the precise date of a cultural shift is always tricky (why do you think historians talk about ages and centuries?). But if I had to opine, and if I recall correctly, I'd call early to mid-2001 MetaFilter's "September that Never Ended". We had a big surge of users about that time, and shortly thereafter September 11th happened, and somewhere in there things just... changed a little.

There's also an argument to be made that the shift actually happened in late 2000 (around the time I showed up), but that was more about the shift towards the acceptance of NewFilter than the shift towards the acceptance of incivility. I don't know, maybe I'm completely wrong, but that's my recollection.

Now get off my lawn!
posted by gd779 at 3:33 PM on October 24, 2004

And the suggestions here that I only call out people "with whom I disagree" are preposterous. My history on that speaks for itself. Express any opinion you want...just offer more than vulgar namecalling.

rushmc, would you object if I made a callout every single time I heard somebody calling someone else a name here? Yes or no answer please.
posted by SpaceCadet at 4:36 PM on October 24, 2004

To be sure, it was sometime after Kaycee Nicole...around the time of 911.
posted by konolia at 4:53 PM on October 24, 2004

You are such a cockface.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 1:05 AM PST on October 24

I just read that as

You are such a Linnwood.
posted by Steve_at_Cockface at 1:05 AM PST on October 24

??
posted by Shane at 5:00 PM on October 24, 2004

rushmc, would you object if I made a callout every single time I heard somebody calling someone else a name here? Yes or no answer please.

Me? No. I think a civil discourse is much more fruitful, and incivility breeds more of same, as we have seen. But your crusade would quickly take over Meta if you didn't limit yourself to the most egregious cases.
posted by rushmc at 6:01 PM on October 24, 2004

Although it was unnecessary, I think Steve_in_Highschool's "cockface" remark has provided us with a wonderful and productive new meme.

"Cockface" blows "pike" out of the water (by a longshot!) and ranks up there with referencing the--not at all tired!--desire for free ponies.

Huzzah!, I say!
posted by interrobang at 6:24 PM on October 24, 2004

Could everyone please leave me out of this?
posted by Cyrano at 7:00 PM on October 24, 2004

In Steve's defense, that skallas IS kind of a cockface. I'm tired of people dragging their political potshots into EVERY SINGLE unrelated thread, it's just exhausting.
posted by jonson at 7:04 PM on October 24, 2004

Cockface would be a great name for a band.

I'm just sayin'.....
posted by jonmc at 7:20 PM on October 24, 2004

half of metafilter users are cockfaces. the other half are cuntasses. see how it all balances out? god is great that way.
posted by crunchland at 7:36 PM on October 24, 2004

What ever happened to "asshat"? That was my favorite. Mayhap it doesn't have enough of the "sting" that Stan Chin mentioned?

/waits for someone to call her an asshat....
posted by rio at 7:37 PM on October 24, 2004

So we're a buncha cockfaces wearing asshats to our dates with the cutassess. I hope we don't get the whipshitties.
posted by jonmc at 7:41 PM on October 24, 2004

I see it as a girrrrrl band, Jon:-)

Matt is aware of Skallas's problem behaviour and has already asked Skallas to chill out on the anti-religious rhetoric, and Matt's also the only person Skallas will accept criticism from, so... maybe we should just let Matt deal with him.

Call outs about cockface insults don't carry much weight when they come from someone who just called someone else an idiot. And since I've put my two bits into the fray, someone else can now say, "What about when you did such and such..."

I've got a mental image of Matt sittting back in a recliner somewhere thinking, "Ah, I'll just let 'em fight it out. As long as they leave the house standing...."
posted by orange swan at 7:52 PM on October 24, 2004

I, personally, am appalled by how skallas manages to bring politics into every single thread, but jfuller's introduction of politics into the thread on the relative obesity statistics of US states seems to be a new high? low? nadir? Nader?
posted by Sidhedevil at 8:03 PM on October 24, 2004

Nader! Nad.... ah, never mind.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:54 PM on October 24, 2004

tit

Is that for tat?
posted by semmi at 11:14 PM on October 24, 2004

At least he didn't call him a putz.

'cause that would be bad.
posted by Dagobert at 12:13 AM on October 25, 2004

You don't know jesus.
posted by The God Complex at 12:27 AM on October 25, 2004

"jfuller's introduction of politics into the thread"

Everything is political. I can think of few topics that do not have any direct political connections.

Especially in the USA where the government sticks its nose into everything. ;-P
posted by mischief at 4:55 AM on October 25, 2004

skallas' comment was brilliant.

steve's comment was amusing.

apropos of absolutely nothing, Mercury Prize winners are over-rated but make for vital components in one's collections.

that is all.
posted by ashbury at 5:44 AM on October 25, 2004

The best part about Steve's insult is that he called someone a cockface for insulting people of faith. Surely that passes the WWJD test.
posted by rcade at 5:53 AM on October 25, 2004

Skallas didn't insult people of faith, rcade. So your assumption about Steve's motives is wrong.
posted by orange swan at 6:23 AM on October 25, 2004

Be gentle with sensitive Stevie.

No doubt it took him much effort to come up with two words he could actually spell, let alone the effort it took him to aha! and combine them. No doubt it took him much effort to decide which word should actually come first.

So much for his reasoned response. It's absolutely par for his course.
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 7:28 AM on October 25, 2004

posted by darukaru at 7:54 AM on October 25, 2004

Wait... Penis references are insulting?
posted by putzface_dickman at 8:34 AM on October 25, 2004

Maybe I shouldn't bite, but who the hell is that guy in darukaru's picture?
posted by orange swan at 8:45 AM on October 25, 2004

What ever happened to "asshat"? That was my favorite

"Asshat" never fails to make me smile. Also "assclown" and "penisbreath."

Maybe we need some new insults:

"Cockpot"
"Fartspace"
"Dongchowder"
"Drip dick"
"Dry hole"
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:57 AM on October 25, 2004

Maybe I shouldn't bite, but who the hell is that guy in darukaru's picture?

!!!

It's Jon Stewart, orange swan. And it's a reference to his lambasting the folks at Crossfire.
posted by filmgoerjuan at 9:03 AM on October 25, 2004

Oh, okay, thanks filmgoerjuan. I don't have a television, and this means that although I know the names and concepts I often don't know the faces.
posted by orange swan at 9:34 AM on October 25, 2004

Apparently Jon Stewart is one of those things you'd need a television to know about.
posted by ook at 9:48 AM on October 25, 2004

Orange_swan: Are you suggesting that skallas called Ashlee Simpson's public humiliation "faith-based" as a compliment?
posted by rcade at 10:16 AM on October 25, 2004

I read Ashlee Simpson's public humiliation "faith-based" as Ashlee Simpson's facial humiliation "pubic-based."

Does that mean there is something wrong with me?
posted by sciurus at 10:33 AM on October 25, 2004

It wouldn't make much sense to call Ashlee Simpson's public humiliation "faith-based" either as a compliment or as an insult, would it? There wasn't any mention of religion in the linked material.

I can't speak as to Steve@Linwood's motives, but my guess would be that he posted the cockface insult because the comment was of very questionable relevance to the thread and he thought it more of the same anti-religious axe-grinding that Skallas was asked to stop doing. I suspect he's not defending any faith or asking himself what Jesus would do if Matt would let him have a MeFi account. He was, er, defending a thread about Ashlee Simpson.

And when I typed that last sentence, the absurdity of this whole thread - or even possibly of this entire site - suddenly hit me right between the eyes.

Ook - I'm actually really embarrassed that I didn't know what Jon Stewart looked like. I know who he is, and I know what he did on Crossfire, but I've never seen The Daily Show or Crossfire. Maybe I really ought to get a TV, like my seven-year-old niece keeps telling me. Seriously.
posted by orange swan at 11:36 AM on October 25, 2004

Cockfaces and cuntfaces for everyone! Whee!
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 6:23 PM on October 25, 2004

OT:
Ook - I'm actually really embarrassed that I didn't know what Jon Stewart looked like. I know who he is, and I know what he did on Crossfire, but I've never seen The Daily Show or Crossfire. Maybe I really ought to get a TV, like my seven-year-old niece keeps telling me. Seriously.

orange swan: do you have high speed internet? because if you do, you can download the episodes or view clips off the internet.

i recently gave up my tv and i've resorted to the internet to feed my needs.
/OT
posted by Stynxno at 6:39 PM on October 25, 2004

Cockface? Or Tricky Dickie?

posted by wendell at 8:02 PM on October 25, 2004

Thank you for the compliment Dr. Flower!
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 11:18 PM on October 25, 2004

Let us not be cockfaces, orange swan. Whether Skallas' comment is described as insulting people of faith or "anti-religious axe-grinding," Steve_at_Peckerwood was dispensing a beat down in the name of the Lord.
posted by rcade at 4:35 AM on October 26, 2004

When even an atheist like Matt has a problem with this sort of relentless soap-boxing, you know it's not on behalf of the Lord.

However, like I've said, I don't know what Steve's motives are. It may be that he's a Christian - I wouldn't know, I don't pay very much attention to him. So if he is, and that's why he said what he did, then you would be correct.
posted by orange swan at 5:49 AM on October 26, 2004

Thanks, Stynxno. It's true, I probably could get even my wonky six-year-old home computer to do that.
posted by orange swan at 5:51 AM on October 26, 2004

I think 'cockface' is either clever or funny. But not both.
posted by chicobangs at 8:10 AM on October 26, 2004

orange swan: crap, i should have linked to this earlier. It requires windows media player (or real player the deeper in you get) and it contains a bunch of short clips from the show.
posted by Stynxno at 8:59 AM on October 26, 2004