Violent threats not funny

February 5, 2004 2:39 PM

Violent threats. Even if it's a joke, it's not funny and not cool.
posted by squirrel to Etiquette/Policy at 2:39 PM (63 comments total)

It's quaint.
posted by The God Complex at 2:42 PM on February 5, 2004

It's pretty funny.
posted by xmutex at 2:52 PM on February 5, 2004

Perhaps I'm on the outside of an inside joke or humor impaired. Might someone explain the humor to me and my ilk?
posted by squirrel at 2:57 PM on February 5, 2004

not particularly funny.

but fun is in the eye of the beholder, as tv ratings (and movie grosses) prove every sad day of our lives
posted by matteo at 2:58 PM on February 5, 2004

out of order.
posted by sgt.serenity at 3:01 PM on February 5, 2004

Perhaps I'm on the outside of an inside joke or humor impaired. Might someone explain the humor to me and my ilk?

I was being sarcastic and thought it was stupid, but I also don't think it was serious.
posted by The God Complex at 3:11 PM on February 5, 2004

I'm not sure if that was performance art or just The Stupid again, but somebody's lining up for an asskicking from the wonderchicken.

Oh, wait. I'm not supposed to say that, am I? Damn.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:11 PM on February 5, 2004

They seem to have had bad blood between them for awhile now.
posted by eastlakestandard at 3:13 PM on February 5, 2004

um, i meant a while.
posted by eastlakestandard at 3:15 PM on February 5, 2004

Unless I'm missing some buried humour here, those posts are actually pretty offensive.
posted by trillion at 3:16 PM on February 5, 2004

I was surprised to see that crap in the blue. My first thought was, "wow, guess they've punched their own exit tickets."
posted by clever sheep at 3:18 PM on February 5, 2004

Given the context of the FPP and the thread they appear in, those posts don't seem out of place at all.
posted by mischief at 3:33 PM on February 5, 2004

I think they're actually these guys.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:34 PM on February 5, 2004

rather balmy no?

at least matteo has never threatened to shank me
posted by clavdivs at 3:56 PM on February 5, 2004

Would it be a big stretch to assume these guys know each other IRL and are being faux-shocking in the aforementioned thread just so squirrel (or whoever) would post it to MetaTalk and they'd get some attention? And why give it to them?
posted by dhoyt at 4:22 PM on February 5, 2004

I assume that's the case dhoyt. In any case, I maintain that it's poor etiquette to dump non-sequitor violent jokes (your son has been raped and killed, har har) into a thread.
posted by squirrel at 4:42 PM on February 5, 2004

Context is everything.
posted by Blue Stone at 4:48 PM on February 5, 2004

This look like a job for the trunk monkey.
posted by homunculus at 4:55 PM on February 5, 2004

Considering the things people say to one another on MetaFilter - and taking the content of that thread into account - this seems hardly worth a MeTa thread.
posted by JollyWanker at 5:17 PM on February 5, 2004

The violence doesn't bother me nearly as much as the obvious attention-grab.
posted by Hildago at 5:30 PM on February 5, 2004

I think dhoyt's on to it, I'd guess that they're the same person.
posted by eyeballkid at 5:32 PM on February 5, 2004

context is everything.
posted by quonsar at 5:59 PM on February 5, 2004

Note to self: Next MeFi MeetUp should be at a place with a metal detector (also good for finding Janet Jackson boob-jewelry).
posted by wendell at 6:51 PM on February 5, 2004

Context shmontext, friends be damned. It's completely inappropriate and should be deleted.
posted by ashbury at 7:51 PM on February 5, 2004

I'm witchoo, Fred.
posted by adamgreenfield at 7:56 PM on February 5, 2004

So then, why IS it inappropriate?
posted by mischief at 8:04 PM on February 5, 2004

I got the distinct impression that these two users know each other well from "out there" and let their good-natured (if oddly disturbing) joshing spill over into the thread.

The threats were inappropriate in any case, unless they care to let everyone else in on the joke first (probably even then). The comment that quonsar linked to is even more disturbing, as I got the impression that the person making the comment had actually given some previous thought to the scenario outlined, rather that just making a knee-jerk comment in the heat of the moment.
posted by dg at 8:13 PM on February 5, 2004

It's inappropriate because, as dg says, we don't know what the joke is or even if it is a joke. If it is a joke, it's in very bad taste; at least I didn't find it funny. Furthermore, I would venture to say that it's not the kind of thing that MetaFilter as a whole and most members in particular would think of as being funny and not representative of our outlook and attitude towards each other.
posted by ashbury at 8:41 PM on February 5, 2004

So then, why IS it inappropriate?

Because it was incredibly dorky. Like the smelly boys in my English class.

*throws rock, indiscriminately*
posted by zarah at 8:54 PM on February 5, 2004

Ow!
posted by dg at 9:38 PM on February 5, 2004

quonsar, I hope Snoop steps in for a swing at you, fool.

Right, Soy?
posted by eastlakestandard at 10:06 PM on February 5, 2004

None of you are Mr. T.
posted by squirrel at 10:26 PM on February 5, 2004

*Doesn't see and threats to chop off own hand in a violent rage. Moves along*
posted by jmd82 at 10:35 PM on February 5, 2004

None of you are Mr. T.

How you know, foo?
posted by Wulfgar! at 11:10 PM on February 5, 2004

Hey, what's in this clos--ARGGGHH!
posted by namespan at 11:12 PM on February 5, 2004

Personally, I thought it was kind out of context and bothersome. I'd like to see an explanation from one of the two.
posted by moonbiter at 1:31 AM on February 6, 2004

I'll hug you.
posted by dgaicun at 1:41 AM on February 6, 2004

Kiss me.
posted by ashbury at 6:32 AM on February 6, 2004

More from the Dfowler/Mcgraw show. I say Matt should ban them and anyone who defends them for these crimes against nature.
posted by dgaicun at 7:12 AM on February 6, 2004

at least matteo has never threatened to shank me

*shanks clavdivs, steals his CIA baseball cap laughing like Richard Widmark in Kiss Of Death, exits thread*


posted by matteo at 7:27 AM on February 6, 2004

Last night, I went out to the fights, and a MetaFilter thread broke out...

::hugs dgaicun, smells ashbury's breath and shakes hands::
posted by wendell at 8:26 AM on February 6, 2004

And is this "shanks" something you need a penis to know about?
posted by wendell at 8:26 AM on February 6, 2004

you mean you ain't got one?
posted by matteo at 8:54 AM on February 6, 2004

time for the dd214.
posted by sgt.serenity at 9:07 AM on February 6, 2004

Some people react rather than read.

Another pointless MetaTalk thread...
posted by john at 9:16 AM on February 6, 2004

*bangs low-resonating gong to punctuate john's sage pronouncement*
posted by squirrel at 9:26 AM on February 6, 2004

*feels intestinal upset from squirrel's low-resonating gong, dashes to john*
posted by languagehat at 10:38 AM on February 6, 2004

Taglines! You're it!
MetaFilter: Even if it's a joke, it's not funny and not cool.
MetaFilter: It's quaint.
MetaFilter: Might someone explain the humor to me and my ilk?
MetaFilter: Oh, wait. I'm not supposed to say that, am I?
MetaFilter: Context is everything.
MetaFilter: Context shmontext.
MetaFilter: None of you are Mr. T.
MetaFilter: Hey, what's in this clos--ARGGGHH!
MetaFilter: time for the dd214.
MetaFilter: Some people react rather than read.
posted by wendell at 11:36 AM on February 6, 2004

I'm sorry, wendell, but you're wrong.
posted by squirrel at 11:51 AM on February 6, 2004

You mean you're taking it back, and some of us ARE Mr. T?

the ultimate MeFi tagline:
MetaFilter: I'm sorry, wendell, but you're wrong.
posted by wendell at 12:54 PM on February 6, 2004

squirrel makin' with the "brown noise," mmmm mmm mmm.
posted by adamgreenfield at 1:06 PM on February 6, 2004

Eat your sleep. Don't do greens. Get your eight hours of drugs. Stay in milk.

--Mr. T
posted by dhoyt at 5:56 PM on February 6, 2004

pulls shank from back, raises hand, watches Matteos head splat from a sniper bullet a top Palazzo Dugnani. Sends telegram to ronnie james Dios
posted by clavdivs at 7:40 AM on February 7, 2004

*in the meantime, dozens of Sardinian henchmen were zippo-raiding clav's entire neighborhood, taking special care of incinerating clav's cherished collection of Wild Bill Donovan memorabilia*

posted by matteo at 5:04 AM on February 8, 2004

recovering from the knife wound inside the charred remains of wild bills 1932 Ford, Clav receives urgent fax, a picture is sent, it is a fake head 200-d unit, Matteo substituted his head for the diversion head and still roams the plains of...meanwhile, 3 teenagers with BB-guns round up sardinian henchmen, out of their element, they scurry to their Yugo getaway car which sort of just collapses underneath them. telegrams Tony Iommi.
posted by clavdivs at 8:55 AM on February 8, 2004

::accidentally wanders into battlezone between matteo and clavdivs and is vaporized faster than the crewman in the red shirt on an away mission with Captain Kirk::
posted by wendell at 12:32 PM on February 8, 2004

orders scotty to re-alighn the pattern buffers in transporter to beam back wendell

"no one dies on my ship"
posted by clavdivs at 12:41 PM on February 8, 2004

*shanks Capt. Kirk, wendell, keys Wild Bill's Ford, scratches own rubber-smelling hair. Ponders the possibility of sending txt message to evil Independence Day spaceship*

posted by matteo at 1:42 PM on February 8, 2004

::grabbed at the last possible second by strange Englishman who says "Hold this towel, eat some peanuts - whatd'ya mean you're allergic? - well, you'll get a pretty bad headache, so just remember the answer is 42, my last name is Prefect, NOT Fairlaine, and above all, DON'T PANIC."::
posted by wendell at 2:23 PM on February 8, 2004

*looks around at violent and inexplicable events, panics, flees*
posted by languagehat at 10:17 AM on February 9, 2004

*chases languagehat, brandishing a heavy Sanskrit/Finnish dictionary menacingly*


posted by matteo at 10:24 AM on February 9, 2004

*exits korova milkbar, trips over john ashcroft lying in heap of own vomit at entrance, hops on waiting ducati and roars off to keep a date with resistance cell meeting 23 floors underneath gotham city hall, as opening notes of yardbirds' "evil-hearted you" play*
posted by adamgreenfield at 10:42 AM on February 9, 2004

Oh joy, he/she/they're at it again.
posted by clever sheep at 11:44 AM on February 10, 2004