# A warning seems excessive here... **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 28, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972 "2013-11-28T00:46:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/21 "2013-11-28T19:40:50Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Ckearly, there are levels of subtlety in Australian culture as yet unplumbed. Don’t get me started on bastard! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/22 "2013-11-28T19:55:10Z")
“Which one of you bastards called this bastard a bastard?” ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/23 "2013-11-28T21:38:58Z")
While standards may differ from nation to nation and language to languge and dialect to dialect – I understand “shithead” is a compliment in Lower Slobbovia – please remember that a Warning is NOT a fine, imprisonment, or execution. It’s a warning by moderators not to continue a behavior. And the Lower Slobbovian will learn something about dialects, and not repeat the use of the term. The only times that warnings take on deeper significance is when a poster chalks up repeated warnings, for the same (or similar) offenses. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/24 "2013-11-29T02:53:14Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > One’s smaller. Well, maybe yours is but not mine! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/25 "2013-11-29T13:46:32Z")
I can cklearly now, the rain is gone … ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/26 "2013-11-29T14:46:43Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Ckearly, there are levels of subtlety in Australian culture as yet unplumbed. I think that’s true in American English, too. I was going to post something similar, in that “prick” is a worse insult than “dick”. I can’t quite put my finger on it (don’t laugh), but it just seems like “prick” carries an added level of vitriol, based on a more irritating or obnoxious level of bad behavior. However, both are insults, so it’s not really relevant to the warning issued. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/27 "2013-11-29T16:41:25Z")
I don’t see how anyone can see that post as anything but a deliberate insult. It’s a comment exclusively that **ralph124c** consistently behaves a certain way. It’s directed at **ralph124c** , not his post. It has nothing to do with topic of the thread. Clear, unambiguous rules violation. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/28 "2013-11-29T18:02:42Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > “Which one of you bastards called this bastard a bastard?” “It was that bastard sitting at the table in the corner with those other bastards.” ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/29 "2013-11-29T23:25:40Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I think that’s true in American English, too. I was going to post something similar, in that “prick” is a worse insult than “dick”. I can’t quite put my finger on it (don’t laugh), but it just seems like “prick” carries an added level of vitriol, based on a more irritating or obnoxious level of bad behavior. > > However, both are insults, so it’s not really relevant to the warning issued. I always thought it was that you can be a dick without intending to be a dick, but you have to intentionally work at it to be a prick. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/30 "2013-12-02T17:12:04Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Thanksabunch, Leo, but let’s keep this discussion on track, please. > > If you want to talk about other differences in etymology and cultural perception, About This Message Board is really not the most effective forum area for that. **TubaDiva** , I have decided you hate me. I know “everyone else is jumping off the Empire State Building,” is not a valid excuse, but still… I’m going to hold my breath until I turn blue. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/31 "2013-12-02T17:15:27Z")
Could the mods at least be consistent about labeling their warning posts? Gukumatz starts his post off with “[Mod Note]” but then says that it’s a warning. There’s [enough confusion](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=709172) over understanding the difference between the two without further muddling it up. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/32 "2013-12-02T21:50:23Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Don’t get me started on bastard! 😃 Not to mention plumbing. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/33 "2013-12-03T19:17:01Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I think that’s true in American English, too. I was going to post something similar, in that “prick” is a worse insult than “dick”. I can’t quite put my finger on it (don’t laugh), but it just seems like “prick” carries an added level of vitriol, based on a more irritating or obnoxious level of bad behavior. I think it’s a case that if you bother to take the effort to say “prick” you must really be worked up. Or maybe that’s just me. “Dick” is the word, and I have to think to say “prick”. YMMV. > [@Munch](#): > > Could the mods at least be consistent about labeling their warning posts? Gukumatz starts his post off with “[Mod Note]” but then says that it’s a warning. There’s [enough confusion](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=709172) over understanding the difference between the two without further muddling it up. That’s probably a good point. \*\*Gukumatz \*\*appears to have been indicating his post was an official Moderator action, but then called it a “Note” while giving a “Warning”. Since this board has been trying to keep these two terms separate for clarity, it would help for the moderators to be consistent. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/34 "2013-12-04T14:26:37Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Could the mods at least be consistent about labeling their warning posts? Gukumatz starts his post off with “[Mod Note]” but then says that it’s a warning. There’s [enough confusion](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=709172) over understanding the difference between the two without further muddling it up. I’m pretty sure there is only one poster who’s confused between the two. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/35 "2013-12-04T15:18:19Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > I’m pretty sure there is only one poster who’s confused between the two. Well, two. Little Nemo and apparently Gokumatz. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/36 "2013-12-04T23:23:36Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Could the mods at least be consistent about labeling their warning posts? Gukumatz starts his post off with “[Mod Note]” but then says that it’s a warning. There’s [enough confusion](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=709172) over understanding the difference between the two without further muddling it up. Actually, this is true. It was a brain fart on my side. I don’t hand out a lot of Warnings, but I do make a lot of Notes, so my fingers bypassed my brain and put it in. I’m editing it out as I type and I’ll leave in an explanation to avoid unwarranted confusion, as this really wasn’t a grey zone sort of thing. As to the Warning itself, I read it as personally insulting towards the poster. There might be merit in a debate about relative strength of insults from their cultural backgrounds, but it would be painstaking and enormously difficult to police. For instance, I’m a Norwegian whose closest english-speaking cultural tie is the British, moderating an American message board in my second language and the poster in question appears to be Australian. That’s a lot of variables to codify into some sort of predictable, non-arbitrary ruleset. So as it is, we police things prima facie. If it looks like an insult, walks like an insult and talks like an insult, it’ll be policed as an insult. This might mean we occasionally miss a humorous referance the intended “victim” would get and take as a joke, but that’s a minor cost to pay. ( **Irishman** , I also moved your post from that thread to this ATMB thread for you. I guessed it was accidentally cross-posted, since my moderation wasn’t being discussed in the thread.) ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972/37 "2013-12-05T21:04:14Z")
Thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-seems-excessive-here/674972.md?page=1)