# Can someone explain Moo I'm a Goat and Elf on a Shelf to me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 21, 2013, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419 "2013-11-21T12:23:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/1 "2013-11-21T12:23:03Z")
Sometimes a meme just leaves me confused. I see several companies are making t-shirts with a picture of a giraffe and the caption “Moo…I’m a goat.” Where did this start and what does it mean? And the elf on a shelf. I see stores selling these so people can join in the “tradition”. I understand that this tradition was actually just made up by some company a few years ago but what is the tradition supposed to be? What do you do with the elf after you bought one? I’m obviously assuming you put it on a shelf but is that it? Is that supposed to signify something? ---
**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:** [November 21, 2013, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/2 "2013-11-21T12:28:47Z")
[Elf on the Shelf](http://www.elfontheshelf.com/content/about-us) It’s just a silly new tradition that kids enjoy. The book entails an elf that gets himself into mischief while on the job, which is to monitor the kids at an assigned house. Parents then get in on the act by getting their elf into mischief (replacing the stockings with underwear, turning furniture upside down, etc.). The elf then usually turns up in a new location each morning. ---
**Author:** ![Shark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Shark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/3 "2013-11-21T13:23:16Z")
We have had an Elf for about 5 for 6 years, and that’s the first I’ve heard of the mischief angle. Frankly I am disappointed that I didn’t know about this earlier. I’m all for good-natured mischief. You can bet that our elf will now embark on mass chaos to make up for lost time. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/4 "2013-11-21T13:26:30Z")
Never had one, but I hadn’t heard about mischief either - most of the Facebook photos I see are of the “look at the clever way I found to hide Santa’s spy” variety. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/5 "2013-11-21T13:29:39Z")
My guess is that “Moo… I’m a Goat” is absurdist humor, taking its funny from its incongruity. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/6 "2013-11-21T13:32:04Z")
Mostly, Elf on the Shelf is for mommies to take pictures of their latest good mommying to show Facebook what a good mommy they are. (I do think it’s a cute thing, but I swear half of the creative things moms do for/with their kids these days are primarily for Facebook.) ---
**Author:** ![Shark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Shark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/7 "2013-11-21T13:46:33Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > Mostly, Elf on the Shelf is for mommies to take pictures of their latest good mommying to show Facebook what a good mommy they are. (I do think it’s a cute thing, but I swear half of the creative things moms do for/with their kids these days are primarily for Facebook.) No, no, no…The Elf is for Daddies to leverage the fear of the all-seeing Santa for the molding of proper kid behavior. Didn’t clean you room…The Elf is watching. Punched your brother…The Elf is watching. The Elf is the physical manifestation of Santa’s threat that he knows if you’ve been bad or good. Sadly, my kids are too smart/old to fall for it anymore, so now it is just absurd places that the Elf shows up. I’m thrilled to add mischief to freshen up the whole Elf experience this year. I believe it is my job as a father to mess with my kid’s heads. Who else would get into an hour long discussion about hill cows. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/8 "2013-11-21T13:59:15Z")
For Trekkie kids, I’d prefer the _Sehlat on the Cot_. It’s six-inch fangs would dissuade kids from misbehaving much better than the promise of toys for Christmas. And it could wreak extraordinary mischief with its claws! > **[Sehlat](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Sehlat)** > > The sehlat was a giant "teddy bear"-like beast, native to Vulcan. Sehlats had six-inch fangs and did not like to climb, preferring instead to remain on low ground. Sehlats were patient, persistent predators and were capable of tracking their prey for... “Father! The strings on the Lyrette are all broken!” "That irascible _sehlat_! " ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/9 "2013-11-22T18:19:33Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > [Elf on the Shelf](http://www.elfontheshelf.com/content/about-us) > > It’s just a silly new tradition that kids enjoy. The book entails an elf that gets himself into mischief while on the job, which is to monitor the kids at an assigned house. Parents then get in on the act by getting their elf into mischief (replacing the stockings with underwear, turning furniture upside down, etc.). The elf then usually turns up in a new location each morning. [The book is supposedly a modern take on 1840s Scandinavian folklore.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14589269) ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/10 "2013-11-22T19:11:29Z")
I guess it exists because child protective services would take an _entirely_ dim view of re-creating the old Austrian Christmas custom of Krampus. 😃 > **[Krampus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus)** > > Krampus is a horned, anthropomorphic figure in the Central and Eastern Alpine folklore of Europe who, during the Advent season, scares children who have misbehaved. Assisting Saint Nicholas, or Santa Claus, the pair visit children on the night of 6 December, with Saint Nicholas rewarding the well-behaved children with gifts such as oranges, dried fruit, walnuts and chocolate, while the badly behaved ones only receive punishment from Krampus with birch rods. Krampus day itself, on the other hand... ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/11 "2013-11-22T19:21:17Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I understand that this tradition was actually just made up by some company a few years ago… Not a company, actually, but a local (to me) mom and sisters team who made their familiy tradition into a children’s book. No company would touch it initially, so they self published, self marketed, self everythinged. The rest, as they say, is history. ---
**Author:** ![Shark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Shark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/12 "2013-11-22T19:34:30Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I guess it exists because child protective services would take an _entirely_ dim view of re-creating the old Austrian Christmas custom of Krampus. 😃 > > [Krampus - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus) I can’t believe this came up. My oldest was talking about wanting to dress up as the Krampus for Halloween but it never happened. My boys love the idea of the Krampus! Since most of my family lineage is German, I may have to come up with a combination of the Elf and the Krampus. Maybe a Krampus on the Lamp-us. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/13 "2013-11-22T19:42:47Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > Mostly, Elf on the Shelf is for mommies to take pictures of their latest good mommying to show Facebook what a good mommy they are. (I do think it’s a cute thing, but I swear half of the creative things moms do for/with their kids these days are primarily for Facebook.) > [@Shark](#): > > No, no, no…The Elf is for Daddies to leverage the fear of the all-seeing Santa for the molding of proper kid behavior. Didn’t clean you room…The Elf is watching. Punched your brother…The Elf is watching. The Elf is the physical manifestation of Santa’s threat that he knows if you’ve been bad or good. Sadly, my kids are too smart/old to fall for it anymore, so now it is just absurd places that the Elf shows up. I’m thrilled to add mischief to freshen up the whole Elf experience this year. I believe it is my job as a father to mess with my kid’s heads. Who else would get into an hour long discussion about hill cows. I’m not primarily interested in why people choose to buy an Elf on a Shelf. I was looking for a simpler explanation of what you were supposed to do with an Elf on the Shelf. It appears the explanation is you put it on display in your house and then move it around every night so the kids can look for its new location in the morning. And maybe do other stuff so it looks like the elf was playing pranks during the night. Okay, case closed. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/14 "2013-11-22T19:44:17Z")
> [@Shark](#): > > No, no, no…The Elf is for Daddies to leverage the fear of the all-seeing Santa for the molding of proper kid behavior. Didn’t clean you room…The Elf is watching. Punched your brother…The Elf is watching. The Elf is the physical manifestation of Santa’s threat that he knows if you’ve been bad or good. Sadly, my kids are too smart/old to fall for it anymore, so now it is just absurd places that the Elf shows up. That’s okay. Just buy my new product, “Santa’s Little Telescreen”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/15 "2013-11-22T19:47:26Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > My guess is that “Moo… I’m a Goat” is absurdist humor, taking its funny from its incongruity. But I’m assuming somebody somewhere first invented the phrase. Looking around, I saw it used as a captain on a photo of a giraffe. So maybe it’s the equivalent of “I can has cheezburger”. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/16 "2013-11-22T19:52:03Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I guess it exists because child protective services would take an _entirely_ dim view of re-creating the old Austrian Christmas custom of Krampus. 😃 > > [Krampus - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus) > [@Shark](#): > > I can’t believe this came up. My oldest was talking about wanting to dress up as the Krampus for Halloween but it never happened. My boys love the idea of the Krampus! Since most of my family lineage is German, I may have to come up with a combination of the Elf and the Krampus. Maybe a Krampus on the Lamp-us. Watch _Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale_ if you haven’t already. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/17 "2013-11-22T21:44:58Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > My guess is that “Moo… I’m a Goat” is absurdist humor, taking its funny from its incongruity. Reminds me of those pictures of, say, Frodo, with the line “Use the Force, Harry” underneath it. You know - cramming in as many mistakes as you can in one thing. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/18 "2013-11-22T22:13:09Z")
> [@Shark](#): > > No, no, no…The Elf is for Daddies to leverage the fear of the all-seeing Santa for the molding of proper kid behavior. Didn’t clean you room…The Elf is watching. Punched your brother…The Elf is watching. The Elf is the physical manifestation of Santa’s threat that he knows if you’ve been bad or good. Sadly, my kids are too smart/old to fall for it anymore, so now it is just absurd places that the Elf shows up. I’m thrilled to add mischief to freshen up the whole Elf experience this year. I believe it is my job as a father to mess with my kid’s heads. Who else would get into an hour long discussion about hill cows. If _Diary of a Wimpy Kid_ is to be believed, you can also scare kids straight with a picture of Shel Silverstein. Particularly [the one](http://creativekidsplay.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/shel-silverstein.jpg) on the back of _The Giving Tree_. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/19 "2013-11-22T22:39:11Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Reminds me of those pictures of, say, Frodo, with the line “Use the Force, Harry” underneath it. You know - cramming in as many mistakes as you can in one thing. I like the one that says “Do or do not, there is no try – Dumbledore” with a picture of Gandalf. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419/20 "2013-11-22T22:41:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’m not primarily interested in why people choose to buy an Elf on a Shelf. I was looking for a simpler explanation of what you were supposed to do with an Elf on the Shelf. Well, \*I \*was primarily interested in making fun of Facebook showoff parents 🆒 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-moo-im-a-goat-and-elf-on-a-shelf-to-me/674419.md?page=2)