# Do you find poop shocking or offensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 12, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298 "2008-09-12T16:24:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/21 "2008-09-12T17:47:09Z")
Posting pictures of retch-inducing auto accidents where people are torn in half is not “obscene”, either, by the limited definition of the depiction of prurient sexuality. Neither is posting pictures of Holocaust victims, or the walking burn victims of the _Hindenberg_, or Japanese women stepping on puppies, or non-erotic furry art, or one of Botticelli’s nudes. It isn’t technically “obscene” to post pictures of someone’s messy gallbladder surgery, or a website that plays a stunningly loud noise, or someone with a gross physical deformity. It isn’t “obscene” to post pictures of huge spiders, depictions of the health benefits of drinking urine, or the horrific results of someone’s failed breast implants. In my humble non-moderator opinion, you should know better than those things. It is still not a good idea and it certainly isn’t _polite_ to post those things without a warning that the link is of a potentially squicky picture that will make people freak the fuck out, “obscenity” or not. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/22 "2008-09-12T17:47:53Z")
I don’t think it’s obscene, no, but neither do I think it’s the sort of thing that should be posted without a clear warning. I also prefer warnings on pictures of abscesses, MRSA infections and that Italian cheese being talked about in Cafe Society this morning. There’s just no way you made it out of preschool without learning that poop is “yucky”. Not labeling yucky links is jerkish, in my book. Although I don’t think you should be banninated for it, I do think a warning is appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/23 "2008-09-12T17:52:33Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > _Poppycock_ is from the idiomatic Dutch _pappekak_, meaning “soft shit”, not “puppy shit”. > > Presumably, as opposed to “tough shit”. Huh. I stand corrected. (Although “puppy shit” is a lot cuter, don’t you think?) ---
**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:** [September 12, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/24 "2008-09-12T17:56:57Z")
Hmmm… lemme think. Given the choice, I’d say “offensive”, rather than “shocking”. Yeah. “Offensive”. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/25 "2008-09-12T17:59:20Z")
Do you find poop shocking or offensive? Nope. I didn’t click the link, though. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/26 "2008-09-12T17:59:56Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > You guys probably should avoid hanging out with **alice\_in\_wonderland** … > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10180480&postcount=360](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10180480&postcount=360) I think I just had an acid flashback to _Gravity’s Rainbow_. Poop is something I don’t need to see, but it seems a bit of an overstatement to label it some kind of moral offense. Of course, I feel the same way about the exposed female breast despite the fact that the entire Republic National Convention would have a collective stroke at so much as the sight of a flash of nipple and what horrible scarring that will do to “the children” and “family values”. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/27 "2008-09-12T18:02:00Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Although I don’t think you should be banninated for it, I do think a warning is appropriate. What actually happened was that **Cisco** was told he has garnered several warnings in a short period of time, and that if it continued he would be suspended. He was not told he’d be banned for posting that link. Most of the time we warn people they’re at risk for suspension before we suspend them, and it’s generally done in private. It’d still be private if **Cisco** hadn’t chosen to make it public. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/28 "2008-09-12T18:02:41Z")
It’s apparent that we are allowed to discuss it in writing, because this kind of talk is rampant on the SMDB. Linking to a news picture should have a warning. News can be offensive and trigger a gag reflex. I don’t have a problem with it if the link contains a not safe for work warning. People do poop. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/29 "2008-09-12T18:04:49Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > What actually happened was that **Cisco** was told he has garnered several warnings in a short period of time, and that if it continued he would be suspended. He was not told he’d be banned for posting that link. Most of the time we warn people they’re at risk for suspension before we suspend them, and it’s generally done in private. It’d still be private if **Cisco** hadn’t chosen to make it public. That seems entirely appropriate to me. (I know, I know, you were just holding your breath to find out what I thought about it, right? :D) ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/30 "2008-09-12T18:06:37Z")
I guess we’re all getting older. A few years back, lieu woulda been on this thread like a fly on a shocking, offensive turd. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/31 "2008-09-12T18:09:24Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > Posting pictures of retch-inducing auto accidents where people are torn in half is not “obscene”, either, by the limited definition of the depiction of prurient sexuality. 1. If you are talking about the legal definition of obscenity, it covers more than “prurient sexuality.” > [@](#): > > It is possible, however, to give a few plain examples of what a state statute could define for regulation under part (b) of the standard announced in this opinion, supra: > > (a) Patently offensive representations or descriptions of ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated. > > (b) \*\*Patently offensive representations or descriptions of \*\*masturbation, **excretory functions** , and lewd exhibition of the genitals. [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/printer\_friendly.pl?page=us/413/15.html](http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?page=us/413/15.html) More to the point, though, we aren’t the government here. Our rules say: > [@](#): > > Links to nudity or other potentially shocking or offensive material are permissible only in the context of a mature discussion - gratuitous posting of such links is grounds for revocation of your posting privileges. When posting a link to potentially shocking or offensive material, observe the “two click” rule - don’t link directly to the item, but rather to an intermediate page that in turns links to the item. If you’re not sure whether a link is appropriate, contact a moderator or administrator before posting it. Any user who feels a posted message is objectionable should contact the moderators of the affected forum by e-mail. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/rules.php](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/rules.php)? That’s why the OP used those terms. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/32 "2008-09-12T18:17:57Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > No, he didn’t, which was a big part of the problem. > > [You can see it in post 15 here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10168003) Well, in that case…people like him have trained me not to click on any link, ever, without checking what it leads to. I suppose I should thank him, but I never like to thank people for lowering my level of trust. Just like I don’t need to thank the first person who robs a house in a neighborhood and causes everyone to lock their doors for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/33 "2008-09-12T18:24:11Z")
> [@Gfactor](#): > > 1. If you are talking about the legal definition of obscenity, it covers more than “prurient sexuality.” No, it just seemed to me that the OP was using a very limited definition of his own. I didn’t research the legal definition. 🙂 > [@](#): > > More to the point, though, we aren’t the government here. So — and I’m not asking for insight into a mod ruling here, I’m just interpreting for myself — he’s passive-aggressively trying to change the rules rather than apologize for being wrong. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/34 "2008-09-12T18:48:49Z")
Please don’t link to pictures of [soft shit](http://www.lincolnsnacks.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/35 "2008-09-12T18:51:58Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > So — and I’m not asking for insight into a mod ruling here, I’m just interpreting for myself — he’s passive-aggressively trying to change the rules rather than apologize for being wrong. Sad. He’s not really trying to change the rule, he’s just calling **fluiddruid** (or the mods in general) stupid for the way she/we interpreted the phrase “shocking or offensive.” Thing is, she was right: poop itself is about as normal as it gets, but most people don’t want to see pictures of people crapping themselves, and they should only have to see those pictures if they choose to- meaning links to something like that should be identified clearly. ETA: Nobody’s asked for an apology or pennance from **Cisco**. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/36 "2008-09-12T18:56:44Z")
Well, that’s yet another reason to not run marathons. Thanks, **Cisco**. ---
**Author:** ![bufftabby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/37 "2008-09-12T18:58:25Z")
Before the clock had even struck noon today, I had dealt with four kinds of poop (and two kinds of vomit! Whee!). Poop does not phase me. That said, I see where you’re coming from, **Cisco** , but a warning of the link’s contents would have been polite, if nothing else. It is potentially NSFW, regardless of whether it is actually shocking or offensive. We all kind of had this discussion awhile back, didn’t we, when a non-obscene gay site was noted as NSFW. I think this is one of those sorts of things, not necessarily shocking or offensive, but in need of a bit of warning anyway, out of respect for other posters, not because there is some rule. ---
**Author:** ![kitemaker\_chuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a88e4f/32.png) [@kitemaker\_chuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitemaker_chuck)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/38 "2008-09-12T19:01:03Z")
Only if it comes out way too fast or way too slow! ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/39 "2008-09-12T19:04:17Z")
> [@kitemaker\_chuck](#): > > Only if it comes out way too fast or way too slow! Shutup you made me laugh really hard and now they think I’m laughing at the conference call. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298/40 "2008-09-12T19:08:42Z")
Do I find poop shocking or offensive? No. But bear in mind, I **DO** work with preschoolers. And I tell them not to show it to everybody. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-poop-shocking-or-offensive/463298.md?page=3)