The thread is in GQ - warning completely justified. I can see a note in IMHO or MPSIMS, even CS - hell, even GD, maybe. But GQ? Naah, son. OP’s been here long enough to know better.
As for this “a joke as insult isn’t an insult as joke” reasoning? Yeah, that’s exactly the kind of calculus real trolls would also love you to have the mods make. Every time. I figure **Colibri’**s got enough on his plate without that particular headache.
Then again, on rethink, you’d also think the OP has been here long enough to know not to argue about mod warnings in the thread they’re given, and that turns out to not be the case. So maybe the OP just thinks the rules don’t apply to them?
It’s an obvious joke, and the type I’ve seen go by without problems many times on this board. If the OP says “call me a moron,” then I can pretty much guarantee that someone will call them a moron. Do I find it funny? Not really. But it’s the type of grandpa joke (a joke that a dad would think was too lame) that people make around here.
So I argue that it’s precisely because the OP has been here a while that it makes sense he might think such jokes were okay. I’m guessing the OP has never been burned before on this.
OP: my advice is to always check your post for how someone might interpret it if they haven’t read any other post in the thread. Because mods often don’t. Also consider the most negative interpretation of your post, because someone will make it.
Could the OP (in the original thread in question) ponder a point so stupid that pointing out the stupidity would be a factual observation and not a joking insult?
A light-hearted comment with no malice in it merits a warning rather than a note? Colibri should consider resetting his gauge. Unless this poster had offended previously the sanction used was far too heavy-handed.
In GQ? Recently? Care to back that up?
The OP didn’t say “call me a moron”, the OP said “Show that I’m a moron”
I’m on-side with the warning as it is not completely clear that it was a joke.
OP: I may be a moron for believing this but please explain it to me.
DG: You’re a moron.
I have a slightly different view, the board has changed for sure but I remember a time where the response to a warning was an acknowledgement of the rule violation with possibly an explanation/apology and we moved on… no big deal.
Obvious joke. Especially given to OP.
I think that’s the crux in this case. If the OP’s content were about some less well-settled or well-known fact, it would have been more obvious that DG’s comment was a joke. But because most of us learn in fifth grade that Lamarckism is bunk, we’re already a bit surprised at the OP’s apparent ignorance (on this topic).
We see DG’s post. If we happen to have noticed the OP’s lighthearted request to have the “moron” status “revealed,” we’ll still think it’s a joke, but because we’re just as surprised at the apparent ignorance displayed in the OP (on this topic, not meant as a personal insult!), we feel the joke has some real sting mixed into it — a sting that is deserved (intellectually speaking), but in GQ needs to be delivered in a different way. So, the Mod warning is appropriate, because there’s too much of a grain of truth to the joke, given the content of the OP.
Other synonyms include declare, tell, and proclaim…
This is it, exactly.
I assume the fact the OP of this thread has not returned is an indication that he has wisely decided to move on. One warning isn’t really a big deal.
I hope Colibri takes this in the spirit of constructive feedback rather than criticism, as IMO he does a very good job regardless.
Another vote for not remotely a joke, pure insult.
FTR, from the GQ rules…
… bolding mine.
“Reveal” says to me that he wanted an intelligent explanation as to why his opinion/feeling/idea was totally off base. It wasn’t a request to be gratuitously insulted.
This board can be likened to a playing a field, and the moderators are the “officials”. If you’ve ever played sports, you know that a smart player picks up on the officiating style and adapts to it. He doesn’t defy it or push the edge of the envelope because he knows he is going to accrue fouls/penalties and hurt himself.
I’ve received an admonishment and an actual warning, but they helped me learn the parameters of what is acceptable and how to adapt to the environment. Sometimes it’s about being a team player and not about the almighty I.
I think everyone is avoiding John Mace’s point … this comment in question was made very early in the thread, before the General Question had be given its Factual Answer … that’s a major no-no and will bring a moderator crashing down every time … that’s note-able, plus it’s a personal insult, two notes makes a warning …
Better wording and later in the thread and I think the comment in question gets a pass … just a little deflection off the person and this is fine … insult the post, not the poster … and always wait until the question is answered …
My read on it as well. I’ve been known sometimes to use the phrase “you may think me an idiot but …” and you are indeed welcome to think so. But even if I take it as a joke and am not offended, actually posting “you are an idiot” would cross the line. Especially with no reasoning of your own to indicate just why you have that opinion.
I don’t think it matters if it’s a joke. It’s a GQ rule, just like no political jabs. No insulting Dopers, no exceptions. I don’t think DG intended to break the rules, or intended to actually insult the OP in that thread, but sometimes you get noted or warned based on strict construction of the rules no matter the intent.
Colibri blew this one bad.
A statement like that is incomplete unless it ends with a subordinate clause beginning with the word, “because”.
It makes no sense to me that someone who’s otherwise posted inoffensively gets a warning and not the benefit of the doubt for one dumb post, yet others have free rein to crap all over the board without penalty.