# Don't wish death on someone? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 7, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-wish-death-on-someone/528076 "2010-02-07T23:08:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-wish-death-on-someone/528076/1 "2010-02-07T23:08:27Z")
Sorry, I know this question is a little dated as we’ve had this rule for a long time. But uh, out of all boards on the internet, to make such a rule out of pure superstition; I’d think this would be the last board to do so. Do the admins of this board really think somebody can be “wished” to death? I know this sounds snarky but that’s really not my intent. It’s just the only reason I can think of why such a rule would be made. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-wish-death-on-someone/528076/2 "2010-02-07T23:17:31Z")
I don’t believe that’s ever been given as the reason. My understanding is that if poster A wishes someone would kill poster B, then poster B dies somehow, then the cops will come a-lookin’ for poster A, which puts the Chicago Reader in the middle of Hurricane Shit. I offer no opinion as to the realism of the fear, just that I understand that that is the motivation behind the rule. ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-wish-death-on-someone/528076/3 "2010-02-07T23:29:59Z")
I really hope that isn’t the reason. I thought it was just uncouth to threaten other people. If the reason is “fear of legal liability”, I fear that the reason is just as silly and superstitious as the one given by the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-wish-death-on-someone/528076/4 "2010-02-07T23:34:41Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > I really hope that isn’t the reason. I thought it was just uncouth to threaten other people. > > If the reason is “fear of legal liability”, I fear that the reason is just as silly and superstitious as the one given by the OP. Not in real life. It works one whole hell of a lot better than doing it _via_ the internet. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-wish-death-on-someone/528076/5 "2010-02-07T23:49:36Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I don’t believe that’s ever been given as the reason. My understanding is that if poster A wishes someone would kill poster B, then poster B dies somehow, then the cops will come a-lookin’ for poster A, which puts the Chicago Reader in the middle of Hurricane Shit. > > I offer no opinion as to the realism of the fear, just that I understand that that is the motivation behind the rule. The usual rationale that I’ve heard is that **Andy** rants that he hopes that his ex-wife **Betty** dies in a fire… so **Crissy** , who’s just _crazy in love_ with Andy, runs right out and burns down Betty’s house. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-wish-death-on-someone/528076/6 "2010-02-07T23:57:07Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I don’t believe that’s ever been given as the reason. My understanding is that if poster A wishes someone would kill poster B, then poster B dies somehow, then the cops will come a-lookin’ for poster A, which puts the Chicago Reader in the middle of Hurricane Shit. > > I offer no opinion as to the realism of the fear, just that I understand that that is the motivation behind the rule. Well, damn! Ummm, on a totally unrelated matter, can I change my picks for the Celebrity Death Pool? ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-wish-death-on-someone/528076/7 "2010-02-08T00:02:06Z")
Last time I brought it up, I was told that it’d be to hard to determine a real threat (“I know your address and will drive over to your house and knock your teeth out”) from a wish of death (“I hope you get hit by car driven by a drunken monkey”) because the line between a “line between threats, wishes, expressions of hypothetical situations in which someone ought to die, etc., is often fine,” I don’t _agree_ with this, but that’s what IIRC I was told by [Zotti hisself, here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=501686) Note that there’s a “Drop Dead” may or may not be ok" exemption. Depending. Maybe. And the origin of the rule can be found [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=168963) Once again, it’s another of those idiotic rules that Lynn made up for the Pit (“no funny threads”, "no ‘pulling up a lawnchair’ posts). And it came about as so many of these things do because a single thin-skinned twit got butthurt that a poster told him to “Drop dead, moron, and quit wasting oxygen and food” The poster then had a hissy-fit that someone was encouraging him to commit suicide: TWICE!! So now it’s against the rules to say “Drop dead” or “I hope someone drops a house on you” :rolleyes: (Follow Desmostylus’s link in that thread for more background) ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-wish-death-on-someone/528076/8 "2010-02-08T00:06:03Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > And the origin of the rule can be found [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=168963) Once again, it’s another of those idiotic rules that Lynn made up for the Pit (“no funny threads”, "no ‘pulling up a lawnchair’ posts). And it came about as so many of these things do because a single thin-skinned twit got butthurt that a poster told him to “Drop dead, moron, and quit wasting oxygen and food” The poster then had a hissy-fit that someone was encouraging him to commit suicide: TWICE!! So now it’s against the rules to say “Drop dead” or “I hope someone drops a house on you” :rolleyes: Can you say “I hope someone goes all east witch on your ass?” ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-wish-death-on-someone/528076/9 "2010-02-08T00:51:23Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > And the origin of the rule can be found [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=168963) Once again, it’s another of those idiotic rules that Lynn made up for the Pit (“no funny threads”, "no ‘pulling up a lawnchair’ posts). And it came about as so many of these things do because a single thin-skinned twit got butthurt that a poster told him to “Drop dead, moron, and quit wasting oxygen and food” The poster then had a hissy-fit that someone was encouraging him to commit suicide: TWICE!! So now it’s against the rules to say “Drop dead” or “I hope someone drops a house on you” :rolleyes: > > (Follow Desmostylus’s link in that thread for more background) Oh, my. Tears are rolling down my face. > [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Can you say “I hope someone goes all east witch on your ass?” “Can you wish for someone to be clinically brain dead for 10 minutes, then revived?” I can’t believe someone as funny as **Tars Tarkas** stopped posting 6 years ago! ☹