# Fairytale of New York warning **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 26, 2017, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301 "2017-12-26T06:10:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/21 "2017-12-26T15:27:30Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > All I wanna say is, receiving FOUR warnings for a single-sentence post has got to be some kind of record. Except that the warnings were split between two posts. Edit - and it was one warning for four offences. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/22 "2017-12-26T15:40:57Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > All I wanna say is, receiving FOUR warnings for a single-sentence post has got to be some kind of record. I was still stuck on the “strike four” comment. Did the batter go around twice? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/23 "2017-12-26T15:45:11Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Yeah, I thought it was something of an SDMB tradition for Christmas Eve. Didn’t think of the copyright was an issue it’s been done numerous times before. The jerkishness was my issue with what happened. You don’t like a thread? Don’t open it. Yes, a nice little tradition. Oh well. Maybe next year we can start a thread where the first post is “It was the night before Christmas, sweetheart, in the Room of Inebriates.” 😉 > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Except that the warnings were split between two posts. > > Edit - and it was one warning for four offences. With additional potential! They didn’t even call him out for junior modding. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/24 "2017-12-26T16:03:32Z")
Is telling someone to “Bite me” (especially in this forum) an offense? ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/25 "2017-12-26T16:12:55Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > Because it was pointless. Way too pointless for CS, still too pointless for M **P** SIMS despite what the P stands for and could just barely be acceptable in the ghetto of Thread Games. Just because you don’t go to Thread Games is no reason to call it a ghetto. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/26 "2017-12-26T16:13:20Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > I saw the thread and thought, [oh](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=676692)they’re [posting](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=711292)lyrics from that [song](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=779074) [again](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744471). Dear god, I guess I messed the last five years of this crap. I’m unfamiliar with the song and don’t understand this “tradition.” Perhaps Christmas time brings out the worst in all of us. I hope we can forget this recent unpleasantness. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/27 "2017-12-26T16:25:20Z")
I was just surprised at how much work Shine put into telling us all what a worthless thread we were participating in. He either took the time to: 1) Type out all of the lyrics or 2) Open a new tab, google “Fairy tale of New york lyrics,” click the link, copy (from the exact point we left off in the song) and paste it into the thread, and finally issue his judgement of the whole dang thread, even checking back later to confirm his feelings and alter quotes. When I see a thread I find too pointless to participate in, I either: 1) Don’t click on it, or 2) Click the back button after I’ve clicked it. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/28 "2017-12-26T17:14:35Z")
I kinda thought " don’t be a jerk" or “don’t threadshit” to be the main causes of the warning. I mean, it may be silly and pointless, but it’s happened many Christmas Eves now, and ending it in a deliberately antagonistic manner seems like one of those two (or both!) without question. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/29 "2017-12-26T17:39:51Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I’ll just point out that we have 2 song lyrics threads in the Thread Games forum which regularly quote 4-8 lines of lyrics, if not more. Irrelevant. The rules are open to interpretation by the moderators. I have quoted up to 8 lines of a song without being modded, which apparently falls within fair usage. **Mr. Shine** posted the lyrics to the entire song, however, which is unambiguously a violation. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/30 "2017-12-26T17:57:15Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Irrelevant. The rules are open to interpretation by the moderators. I have quoted up to 8 lines of a song without being modded, which apparently falls within fair usage. **Mr. Shine** posted the lyrics to the entire song, however, which is unambiguously a violation. Well, he actually posted the _remaining_ lyrics, presumably to say the thread was stupid and he was finishing it for us. But what was being modded here w/respect to the thread (i.e. why it was locked) was that over the life of the thread the entire song would be eventually posted, thus the copyright infringement. I think. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/31 "2017-12-26T19:46:24Z")
I agree that while the thread as a whole probably violated copyright, **Mr. Shine’s** intent, which was to express his displeasure with the thread’s existence, to put it diplomatically, probably entered into it, as well. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/32 "2017-12-26T22:45:20Z")
I really don’t understand the mindset of someone who sees a pointless thread, opens it, reads all the way through it, and then gets so mad that they can’t control themselves and have to insult people and try to shut it down. I’ve rolled my eyes when a thread veers into pointless territory, but it never occurred to me that no one else should be allowed to post, so I should be a jerk and try to shut it down. I just quickly scan down and see if it gets back on track. If not, there’s a CLOSE button in the corner. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/33 "2017-12-26T23:47:27Z")
On further discussion of the moderators, the modification of the quote was not a rules violation, since it was not attributed. The other counts still stand, however. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/34 "2017-12-27T00:17:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > On further discussion of the moderators, the modification of the quote was not a rules violation, since it was not attributed. The other counts still stand, however. It said “Punctuated that for you.” Who is “you”? It was right after **HL’s** post, it was visibly **HL’s** post that was quoted, it was clearly aimed at **HL** and it was clearly intended to change the meaning into an insult. This is opening a loophole big enough to run an aircraft carrier through. I can think of several posters who will take immediate abusive advantage of such. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/35 "2017-12-27T00:19:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > On further discussion of the moderators, the modification of the quote was not a rules violation, since it was not attributed. Hmm, interesting loophole. I’ll have to remember that when the next opportunity for a FTFY comment comes along. (Which was my main objection to that rule, anyway.) > [@running\_coach](#): > > I can think of several posters who will take immediate abusive advantage of such. Aww, you were thinking of me. 😉 But I don’t see that as abusive, anyway. It’s just a dumb, dismissive type of joke that can be used in a great number of scenarios. Just not here, because it’s so viciously verboten. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/36 "2017-12-27T00:20:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > On further discussion of the moderators, the modification of the quote was not a rules violation, since it was not attributed. The other counts still stand, however. Bad idea IMEIO … is was obviously attributed as it was _the very next post_ … for example if I do this to your post: > [@](#): > > … [use your imagination] … How is just deleting your name NOT make this back-talking a moderator remark? [tosses red flag onto the field] I want a video review from New York … > [@running\_coach](#): > > [snip] … I can think of several posters who will take immediate abusive advantage of such. … and within just _minutes_ … ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/37 "2017-12-27T00:25:26Z")
> [@](#): > > … and within _Minnie Driver_ … FTFY. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/38 "2017-12-27T01:09:32Z")
My understanding is that the rule against altering quotes is about specifically the attributed quote form. As in > [@BigT](#): > > This form not > [@](#): > > This form There is a separate issue of quoting in a way that is misleading, I believe, but he made it clear this wasn’t the original quote. I’ve seen this used before for “Fixed it for you” type posts. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/39 "2017-12-27T01:41:38Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > It said “Punctuated that for you.” Who is “you”? It was right after **HL’s** post, it was visibly **HL’s** post that was quoted, it was clearly aimed at **HL** and it was clearly intended to change the meaning into an insult. > > This is opening a loophole big enough to run an aircraft carrier through. > > I can think of several posters who will take immediate abusive advantage of such. > [@watchwolf49](#): > > Bad idea IMEIO … is was obviously attributed as it was _the very next post_ … for example if I do this to your post: > > How is just deleting your name NOT make this back-talking a moderator remark? > > [tosses red flag onto the field] > > I want a video review from New York … > > … and within just _minutes_ … Being a jerk is still against the rules. As is trolling and personal insults. That has not changed. This is not a change in the rules s ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301/40 "2017-12-27T01:41:42Z")
> [@](#): > > WTFARFFA. 😛 This is just a bad idea … I’m clearly altering **buddha\_david’s** post and that’s not allowed … **Chronos** was spot on for this strike, no reason to withdraw it … Moderators can give warnings on a whim … we don’t need to split this hare … ETA (after **Loach’s** post): Fair enough … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-of-new-york-warning/805301.md?page=3)