# Gukumatz, a word, please. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 3, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901 "2012-12-03T21:30:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/1 "2012-12-03T21:30:07Z")
In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=674285) you claimed my font size and color to be “obnoxious”, and apparently sufficiently so that an otherwise warnable offense by another poster gets a pass. I object on multiple grounds. 1. Please cite the rule which prohibits the occasional use of larger fonts/colors when appropriate…such as in a football thread about the BCS Championship Game, when said font/colors have been used in multiple other threads on this very board in similar context. 2. Please cite the rule and/or reasoning that supports giving an otherwise warnable offense a note instead, merely because the moderator has some personal issue with the alleged provocation. 3. Please cite the rule that allows a moderator to reduce the font size selected by a poster on the basis of personal whimsy. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/2 "2012-12-03T21:35:03Z")
1)Don’t be a jerk. 2)Don’t be a jerk. 3)Don’t be a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/3 "2012-12-03T22:46:28Z")
Given the nature of the thread it seems pretty harmless to have large red font. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/4 "2012-12-03T22:51:05Z")
If the use of larger fonts & colors is inappropriate, why is it an option? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/5 "2012-12-03T22:51:22Z")
I missed the original but I know on some boards, if you go too big, it breaks the auto-wrap and fucks up the layout of all the posts. Dunno, if that happened here but it’s annoying when it does. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/6 "2012-12-03T23:06:38Z")
As someone who loathes football with every fiber of my 300-thread-count being, detests hearing and reading football cheers and slogans, finds giant red fonts irritating in general, and has at best a checkered history with **Oakminster** , I think that one should’ve been allowed to slide. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/7 "2012-12-03T23:23:30Z")
Yes, the moderation was rather heavy-handed and arbitrary. But your implication that the moderators are obligated to defend each of their actions by citing title, chapter and line number from the rules is equally ridiculous. In small communities, deferring to the good judgement of those in authority rather than compiling an exhaustive set of rules, limits and justifications for every possible situation is vastly more efficient. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/8 "2012-12-03T23:31:21Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Yes, the moderation was rather heavy-handed and arbitrary. But your implication that the moderators are obligated to defend each of their actions by citing title, chapter and line number from the rules is equally ridiculous. In small communities, deferring to the good judgement of those in authority rather than compiling an exhaustive set of rules, limits and justifications for every possible situation is vastly more efficient. Having a different set of rules for what’s appropriate depending on whether the reader is a peon or a moderator may be more efficient, but hardly enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/9 "2012-12-03T23:46:37Z")
**Airman Doors, USAF** got a note instead of a Warning because he’s been here for a decade, has a great record and your font was pointlessly shoved into the face of everyone who read the thread. I don’t take provocation into consideration when determining whether or not something is out of line, but I do take it into account when I determine the reaction. Contrary to what you claim he was not “given a pass” - Notes are not Warnings, true, but they cut into the amount of slack we’re willing to give posters in the future. As to your rules lawyering, give it a rest. The Rules are for big deals that will affect people’s posting privileges. This was just janitor work. Why did I do anything to your post? It ate up 90% of the screen estate on my 10,1" tablet, which broke the formatting and I had to scroll left and right in order to read the thread. When I got home and on to my desktop it was still annoyingly large, so I reduced the font to remove the annoyance for everyone else. Something mods occasionally has to do when someone slips a twenty-paragraph post IN ALL CAPS by the caps-filter or rewrite War & Peace in neon green font. You weren’t dinged for it because I got that you weren’t trying to be a jerk, but the result was still obnoxious and thus got edited down to a reasonable level. The BB code tools are there for appropriate use. Coloring is a good way to show different authors and edits, like sometimes done in the FAQ. Larger font sizes can be used (sparingly) to good effect in order to direct attention to **vital** information or create headers where Bolding is used for emphasis or sub-headers. And so on. Using all these tools appropriately is part of what constitutes good manners and common courtesy on this board. Using them as a mere look-at-me is just annoying. For the record, it looked like this. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/10 "2012-12-04T00:15:48Z")
I thought changing the font on **Oak** was unnecessary. I’m sure the entire board is pleased to know my position. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/11 "2012-12-04T00:20:04Z")
I couldn’t care less if I get a warning or not, to be honest with you. I’m surprised that my post would merit one when the topic is specifically about how much hate we have for the teams and my first post viciously went after fans of said team. In that respect it was nothing more than a follow-up. In the end, though, it’s much ado about nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/12 "2012-12-04T00:43:17Z")
I was reading it on my cellphone and trying to figure out what it means when the screen goes red. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Vita\_Beata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@Vita\_Beata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vita_Beata)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/13 "2012-12-04T00:49:24Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > If the use of larger fonts & colors is inappropriate, why is it an option? Exactly! It’s like being in the Garden of Eden and forbidden to eat all the available fruit. Surely the SDMB Divinity did not mean to put such temptations within reach of our messaging fingers. 😃 not exactly serious about this, just trying to get my post count higher. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/14 "2012-12-04T01:01:33Z")
The real problem here is that **Oak** is right, and ROLL TIDE! in very large font is the only possible answer to the question. For the record, I agree with **Vinyl Turnip** completely as well. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/15 "2012-12-04T01:25:08Z")
> [@Gukumatz](#): > > As to your rules lawyering, give it a rest. The Rules are for big deals that will affect people’s posting privileges. This was just janitor work. The exact same thing has been posted in several other threads in that very forum, with nary a peep from more reasonable mods. If you are now making up a brand new “No large fonts on the SDMB” rule, you need to publicize it, and enforce it consistently. For the record, it looked like this. That’s simply not true, as your post contains seven words, while the large colorful part of mine contained only two. For the true record, it looked more like: ROLL TIDE ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/16 "2012-12-04T02:42:36Z")
> [@Gukumatz](#): > > **Airman Doors, USAF** got a note instead of a Warning because he’s been here for a decade, has a great record and your font was pointlessly shoved into the face of everyone who read the thread. Then why did you explicitly say (emphasis added): > [@](#): > > Only reason this isn’t a Warning is that I found the Huge Red Font obnoxious myself. “Only” means there is no other reason. And yet you now list 2 other reasons. And I agree with the other posters who say that if we get mod notes for using a certain font, then don’t allow the font in the first place!! ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/17 "2012-12-04T06:19:54Z")
I like Gukumatz as a poster and mod but this was heavy handed modding. I’m kind of in the Vinyl Turnip camp on this too. I’m sure I’ve seen some actual egregious mis-use of color/size fonts in the past with nary a peep from the mods. Bad call. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/18 "2012-12-04T06:52:57Z")
> [@Gukumatz](#): > > For the record, it looked like this. So? You might be on a brick or a tablet or whatever but if that text takes up all your screen space that’s your problem, not his. Two words in that size is against the rules? Give me a break. ---
**Author:** ![Krav\_Manga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krav_manga/32/3153_2.png) [@Krav\_Manga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krav_Manga)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/19 "2012-12-04T06:56:47Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Then why did you explicitly say (emphasis added): > > “Only” means there is no other reason. And yet you now list 2 other reasons. > > And I agree with the other posters who say that if we get mod notes for using a certain font, then don’t allow the font in the first place!! Enough of your rules lawyering. ---
**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901/20 "2012-12-04T07:32:02Z")
Is ‘‘nary a peep’’ a new meme? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gukumatz-a-word-please/642901.md?page=2)