# Harmonious Discord, you have GOT to be kidding me. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 18, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696 "2008-12-18T03:35:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/121 "2008-12-21T22:16:42Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > The real money to be made is high end designer clutches for Hollywood and New York. I guess every society gal needs a set of balls to clutch when things get hairy. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/122 "2008-12-30T22:04:07Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > ?I know how you feel. I used to think you had a fair bit of smarts in that head of yours. Of course, you can redeem yourself by explaining exactly how pointing out that making yourself a faux martyr to a cause that doesn’t exist is jerkish. i’m happy to be enlightened. We were having a disagreement. And that’s all, until you decided to resort to a baseless personal attack. How, exactly, am I a martyr? Did I claim injury? Did I claim to suffer? Did I claim to do any of these things on another’s behalf? No, no, and no. And for you to suggest otherwise was gratuitously jerkish. If disagreeing with someone is cause for martyrdom, it’s not a very exclusive club. [QUOTE=SkipMagic] Why would you have to tip-toe around the word? There’s no ban on the word; the one specific usage to which I put a stop to was only meant to harass another user–which is against our rules. [/QUOTE] You’re right on the first point. No need to tiptoe. My mistake. But to assert that there is only one possible interpretation for this use of “3. Buckeyes” is completely ridiculous. Completely. You have absolutely no way of knowing what a poster’s intent is. As for harassing, was \*\*Opal \*\*even in that thread? Why was it not harassing when \*\*badchad \*\*chased \*\*Polycarp \*\*aroung the boards? Why is it not harassing when \*\*Leander \*\*posts only to call **Q.E.D.** “googleboy”? At least those posts were aimed directly at someone. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/123 "2008-12-30T22:44:38Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I know **Hal** got weary (and rightly so) of the sheep stuff. Just to clarify – I never mind it if someone makes a sheep joke at my expense, as long as it’s a good one. If all you’re going to do is post “Paging **Hal**!” when someone mentions sheep, then please don’t bother. But if you’re going to come up with something original, then fire away. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/124 "2008-12-30T23:01:05Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > But to assert that there is only one possible interpretation for this use of “3. Buckeyes” is completely ridiculous. Completely. You have absolutely no way of knowing what a poster’s intent is. When it looks, walks, and quacks. . . The “3. Buckeyes” was proposed during a Pitting of OpaCat to replace the ancient and shopworn “3. Hi Opal” tag in lists. It was proposed by someone who was actively Pitting Opal. Its first four or five appearances was at the keyboard of posters who had participated in that thread for the purpose of attacking OpalCat. Now, I will not claim that someone who uses that on some distant future date will be aware of all the ramifications of that line, but at this point, the staff is pretty much in agreement that any use of that line outside the Pit is to be interpreted as a cheap shot at OpalCat. There are enough people who recognize it as an insult that anyone who is so clueless as to use it for some other murky reason will still be conveying the insult to a large number of other posters and deserves to be smacked down for general cluelessness. > [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Why is it not harassing when \*\*Leander \*\*posts only to call **Q.E.D.** “googleboy”? You mean as in [this Mod Warning](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10463074#post10463074)? ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/125 "2008-12-31T03:22:47Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Just to clarify – I never mind it if someone makes a sheep joke at my expense, as long as it’s a good one. If all you’re going to do is post “Paging **Hal**!” when someone mentions sheep, then please don’t bother. But if you’re going to come up with something original, then fire away. For the record, ditto with me and the utensil jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/126 "2008-12-31T03:49:43Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > We were having a disagreement. And that’s all, until you decided to resort to a baseless personal attack. How, exactly, am I a martyr? Did I claim injury? Did I claim to suffer? Did I claim to do any of these things on another’s behalf? No, no, and no. And for you to suggest otherwise was gratuitously jerkish. This sound familiar? > [@You](#): > > …we still have to tiptoe around the word… We. Not them. We. As in them…and me (well, YOU, but you know what I mean). I can only interpret that as you complaining about being forced to do something you didn’t want to do. Or somehow having your “rights” unfairly abridged. My post wasn’t intended to make the claim that you’re literally claiming some sort of martyrdom, but rather pointing out that you’re playing the part of someone who has been put upon by The Man, despite the fact that absolutely no restriction has been put upon your choice of words; only a single, specific-case proscription of a particular phrase which happens to contain the word in question. In any case, calling it a personal attack is fair bit of hyperbole, at best. The first gratuitously jerkish, personal post in our exchange was yours. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2008, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/127 "2008-12-31T05:37:47Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Just to clarify – I never mind it if someone makes a sheep joke at my expense, as long as it’s a good one. If all you’re going to do is post “Paging **Hal**!” when someone mentions sheep, then please don’t bother. But if you’re going to come up with something original, then fire away. I bet **Eleanor** is feeling sheepish now at her mistake. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/128 "2008-12-31T21:01:29Z")
Oh, come on, it wasn’t THAT bad! Where’d everyone go? ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/129 "2008-12-31T21:05:14Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > I bet **Eleanor** is feeling sheepish now at her mistake. Paging Hal! ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/130 "2009-01-01T01:31:39Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > When it looks, walks, and quacks. . . > > The “3. Buckeyes” was proposed during a Pitting of OpaCat to replace the ancient and shopworn “3. Hi Opal” tag in lists. It was proposed by someone who was actively Pitting Opal. Its first four or five appearances was at the keyboard of posters who had participated in that thread for the purpose of attacking OpalCat. > > Now, I will not claim that someone who uses that on some distant future date will be aware of all the ramifications of that line, but at this point, the staff is pretty much in agreement that any use of that line outside the Pit is to be interpreted as a cheap shot at OpalCat. > > There are enough people who recognize it as an insult that anyone who is so clueless as to use it for some other murky reason will still be conveying the insult to a large number of other posters and deserves to be smacked down for general cluelessness. Huh. Well, a cheap shot at OpalCat it may have been, but an insult? She may find it insulting, then again, who wouldn’t? If I were to use a phrase that essentially calls you out on an association so completely ridiculous as to baffle and incredulize the masses, wouldn’t you be offended? To me, the phrase is a reminder that when you make those wacky associations, people are going to take note and possibly point their fingers at you and snicker. Life is like that. ---
**Author:** ![FarmerChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@FarmerChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FarmerChick)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/131 "2009-01-01T15:34:08Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > … I’m interested in **Autolycus** or **HalBriston** weighing in here re the words ladle and sheep as well. I know **Hal** got weary (and rightly so) of the sheep stuff. Ok, I gotta ask, I have read about these things now forever. Can someone tell me the stories behind these jibes? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/132 "2009-01-01T15:51:56Z")
> [@FarmerChick](#): > > Ok, I gotta ask, I have read about these things now forever. Can someone tell me the stories behind these jibes? I don’t know anything about the **Autolycus** one, but [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=333640) is the thread that started the **Hal Briston** and sheep legend. It’s pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/133 "2009-01-01T16:00:20Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I don’t know anything about the **Autolycus** one… It all started [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8380608#post8380608)… ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/134 "2009-01-01T16:10:31Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Now, I will not claim that someone who uses that on some distant future date will be aware of all the ramifications of that line, but at this point, the staff is pretty much in agreement that any use of that line outside the Pit is to be interpreted as a cheap shot at OpalCat. > \ I was not here in the begining, so I am not certain about this, but isn’t the original **3. Hi Opal!** a dig at her for posting pretty constantly that a list has three items? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/135 "2009-01-01T16:53:21Z")
> [@brownie55](#): > > I was not here in the begining, so I am not certain about this, but isn’t the original **3. Hi Opal!** a dig at her for posting pretty constantly that a list has three items? Nope. It was friendly banter, not an insult. It started among her friends on the AOL SDMB when, following one of her declamations against two-entry lists, (something she only posted perhaps twice, possibly three times, in the course of several weeks), someone posted “3. Hi Opal : )” and a few others picked it up. The original was not a slam. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/136 "2009-01-01T17:12:36Z")
Thanks for clearing that up. ---
**Author:** ![FarmerChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@FarmerChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FarmerChick)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/137 "2009-01-01T23:26:18Z")
LOL great story Hal! :eek: Auto :eek: That’s all I’m gonna say… ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/138 "2009-01-02T00:19:22Z")
The worst part of the Autolycus incident is that now whenever someone says “ladle,” I think of Hanukkah. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/139 "2009-01-03T20:16:04Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > As for harassing, was \*\*Opal \*\*even in that thread? Why was it not harassing when \*\*badchad \*\*chased \*\*Polycarp \*\*aroung the boards? Why is it not harassing when \*\*Leander \*\*posts only to call **Q.E.D.** “googleboy”? At least those posts were aimed directly at someone. **Hal** and **Autolycus** having weighed in, I suppose I ought to. IMO, that was most definitely harassment, and I raised objections to it repeatedly. I presume that the moderating staff gave **badchad** enough rope to hang himself, with private advisories to knock it off that I was not privy to. Results were that he was suspended, came back and used a signature targeting me, I complained about the siggie, and he was banned. Not knowing what was happening at the time, I backed off from posting almost entirely, and still avoid GD for the most part or pursuing any contacts with old friends. But at the end of the day: 1. I’m still here. 2. **Badchad** isn’t. 3. [Hi, Vauxhall!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=500065) ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696/140 "2009-01-03T20:47:02Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Not knowing what was happening at the time, I backed off from posting almost entirely, and still avoid GD for the most part or pursuing any contacts with old friends. Not that it’s any of my business, so I can understand why you wouldn’t answer, but why do you still avoid GD if **badchad** is no longer here, and that was the reason you backed off posting there? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harmonious-discord-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/477696.md?page=8)