# Hey, Chumpsky, how about you enlighten us. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 7, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100 "2003-01-07T04:28:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/261 "2003-01-13T06:15:54Z")
Just think, folks, a year from now, you’ll be able to tell SDMB newbies that you were there the night that **Chumpsky** got caught with his pants down around his ankles, yet vociferously maintained that that was _not_ his ass flapping in the breeze. What a crash-and-burn this is turning into! Oh, the humanity! ---
**Author:** ![BrightEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@BrightEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightEyes)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/262 "2003-01-13T06:26:44Z")
**EarlyOut,** I can just imagine gathering the newbies and telling them a tale of horror, a tale of unimaginable horror, passed on from generation to generation of poster… The tale of Chumpsky the lying plagarist bastard… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/263 "2003-01-13T06:48:48Z")
Man, Chumpy is even more annoying than Noam Chompsky! ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/264 "2003-01-13T07:44:21Z")
**RedFury** is NOT to be triffled with! :eek: My hat’s off to you, sir! ---
**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:** [January 13, 2003, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/265 "2003-01-13T12:19:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chumpsky \* > \*\*Ban me if you like, but I will continue to insist on this point. \*\* \*\*Fenris: \*\*Y’know, Lynn. If you threaten to ban a poster as thoughtful\ and well loved \ as Chumpsky, ANY of us can be banned. I figure I’m high on the list. Do you want to ban me now or wait till you get home? **Chumpsky:** BAN HIM NOW! BAN HIM NOW! **Fenris:** You keep outta this; she doesn’t have to ban you now. **Chumpsky:** Oh, yeah? Well, I say she DOES have to ban me now! So BAN ME NOW! **Lynn:** (shrugs, and presses the BIG RED BUTTON O’ BANNING. An anvil (labeled “ **BANNED** ”, of course) drops on Chumpsky) **Chumpsky** (crawls out from under the anvil): Let’s try that again… **Fenris:** Okay! (recites in a flat voice) Do-you-want-to-ban-me-now –or-wait-‘till-you-get-home? **Chumpsky** (in the same kind of voice): Ban-him-now. Ban-him-now. **Fenris:** You-keep-outta-this; she-doesn’t-have-to-ban-you-now. **Chumpsky:** Ah-_ **HA** _! (turns to audience) _Pronoun_ trouble! It’s not ‘she doesn’t have to ban _you_ now’, it’s ‘she doesn’t have to ban _me_ now’. Well, I say she DOES have to ban me now! SO BAN ME NOW! **Lynn:** (Shrugs again and presses the BIG RED BUTTON O’ BANNING. A trap door opens under Chumpsky who does a double-take and falls through.) Fenris Bunny And, Chump? To forstall the inevitable idiocy since you seem to have trouble with the concept: this _isn’t_ plagerism, it’s parody. What you did was plagerism. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/266 "2003-01-13T12:34:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Michael Ellis \* > \*\*Man, Chumpy is even more annoying than Noam Chompsky! \*\* At least Noam wrote his own crap. ---
**Author:** ![BrightEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@BrightEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightEyes)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/267 "2003-01-13T12:40:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > \*\*At least Noam wrote his own crap. \*\* Who’s noam chompsky? ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/268 "2003-01-13T12:41:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chumpsky \* > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by lno_ > > For me, at least, it’s going to take a long time before I’ll believe that any of your ‘essays’ aren’t a result of theft. > > Ahh yes. Care to back up that “belief”? Let me get this straight- you’re asking for proof why I think you’re a liar? Quit being disingenuous. You know why you’re called out on the carpet. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/269 "2003-01-13T13:05:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fenris \* > \*\ ***Fenris:** You-keep-outta-this; she-doesn’t-have-to-ban-you-now. > > **Chumpsky:** Ah-_ **HA** _! (turns to audience) _Pronoun_ trouble! It’s not ‘she doesn’t have to ban _you_ now’, it’s ‘she doesn’t have to ban _me_ now’. Well, I say she DOES have to ban me now! SO BAN ME NOW!\*\* 😃 **thunderous applause** ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/270 "2003-01-13T13:23:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BrightEyes \* > \*\*Who’s noam chompsky? \*\* Noam Chomsky is a brilliant linguist who made some really excellent contributions to that field. He’s also a bit of a left-wing conspiracy nutball. His most famous book is probably [Manufacturing Consent](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375714499/qid=1042464148/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/002-7782294-6201655). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/271 "2003-01-13T13:48:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chumpsky \* > \*\*I believe that you are a liar. \*\* In all my time on the board I have never seen such naked, blatant hypocrisy. ---
**Author:** ![hansel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@hansel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hansel)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/272 "2003-01-13T18:17:55Z")
Do you suppose there’s a “from each according to his (writing) ability, to each according to his (rhetorical) need” thing going on here? After all, it’s not Maas’ or Parenti’s essay, it’s **the proletariat’s** essay. ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/273 "2003-01-13T20:27:05Z")
Bwa. Hansel, you just took down Chumpsky’s person and his ideology in one stroke. Bravo. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/274 "2003-01-13T21:45:36Z")
Since this whole episode deserves to be memorialized in song, I present the following (slightly altered but adequately credited) Tom Lehrer verse: \*"I am never forget the day I first meet the great Chumpachevsky In one word he told me secret of success in propaganda Plagiarize Plagiarize Let no one else’s work evade your eyes Remember why the good Lord made your eyes So don’t shade your eyes But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize Only be sure always to call it please **research"** \* _Lobachevsky_, by Tom Lehrer ---
**Author:** ![barton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@barton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barton)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/275 "2003-01-13T22:19:39Z")
I’m going to dissent somewhat from the prevailing opinion. The SDMB is a great forum, but to pretend it is some kind of learned journal of fact and professional opinion is a crock of shit. I’ve never seen one of those with a BBQ pit, for chrissakes. It’s a ‘medium for public discussion’, as the FAQ states. It’s people bullshitting. Educated, intelligent, even erudite people bullshitting, but still BS. Accusing someone of plagarism here, IMHO, carries about as much weight as doing the same at the dinner table. Such a charge would mean something in a classroom or a formal publication, but here? C’mon. That said, I’m disappointed. **Chumpsky** , I gathered you had a serious book collection from those acre-long posts of yours, and you had a workload of cites demanded from your detractors, but **jeez**. You could do a hell of a lot better. You find an idea you like, that’s great, but you have toss the text aside and write your own take from scratch. It’s always best to overattribute sources than the reverse. Otherwise, you get this mess. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/276 "2003-01-13T22:30:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barton \* > \*\*Accusing someone of plagarism here, IMHO, carries about as much weight as doing the same at the dinner table. Such a charge would mean something in a classroom or a formal publication, but here? C’mon. \*\* Not quite. Allowing a poster to post copyrighted material without attribution or permission (in the case of longer chunks of material) places our kindly hosts, the _Chicago Reader_ people, in a position that is, at a minimum, awkward and, at a maximum, legally dangerous. It simply can’t be allowed here. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/277 "2003-01-14T03:00:03Z")
Hats off to **RedFury**. I say we refer to all future cases of plagiarism on the SDMB as “pulling a **Chumpsky** ” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/278 "2003-01-14T05:05:04Z")
**Fenris** , where’s the part where **Chumpsky** appears with burnt feathers and/or his beak [askew](http://www.stomptokyo.com/extras/chuckjones/)? And **Jackmanii** , with a name (and worldview) like **Chumpsky’s** , he might very well _…have a friend a Minsk Who has a friend in Pinsk Whose friend in Omsk Has friend in Tomsk With friend in Akmolinsk_… ---
**Author:** ![Kitfox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f6c823/32.png) [@Kitfox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitfox)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/279 "2003-01-14T07:38:09Z")
In something of a defence of Chumpsky, he probably memorized these passages for use in debate and honestly didn’t mean to plagiarize them. After all, that’s pretty much what philosophy was while I was in college, reguritating other peoples words at the drop of a hat so you seem smarter and deeper than everyone else. That way, you can attack the others for their stupidity and shallowness and get all the girls. ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100/280 "2003-01-14T17:02:52Z")
**Chumpsky** is just following his moral compass. Those are the people’s words, after all… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-chumpsky-how-about-you-enlighten-us/147100.md?page=15)