# I wasn't trolling; it was a joke, Giraffe. Duh. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 19, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601 "2007-03-19T18:08:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/21 "2007-03-19T19:27:09Z")
[QUOTE=Giraffe] Posts that are indistinguishable from trolling are against the rules. [/QUOTE] **Aeschines** , that’s why Andy Kaufman and Ann Coulter were banned. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/22 "2007-03-19T19:29:54Z")
[QUOTE=Aeschines] C’mon, that’s a drink, not a smoke. [/QUOTE] Not the [crystal kind](http://www.drano.com/clogged-kitchen-drain/default.aspx). No stems or seeds, either. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/23 "2007-03-19T20:09:44Z")
For what it’s worth, I knew it was a joke right off the bat. I was amazed that so many people took it seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/24 "2007-03-19T20:14:44Z")
[QUOTE=DiosaBellissima] For what it’s worth, I knew it was a joke right off the bat. I was amazed that so many people took it seriously. [/QUOTE] Well, yeah, but some people is 'tooopid! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/25 "2007-03-19T20:17:33Z")
It is interesting that people had a hard time telling if this was a very stupid joke passed off as a serious thread, or just very stupid thread. I wouldn’t argue the distinction too much, OP. ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/26 "2007-03-19T20:41:15Z")
I’m confused. So **Aeschines** really _is_ a Garrison Keillor fan? ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/27 "2007-03-19T20:58:00Z")
[QUOTE=JonScribe] I’m confused. So **Aeschines** really _is_ a Garrison Keillor fan? [/QUOTE] Hate 'im. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/28 "2007-03-20T02:00:20Z")
My first thought at seeing that thread was “Whaaaa…?”. Then I thought, “Oh, he’s drunk.” My next thought was he’s just crazy. Finally I thought he was attempting to be funny. I couldn’t decide which one to respond to and I even debated reporting the post, then I decided a mod would be along soon anyway, so I had another beer. Hey, could I make a thread about my outrage about all the outrage over recreational outrage threads? ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/29 "2007-03-20T02:07:17Z")
Satire requires wit. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/30 "2007-03-20T02:23:43Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] Satire requires wit. [/QUOTE] Glad you laughed. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/31 "2007-03-20T03:11:19Z")
[QUOTE=Waverly] It is interesting that people had a hard time telling if this was a very stupid joke passed off as a serious thread, or just very stupid thread. I wouldn’t argue the distinction too much, OP. [/QUOTE] Now you see the art of it. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2007, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/32 "2007-03-20T03:48:28Z")
[QUOTE=Aeschines] Now you see the art of it. [/QUOTE] Wrong. Art requires talent. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/33 "2007-03-20T03:50:43Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Wrong. Art requires talent. [/QUOTE] Now he’ll thank you for saying he has talent :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [March 20, 2007, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/34 "2007-03-20T04:07:00Z")
Does it matter that the people in the original thread were not doing what people do in that forum? Admittedly, I’m still pretty new, but I’m still getting so confused by what’s supposed to be happening in these forums. I think I have it figured out, then another thread comes along and the rules seem to morph. I thought that RO threads in MPSIMS are supposed to get either the reaction of consoling the outraged person or trying to understand why they’re outraged or thinking it’s a parody or jumping on the outrage wagon. But in this case, people were offering rational arguments against the OP in MPSIMS. If offering rational arguments in the Pit is pedantic, isn’t it more so in MPSIMS? If people are going to offer rational arguments in every RO thread in MPSIMS, I’ll put in another vote to send the RO threads to MPSIMS because in the Pit, there’s not a lot of rationality going on with them. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/35 "2007-03-20T04:28:03Z")
[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo] Admittedly, I’m still pretty new, but I’m still getting so confused by what’s supposed to be happening in these forums. [snip] in the Pit, there’s not a lot of rationality going on [/QUOTE] There; that should clarify this forum for ya. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/36 "2007-03-20T04:28:54Z")
[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo] Admittedly, I’m still pretty new, but I’m still getting so confused by what’s supposed to be happening in these forums. I think I have it figured out, then another thread comes along and the rules seem to morph. I thought that RO threads in MPSIMS are supposed to get either the reaction of consoling the outraged person or trying to understand why they’re outraged or thinking it’s a parody or jumping on the outrage wagon. But in this case, people were offering rational arguments against the OP in MPSIMS. If offering rational arguments in the Pit is pedantic, isn’t it more so in MPSIMS? [/quote] Nothing is ‘supposed to be happening’. Just say whatever you want to say, without violating the (official) rules. Personally, I pretty much ignore what forum a thread is in when writing my response. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2007, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/37 "2007-03-20T04:32:56Z")
You can be rational anywhere you like (we do encourage rational), but rigourous arguments are usually confined to Great Debates, because they’re too much work for most of us grunts. You can make them if you like, if that’s how you want to spend your time, but most of us don’t (and if rigourous arguing is too much work for us, we tend to stay out of GD). The rules don’t even stay the same within the same thread, either, **Heffalump**. There comes a point in a thread that may have started off serious where it starts to get silly, and nobody minds. Posting here is more of an art than a science, you know? (Now I feel kinda bad, because I was the one who called your argument in the Pit pedantic. My apologies - you can be as pedantic as you like, anywhere you like.) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/38 "2007-03-20T07:02:04Z")
[QUOTE=Aeschines] I wasn’t trolling; it was a joke, Giraffe. Duh. . [/QUOTE] Jokes are funny. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/39 "2007-03-20T07:09:55Z")
I love it when people like **Aeschines** keep posting to carry away votes of me being the biggest douchenozzle on these boards. Good on ya. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601/40 "2007-03-20T14:20:48Z")
[QUOTE=duffer] I love it when people like **Aeschines** keep posting to carry away votes of me being the biggest douchenozzle on these boards. Good on ya. [/QUOTE] Naw, you lost that title a long time ago, when you slipped up and admitted that you’d actually changed your stance on an issue or two after thinking over some of the arguments people had deluged you with. Can’t be a proper douchebag with an open (however marginally) mind, it gets so messy. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wasnt-trolling-it-was-a-joke-giraffe-duh/396601.md?page=3)