My question really revolves around the use of the Putz smiley.
In this post , Frank says that the use of the Putz smiley is forbidden outside of The Pit. Is that true? If so, since when has this been a rule? I’ve looked and can’t find anything to verify that statement.
Now, I did see this in the rules sticky in GD.It says that the putz smiley can’t be used in GD with the caveat that it can’t be directed at a fellow poster. Seems like a fair rule but it isn’t a total ban on using the smiley.
So is the use of the putz smiley forbidden outside of The Pit? Or does the limit of not directing it at other posters hold sway? Can I use it if I am calling myself a putz or somebody who isn’t a poster on these boards?
Anaamika nailed it. The smiley may not be used against other posters outside the Pit. If you want to use it against yourself, George Bush, or Howard Dean, feel free. Just don’t be, umm… ambiguous.
Why on earth is the smiley even considered an insult? It’s winking. I can’t think of one instance in my life where someone winked at me while calling me a name and I took the name seriously.
It’s the word in the balloon; to some, “putz” is an insult.
“Putz” is one of those multi-purpose words, it means different things to different people.
Probably the most widely known application is in the vulgar sense, where it equates to penis. Putz = dick.
It’s also used to refer to someone as a dolt, a fool. 'That simple putz!"
And it’s a verb, as in “to putz around,” to mess around with no real purpose, to waste time, again, to be foolish.
We originally had the putz smiley as a remembrance of a tagline and someone who, in retrospect, turned out to be more and less than what we knew. This is another reason some people find it useful as an insult.
For all of these reasons, context and placement pertains. That’s why the rule.
I think the proper solution woud be to leave the smiley active, but to remove the button in the reply window to automatically add it. That way, it’d remain in old threads, so as not to break the context, but most folks would stop using it in new posts, and eventually, folks would more or less forget about it.
Thank you. However, previous to just a few minutes ago, I have spent an extremely limited time thinking about either the “putz” or the “happy orthodox Jewish man.”
