With this post in the thread in which Silver Tyger Girl is seeking advice on getting a job as a graphic designer, Ellen Cherry gave me a warning. Is “You’re a real piece of work” a Pit-worthy insult? I think it’s pretty benign as far as “insults” go, but I’ll back off if the majority thinks otherwise. I’ve seen far, far worse go unpunished in several non-Pit forums, particularly GD.
I felt Silver Tyger Girl was starting to become jerkish by overtly stating she will ignore any advice she doesn’t want to hear, and I posted my feelings. It wasn’t worth it to Pit over such a mild situation.
Why do I care? I’ve been a member since September 2003 and I have never, ever been pitted or received an infraction. I’ve never even received a non-warning warning. I’d like to keep it that way.
I think Ellen Cherry is a very good mod and I’ve never had an issue with her moderation. I think this warning was jumping the gun a bit, however.
I would definitely call it an insult. The idiomatic meaning of “you’re a real piece of work” is “you’re an asshole” or “you’re an idiot,” just as the idiomatic meaning of “she’s got a great rack” or “she’s built like a brick shithouse” is “she has big breasts.”
I associate “You’re a real piece of work” as meaning someone demonstrates an attitude or behaviour that’s at odds with what’s desirable.
Maybe you haven’t been formally called on the carpet yet. Perhaps that doesn’t necessarily mean that your behaviour hasn’t been found taxing, or at the very least not helping the situation.
Ellen Cherry is a very good mod and usually quite reserved in handing out admonitions. This sounds like a good time to take some decidedly gently advice to heart.
Not to speak for Ellen, but Czarcasm had previously given a moderator instruction to “keep it civil.” Your remark certainly wasn’t intended to be civil.
In GQ, I would certainly find it worthy of at least a mod note on first offense, and a warning if it came after an instruction to dial it back.
I agree with Skald. I would definitely take the statement as meaning, “You’re a real asshole.” Even if you didn’t think it worthy of the Pit, it seemed better suited for that forum. At the least, the statement is incredibly jerkish and violates the Prime Directive. Outside of the Pit, jerkish behavior on the part of one poster doesn’t warrant jerkish behavior in return. Inside the Pit, it’s too dark to read.
Agent Foxtrot, I have no ill will towards you at all. And I admit that I am on the fence a tad about the comment in and of itself being an insult worthy of an official infraction but given Czarcasm’s mod note previous, I must say you chose to walk the razors edge.
This was my feeling, precisely. It was administered at the same time as the official warning I gave to rachelellogram. In light of czarcasm’s note, I simply felt it could not be left to stand.
“You’re a real piece of work” does not have as negative a connotation for me as it seems to have for most of you. My mom and I say it to each other fairly often (drawing out the word “real”), and it means something much more like “You’ve got to be kidding me” or “You’re ridiculous” than “You’re an asshole” (which I would never say to my mom).
I think “You’re a piece of work” to be a very mild insult. But if a moderator had already instructed the participants of a thread to “dial it back”, then I can see how a moderators patience was wearing thin.
When mods review a posters “warning history”, do they re-read the threads to get a contextual idea of the warnings issued? Hopefully, this one wouldn’t count heavilly against you.
Yes. Typically when a poster has reached the point of being considered for a suspension or banning, we do review the specific warnings to see if there might be mitigating factors.
Given that Agent Foxtrot has been here for more than seven years and this is his first warning, we’re a long long way from needing to review his record.
“You’re a real piece of work” is definitely a remark aimed at the poster, not the content of the post. It is not meant in a complimentary way. While it is certainly milder than calling someone an asshole, it is not a friendly remark.
After a moderator already dropped the instruction to dial it back, it was over the line.
To be fair, I thought the OP was actually the one making the most pit-worthy remarks, taking the requested criticisms and restating them in the harshest terms. But that doesn’t excuse your actions.
