# Locked Posts? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 8, 2017, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-posts/781677 "2017-03-08T05:15:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Overthinker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f17d59/32.png) [@Overthinker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Overthinker)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-posts/781677/1 "2017-03-08T05:15:11Z")
I am new here and trying to figure out exactly what it means when a post is locked? Does it just mean no one else can reply to the original thread but it is still visible? or is it no longer visible to anyone anymore? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-posts/781677/2 "2017-03-08T05:18:13Z")
yeah, the first one. Nobody can post to it. It will still be visible, but since nobody will be able to post to it, it will eventually fall off the main thread list. It can still be searched for, however. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-posts/781677/3 "2017-03-08T06:04:04Z")
Moderators usually refer to closing a post, but it means exactly the same thing as locking it. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-posts/781677/4 "2017-03-08T09:26:37Z")
Yep, locked or closed means that the thread is still visible but no one can post to it (well, technically mods or admins can). Threads that have been made invisible are typically referred to around here as being “cornfielded” or “wished away to the cornfield”, which is a reference to an old Twilight Zone episode called “It’s A Good Life”. It’s not as widely used here, but you may also see threads that have been made invisible referred to as being sent to Coventry. This refers to a short story called Coventry by Robert Heinlein, though technically it’s an old British phrase that pre-dates that. In the story, Coventry was a place of exile. > **[It's a Good Life (The Twilight Zone)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Good_Life_%28The_Twilight_Zone%29)** > > "It's a Good Life" is the 8th episode of the third season of the American television series The Twilight Zone, and the 73rd overall. It was written by series creator/showrunner Rod Serling, based on the 1953 short story "It's a Good Life" by Jerome Bixby. The episode was directed by James Sheldon, and is considered by some, such as Time and TV Guide, to be one of the best episodes of the series. It originally aired on November 3, 1961. The episode was one of four from the original 1959 series w... > **[Coventry (short story)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_%28short_story%29)** > > "Coventry" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, part of his Future History series. It was first published in the July 1940 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, and later collected into the book Revolt in 2100 in 1953. The title is inspired by the British idiom "to send someone to Coventry". In 2017, the story won the Prometheus Hall of Fame award. > In a future American society, everyone must accept the Covenant of non-violence, and psychologists can "cure" crim... ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-posts/781677/5 "2017-03-08T11:30:33Z")
NB - they don’t lock individual posts, they lock threads. Usual reasons for locking a thread include: 1. A years-old thread resurrected by a post that adds no substantial information to the discussion. This is called a zombie thread. 2. A thread that has become derailed by arguments and sniping among the participants. 3. A thread that was pointless, hateful or trolling from the first post. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-posts/781677/6 "2017-03-08T12:42:18Z")
> [@Overthinker](#): > > I am new here and trying to figure out exactly what it means when a post is locked? Does it just mean no one else can reply to the original thread but it is still visible? or is it no longer visible to anyone anymore? I also replied to the PM you sent. Moving forward, It’s not necessary to PM a mod and start a thread asking the same question. You did that with your initial request as well, which I also responded by PM and in your thread. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-posts/781677/7 "2017-03-08T13:16:13Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Yep, locked or closed means that the thread is still visible but no one can post to it (well, technically mods or admins can). > > Threads that have been made invisible are typically referred to around here as being “cornfielded” or “wished away to the cornfield”, which is a reference to an old Twilight Zone episode called “It’s A Good Life”. > > It’s not as widely used here, but you may also see threads that have been made invisible referred to as being sent to Coventry. This refers to a short story called Coventry by Robert Heinlein, though technically it’s an old British phrase that pre-dates that. In the story, Coventry was a place of exile. > > [It's a Good Life (The Twilight Zone) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Good_Life_%28The_Twilight_Zone%29) > [Coventry (short story) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_%28short_story%29) And [here’s the wiki for the original English phrase.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Send_to_Coventry) Short version. Origin unknown, maybe something to do with the English Civil War with Royalist troops captured at Birmingham being sent as prisoners to the Parliamentarian stronghold of Coventry. First cite in OED is 1703 with an earlier 1691 cite in square brackets (indicating the quotation is relevant to the development of the sense but not directly illustrative of it.) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-posts/781677/8 "2017-03-08T13:23:10Z")
I have never seen anyone use “sent to Coventry” to describe a deleted thread. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-posts/781677/9 "2017-03-08T13:57:59Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I have never seen anyone use “sent to Coventry” to describe a deleted thread. I believe I’ve seen that phrase used here more than once in that context. And the meaning was always immediately obvious to me. It’s discussed in this old thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=499959&postcount=31](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=499959&postcount=31) ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-posts/781677/10 "2017-03-08T14:05:37Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > And [here’s the wiki for the original English phrase.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Send_to_Coventry) > > Short version. Origin unknown, maybe something to do with the English Civil War with Royalist troops captured at Birmingham being sent as prisoners to the Parliamentarian stronghold of Coventry. First cite in OED is 1703 with an earlier 1691 cite in square brackets (indicating the quotation is relevant to the development of the sense but not directly illustrative of it.) Even in ATMB, I learn things. Thanks Dope. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-posts/781677/11 "2017-03-08T15:20:16Z")
More common around here than “sent to Coventry” is any expression that the thread was moved to the cornfield, wished to the cornfield, disappeared into the cornfield, etc. That references a [Twilight Zone episode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Good_Life_(The_Twilight_Zone)). ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-posts/781677/12 "2017-03-08T15:59:10Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Threads that have been made invisible are typically referred to around here as being “cornfielded” or “wished away to the cornfield”, which is a reference to an old Twilight Zone episode called “It’s A Good Life”. And here all this time I thought it was a ref. to Field of Dreams (where old ballplayers fade away into the cornfield)… ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-posts/781677/13 "2017-03-08T16:31:32Z")
The question has been asked and answered in this thread and in PM, so I’m locking this thread.