# Mods-Please consider rescinding this warning **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 17, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937 "2011-10-17T17:59:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/41 "2011-10-18T00:34:39Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Can you give an example of using a smiley where someone _isn’t_ joking? That’s just it, though. Who is to say if a person is joking or not when they call someone a name just because they include a smile? It’s much easier to just try to avoid direct name calling, smiles or not. ---
**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:** [October 18, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/42 "2011-10-18T00:41:51Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What if I called you a son of a birch? > [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > \ > ETA: > You couldn’t leaf it alone, could you? Guys, guys, don’t go out on any limbs here! ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/43 "2011-10-18T00:55:38Z")
Row row fight the powah **Jamie**! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/44 "2011-10-18T01:00:48Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > That’s just it, though. Who is to say if a person is joking or not when they call someone a name just because they include a smile? Holy shit, YOU are - that’s why they call you a moderator! You do realize that it’s okay to stop and ask for clarification, right? That if it’s not something that “obviously looks like a joke”, then you can either issue a warning, a note, or just ask people to tone it down. You don’t HAVE to go strictly by the letter of the law in each and every single circumstance. There’s a reason they put Officer Murphy into that metal exo-skeleton - Robocop needs a human element. Don’t get lost in the circuitry, Idle Thoughts! Come back to the light! ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/45 "2011-10-18T01:12:05Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Holy shit, YOU are - that’s why they call you a moderator! Yes, I know. That’s why I gave him a warning and it will stay. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/46 "2011-10-18T01:17:56Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Yes, I know. That’s why I gave him a warning and it will stay. Then why the hell did you ask? Think it’d give you a bit more cover than that? So let me get this straight - you believe that, despite being told repeatedly that it was a joke, confirming you believe it was a joke, you maintain that it’s extremely hard to determine what jokes are, acknowledge that it’s your job to do so, and still maintain that the warning is justified? Well done, sir. I applaud your unbending ability to bring zero intuition to your position. Czarcasm has taught you well. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/47 "2011-10-18T01:24:32Z")
I shake my head at people pretending they can’t tell the difference between insults backed up by an emoticon, and a back-and-forth joke that contained a bad word followed an emoticon. But I’ll stop. Gods help me, I’m agreeing with McGarry… ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/48 "2011-10-18T01:37:11Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > I shake my head at people pretending they can’t tell the difference between insults backed up by an emoticon, and a back-and-forth joke that contained a bad word followed an emoticon. But I’ll stop. Gods help me, I’m agreeing with McGarry… Whatcha been smokin? ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/49 "2011-10-18T01:46:01Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Whatcha been smokin? Reported for personal insults outside the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/50 "2011-10-18T03:20:10Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Then why the hell did you ask? I wasn’t. It was meant to be a rhetorical question. > [@](#): > > So let me get this straight - you believe that, despite being told repeatedly that it was a joke, confirming you believe it was a joke, you maintain that it’s extremely hard to determine what jokes are, acknowledge that it’s your job to do so, and still maintain that the warning is justified? See post #21. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/51 "2011-10-18T03:32:53Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I just want to ask one more thing: doesn’t the fact that the intended target of the _supposedly_ insulting comment does not in fact share the mods feelings that an insult occurred mitigate the offensiveness of that comment? It’s been demonstrated time and time again that the opinion of the post in question’s recipient matters very, very little > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Reported for personal insults outside the Pit. I lol’d ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/52 "2011-10-18T05:32:19Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Well done, sir. I applaud your unbending ability to bring zero intuition to your position. Czarcasm has taught you well. Just a friendly reminder-since I am no longer a moderator, you no longer have a reason(or excuse)to confine the taking of nasty swipes at me to ATMB. Reported. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/53 "2011-10-18T06:12:21Z")
I’m not sure I should ask this question because the OP has accepted the decision and moved on. But is there anybody out there who can actually say “Yes, I thought it was OK to call another poster an asshole if you put a smiley face after it or say you’re kidding?” ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/54 "2011-10-18T06:23:21Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’m not sure I should ask this question because the OP has accepted the decision and moved on. But is there anybody out there who can actually say “Yes, I thought it was OK to call another poster an asshole if you put a smiley face after it or say you’re kidding?” Didn’t the “asshole” already answer this? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/55 "2011-10-18T06:25:41Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Didn’t the “asshole” already answer this? Reported. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937/56 "2011-10-18T10:57:16Z")
Since this thread has degenerated into nothing more than name calling – with or without smiley faces – I’m closing it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-please-consider-rescinding-this-warning/599937.md?page=2)