# Omnibus Stupid MFers in the news thread (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 5, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657 "2024-01-05T16:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 286
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5701 "2025-10-09T01:22:21Z")
All the various cites just above are great … but to directly answer your Q … Men fatally clubbing utterly cute baby seals on their soft heads with a big stick left their beautiful white pelts unsullied by blood or bullet / knife holes. So was the standard harvesting technique in Canada which supplied a then large seal fur coat industry. In the 1970s this wanton behavior became a poster child for heedless human eco-vandalism against helpless Nature. Which in turn spawned cynical counter memes (decades before the word “meme” was coined) that “clubbing baby seals” was a codeword for mindless cruelty and heedless greed. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5702 "2025-10-09T01:49:02Z")
The wird “meme” was coined by Richard Dawkins in 1976. ---
**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 9, 2025, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5703 "2025-10-09T02:06:31Z")
When was the normal meme coined? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5704 "2025-10-09T02:13:39Z")
Thank you. Dawkins coined a lot of in-group terminology. I like his work overall, but honesty requires me to accept a lot of it was him trying and failing to create a groundswell. When did “meme” become mainstream, defined as 50% of English speaking humanity recognized the term & meaning? I don’t have a date to offer, but having been an adult throughout the relevant range I can assure you it was post-1970s. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5705 "2025-10-09T02:32:07Z")
Started ramping up in 1990? > **[Google Books Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Meme&year_start=1800&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3&case_insensitive=true)** > > Google Ngrams: Meme, 1800-2022 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5706 "2025-10-09T03:09:13Z")
> [@abcdefghij](#): > > Started ramping up in 1990? The 90s was the time I remember hearing the term at least (as an anecdote); mid 90s though since I think it was in college. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5707 "2025-10-09T03:47:02Z")
Here is the chapter from _The Selfish Gene_ about memes. > **[Memes, The New Replicators](https://pratclif.com/memes/Memes,%20The%20New%20Replicators.htm)** ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5708 "2025-10-09T11:09:41Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Ask somebody under forty about “clubbing baby seals”. You’ll get a look of total bafflement. Oddly enough, I was literally just thinking a few days ago\* about how we about hear about that anymore. I swear, in the 90’s, worrying about people clubbing seals was right up there with being concerned about quicksand and getting lost in the Bermuda Triangle. \*i was watching one of the million compilation videos that had a clip of Sean Lock talking about it: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cPpac4QGmXE/hqdefault.jpg "Sean Lock - Rectum of the Year.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPpac4QGmXE) ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5709 "2025-10-09T14:52:17Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > \*i was watching one of the million compilation videos that had a clip of Sean Lock talking about it: That’s exactly what first popped into my head. One of his best bits overall, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5710 "2025-10-09T14:57:15Z")
I’ve always liked this one: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nEVQWBn20ws/maxresdefault.jpg "Sean Lock DERAILS Show and His Career With 'Nazi Island'!! | 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEVQWBn20ws) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5711 "2025-10-09T17:04:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Men fatally clubbing utterly cute baby seals on their soft heads with a big stick left their beautiful white pelts unsullied by blood or bullet / knife holes. So was the standard harvesting technique in Canada which supplied a then large seal fur coat industry. Okay. I have to be that person. Did the baby seals die instantly when clubbed? If so, how is that more cruel than shooting them? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5712 "2025-10-09T17:11:27Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Okay. I have to be that person. Did the baby seals die instantly when clubbed? If so, how is that more cruel than shooting them? I don’t think so. When I was a kid in the mid seventies, that practice was a hot button subject, an outrage and often in the news, at least here in Germany. I remember much footage of baby seals getting clubbed multiple times, sometimes by more than one man at once until they died. But maybe my still outraged mind constructs false memories. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5713 "2025-10-09T17:16:19Z")
Oh god, that’s awful. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5714 "2025-10-09T17:19:06Z")
Yes, it was. Practices like this sparked the formation of ecologically orientated NGOs like Greenpeace. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5715 "2025-10-09T17:21:20Z")
[hijack] I once teased a friend “You know how many baby seals had to die for that coat?” She came back with “You know how many baby Hawaiians had to die for your shirt?”[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5716 "2025-10-09T17:35:23Z")
This is the only baby seal thing I knew about, that beautiful monologue in _Goodwill Hunting_ where Will interviews for the NSA: > So what did I think? I’m holdin’ out for somethin’ better. I figure fuck it, while I’m at it why not just shoot my buddy, take his job, give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president. Jeez that’s sadly prescient. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5717 "2025-10-09T17:35:59Z")
Let’s not get started on the gay whales. That’ll really make the young’uns’ heads asplode. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5718 "2025-10-09T17:36:29Z")
_Oh, no, not again_ ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5719 "2025-10-09T18:03:33Z")
A baby seal walks into a bar. The bartender says “what’ll you have?” The seal says “anything but Canadian Club.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/5720 "2025-10-09T18:04:43Z")
Pitting the people who post videos on social media of wild animals (deer, opossums, mountain lions, wildcats etc.) in dire predicaments (some of which one suspects that the videographer has deliberated placed them in), showing themselves rescuing the poor beasts, which are then overcome with gratitude 🤔 and either follow them home or show up at their doorsteps, after which they are adopted into the family, get belly rubs and treats, and live happily ever after. The reality of shortened animal lives, bitten and scratched family members and semi-tame animals later approaching hunters and being shot down is never portrayed. The people who film and repost/retweet this stuff are asses. If you actually do a good deed for a wild animal in distress, leave it alone afterwards or in the care of a professional wildlife rehabilitator. These animals are not pets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657.md?page=285) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657.md?page=287)