In this thread ralph asks what happened to the Russian camera manufacturing industry and Hail Ants makes the following joke:
wat
Did a Soviet camera maker kill your dog or something?
It stole his dog’s soul.
Just speaking as a poster, I would be on board with an insta-ban for anyone making “In Soviet Russia…” jokes.
Here’s what I said in the other thread where this was being discussed:
I was a little surprised at that mod note, too. Normally, you’re not supposed to make jokes in GQ until after the question has been pretty thoroughly answered, which you ignored, but it seems that your particular joke is never allowed. Not sure why that would be.
I have no problem with people hating the joke. It’s a lame-as-shit meme that’s been trodden into the ground. I guess what I’m really saying is that if making a Soviet Russia joke is now a warnable offensive, so should “Hi Opal!”
I just got home from a 10 hour day at work. I’m reading the thread again, reading PMs to me, reading the posts in that thread calling me a big meanie, reading this one. I’ll reconsider, but I promise nothing. I’ll post something definitively in this thread in the next two hours.
I think it’s clear that Hail Ants violated the sanctity of a Ralph question in GQ. For such a studious seeker of knowledge, a certain decorum must be maintained.
Or, alternately:
In samclem’s messageboard, Ralph asks pertinent questions!
I have to agree with ACM, that warning did seem a big out of left field (not that the giant red font wasn’t). Yes, Hail Ants, probably should have waited a few more posts to make the joke, but still, the way the OP was phrased it’s not like someone wasn’t going to say it at some point. A note would have sufficed; a warning seemed kind of overboard.
Ha ha ha, hey guys, listen to this one!
In Soviet Russia, jokes ban y
suddenly disappears
Correction;
On Soviet Straightdope, jokes ban you!
Alternatively, we could just recognize that there is a certain culture here, and the “Soviet Russia” joke is one of them for better or for worse. I’d hate to see us get to the point where certain jokes were forbidden but others were OK. I like the idea of refraining from jokes in GQ until a reasonable answer has been provided (assuming there is one), but I also like the idea that they are tolerated after a certain point. GQ would be too sterile for my tastes otherwise.
ETA: You know how else tried to ban Soviet jokes?
No, really, if we could just ban “Hi Opal!” it’d be fine. Let’s not get off topic.
Why do you hate America?
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20 minutes ago that post might have been pertinent
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???
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Hi Opal!
3a. I love Buckeyes!
3b. Yes I did / No I didnt !
3c. Cite!?
3d. Was a treadmill involved in this?
What is stale and trite should not be bannable or even warnable just because it’s stale or trite.
[COLOR=“Purple”]^this[/COLOR]
I dislike the whole “in Soviet Russia…” joke. It’s well past its used-by date, and has become very annoying. But that warning was ridiculous. We shouldn’t be banning little jokes like this just because some people find them silly.
The warning is even more unbelievable coming as it does in a ralph124c thread. The GQ mods have, literally for years, let posters like ralph and Jinx spam the crap out of GQ with some of the most inane, trivial stuff imaginable.
As i pointed out in a recent thread, Jinx has been told time and again by the moderators not to post such crap, and i’ve seen ralph receive similar admonitions, but as far as i know neither of them has ever received an actual warning for their incredibly banal questions or for their repeated refusal to listen to mod instructions on the matter.
And yet a lame but harmless joke draws a warning and an instruction not to EVER do it again.
Way to prioritize, guys!
I agree. A mod note would have been appropriate, since he made a joke post before enough posters weighed in with answers, but a warning was too extreme. It may have been out of place at the time it was posted, but I wouldn’t even call it a threadshit.
Just to be clear, it wasn’t a warning. But I agree with you otherwise, mhendo.
Yes, it was.