# Shouldn't spoiler boxes be restricted to "spoilers"? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 25, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265 "2011-07-25T13:57:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/1 "2011-07-25T13:57:09Z")
I don’t know whether anyone else is bothered by this, or whether I’m just a goofball here. But I’m slightly annoyed when I see spoiler boxes used for things other than actual spoilers. What I’m talking about are things that have nothing to do with the subject of the thread but are merely things like cursewords or the punchlines to a poster’s own little joke. Speaking purely for myself, I would like to be more certain that when something is spoiler-boxed, it’s really a spoiler – something related to an aspect of a _fictional_ work that might possibly give away something _about that work_ to those who have not viewed, heard, or read that work. Anyone else have thoughts on this? ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/2 "2011-07-25T14:13:32Z")
I think you’re just being a goofball in this case. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a case in which it wasn’t clear from context whether or not the spoiler box contained an actual spoiler, nor have I ever heard of anyone sharing your concern. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/3 "2011-07-25T14:17:41Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > I think you’re just being a goofball in this case. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a case in which it wasn’t clear from context whether or not the spoiler box contained an actual spoiler, nor have I ever heard of anyone sharing your concern. Is it your contention that the first person to voice a concern must be a goofball just because no one has voiced it before? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/4 "2011-07-25T14:51:19Z")
I agree with **Varloz** in voting “goofball.” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/5 "2011-07-25T14:55:51Z")
[spoiler]Ditto on goofball You knew some idiot would do it. And I am that idiot. [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/6 "2011-07-25T15:06:32Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is it your contention that the first person to voice a concern must be a goofball just because no one has voiced it before? In case it wasn’t clear, my calling **Acsenray** \* a “goofball” was a reference to the first line in the OP; it could not have friendlier or more tongue-in-cheek in intent. As to your specific question: no, of course not, but if what seems to me like a bizarre belief or concern was shared by a large number of apparently normal people, I would be a lot less likely to think of someone who shared that concern as a “goofball.” Wouldn’t you? Doesn’t the word generally imply, among other things, that someone is _unusual_? It’s why a Harold Camping-esque, apocalypse-spewing fanatic is a goofball, but a run of the mill Christian is not. - –\> How does one pronounce this? I’ve been saying “ass-in-ray” in my head, but I’m guessing that’s wrong. And where does the name come from? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/7 "2011-07-25T15:11:12Z")
Sorry, **Acsenray** , I think you’re alone on this one. Kind of like my contention that songs should be listed artist-title _not_ title-artist. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/8 "2011-07-25T15:13:39Z")
I intentionally invited people to call my concern a “goofball” one, so that’s fair. (I’ve never in my life pronounced my user name out loud, but in my mind it’s either “ak-sen-ray” or “action ray.” As to where it comes from, it comes from my brain.) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/9 "2011-07-25T15:22:16Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Sorry, **Acsenray** , I think you’re alone on this one. Kind of like my contention that songs should be listed artist-title _not_ title-artist. If _absolutely no one_ is going to agree with my, I am going to feel myself turning into a crank on this issue. And then I will be on goofballs and crank and my ensuing drug problem with be this message board’s fault. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/10 "2011-07-25T15:23:36Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Anyone else have thoughts on this? Lots. I’ve been vocal and annoying in the past regarding terrible use of spoiler boxes. When the boxes were first introduced, people didn’t have a clue as to what to do with them. They’d throw things in a spoiler box that either a) wasn’t a spoiler at all, b) speculation and/or c) not labeled. When I say “not labeled” I mean that it would be in a thread that doesn’t have a specific movie/show/book attached. So in a thread title something like “Things that you didn’t expect”, there’d be an unlabeled spoiler box with “Rosebud was his sled!” in it. But it would usually not be a culturally well-known spoiler, but something like a reveal from the latest Harry Potter book or something. People have gotten a lot better since those dark ages - but you’re not alone. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/11 "2011-07-25T15:45:04Z")
I think the Spoiler boxes should be officially renamed “Don Jardine boxes” and the coding should be changed to something like [DonJardine] text [/DonJardine]. Because, of course, Don Jardine wrestled as The Spoiler, and was a great masked heel. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/12 "2011-07-25T15:52:38Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I think the Spoiler boxes should be officially renamed “Don Jardine boxes” and the coding should be changed to something like [DonJardine] text [/DonJardine]. > > Because, of course, Don Jardine wrestled as The Spoiler, and was a great masked heel. Humorous take on the situation, but you do realize that you just illustrated exactly what the OP is talking about, don’t you? What exactly would have been “spoiled” if you _hadn’t_ used the spoiler box? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/13 "2011-07-25T15:53:32Z")
I’m with you. For one thing, I can’t even see spoiler boxes on my work computer, so if I want to see it, I have to go into the “reply with quote” screen, and it really pisses me off when it wasn’t an important spoiler at all but just some poster’s stupid idea of a joke. So I rarely if ever open spoilers at work, and probably miss a lot of things. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/14 "2011-07-25T15:54:34Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Humorous take on the situation, but you do realize that you just illustrated exactly what the OP is talking about, don’t you? What exactly would have been “spoiled” if you _hadn’t_ used the spoiler box? The joke. I’m voting goofball, by the way. Sorry, OP. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/15 "2011-07-25T15:59:55Z")
I don’t agree with the OP, but I do think that,in general,nested spoiler boxes are an invention of Satan,and anyone using them should be taken away and flogged. 😃 ---
**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:** [July 25, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/16 "2011-07-25T16:03:43Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > The joke. I thought that was what the asterisk was used for. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/17 "2011-07-25T16:06:39Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Kind of like my contention that songs should be listed artist-title _not_ title-artist. Well, they should. You go from general to specific, not the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/18 "2011-07-25T16:09:13Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I thought that was what the asterisk was used for. Show me a pro wrestler working under a hood as The Asterisk, and I’ll use that for a joke. Since Jardine was The Spoiler\*, it worked better my way. \*He also worked as The Super Destroyer, and a few other names, but that’s not important here. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/19 "2011-07-25T16:12:05Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Show me a pro wrestler working under a hood as The Asterisk, and I’ll use that for a joke. Since Jardine was The Spoiler\*, it worked better my way. > > \*He also worked as The Super Destroyer, and a few other names, but that’s not important here. Oh, I admit that the way _you_ did it was necessary for the joke to work, but most jokes don’t involve the word “spoiler”. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265/20 "2011-07-25T16:48:51Z")
Goofball [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-spoiler-boxes-be-restricted-to-spoilers/590265.md?page=2)