# So wally was a plagarist? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 8, 2002, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899 "2002-08-08T03:26:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899/41 "2002-08-08T08:30:34Z")
Everything I have ever said consists of words I copied from someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899/42 "2002-08-08T10:36:03Z")
> [@](#): > > You either lifted the stuff, or you didn’t. That’s true. What’s not true, however, is that either action inheres any particular moral implication. That’s what’s wrong with declaring some arbitrary motion of the atoms to be a sin. Good and evil come from the heart. It is impossible that a good heart do an evil deed, even when that deed is stealing. A man who steals words to feed those who are hungry for inspiration is like the man who steals bread to feed those who are hungry for food. Yes, it’s against the law. But sometimes the law is an ass. Wally is a good-hearted man. He loves Dopers like his own children. He has been in the trenches with many of us, uplifting our spirits both publicly and privately. Whatever he might have stolen, once it proceeded through his brain and from his hands, it was as pure as the driven snow. Goodness owns the universe. Wally owns all good words. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899/43 "2002-08-08T10:41:27Z")
I wasn’t here when Wally was posting, but to my mind anyone about whom this can be said… > [@](#): > > I have, for example, never seen a similar hamster story on the internet. … is someone I’d have liked to meet. Who cares if he used some old jokes? I use old jokes. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899/44 "2002-08-08T10:44:18Z")
**Chris** , I didn’t know Wally, but he was well loved here. Your question is also so trivial as to be not worth asking. One word for you: “tact”. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899/45 "2002-08-08T11:46:25Z")
Yes, the cybersex was copied. I don’t think Wally wanted anyone to think that the events listed Actually happened to him. I had read it before Wally posted it. Wally didn’t write the Cybersex gag. **SO. FREAKING. WHAT.** Wally told a good story. Wally could rationally and coherently argue a position. Wally was a good friend to people both on and off the boards. Wally was a nice guy but he wouldn’t suffer a fool gladly. Wally left behind alot of friends and alot of examples of his nature and humour. Even if the words may not have been his, the way he told the gag was uniquely Wally. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899/46 "2002-08-08T12:25:55Z")
He told a funny story; to probe as to whether he was the originator is entirely missing the point (IMHO), reminds me a little of this rather well known extract from Monty Python’s _Life of Brian_: > [@](#): > > BRIAN:Consider the lilies > [is interrupted by haggler] > ELSIE:Consider the lilies? > BRIAN:Uh, well, the birds, then. > EDDIE:What birds? > BRIAN:Any birds. > EDDIE:Why? > BRIAN:Well, have they got jobs? > ARTHUR:Who? > BRIAN:The birds. > EDDIE:Have the birds got jobs?! > FRANK:What’s the matter with him? > ARTHUR:He says the birds are scrounging. > BRIAN:Oh, uhh, no, the point is the birds. They do all right. Don’t they? > FRANK:Well, good luck to 'em. > EDDIE:Yeah. They’re very pretty. > BRIAN:Okay, and you’re much more important than they are, right? So, what are you worrying about? There you are. See? > EDDIE:I’m worrying about what you have got against birds. > BRIAN:I haven’t got anything against the birds. Consider the lilies. > ARTHUR:He’s having a go at the flowers now. > EDDIE:Oh, give the flowers a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899/47 "2002-08-08T12:28:09Z")
_“That’s the question I asked, and the answer I was after.”_ And you people still can’t let it go. Jesus. Talk to the Pope and start him on the way to sainthood, people. “But Cnote kept posting too, when…” …he kept being attacked. Stow it. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899/48 "2002-08-08T12:28:10Z")
**AMEN, Twisty!** **Chris** , get over it. Don’t even give me the “oh well I just had a question - I can’t for the LIFE of me understand why people are getting UPSET over it” garbage. You are causing some people some real pain. I’ve never ever had a problem with you in the past, but to bring this up and in so tactless a manner, well, let’s just say I’ll have a bit different “world view” from now on. Jeez, some people suck. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899/49 "2002-08-08T12:30:45Z")
BTW, Chris, it was a perfectly acceptable question to ask. I don’t think you should be hopped on for asking it. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899/50 "2002-08-08T12:44:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anthracite \* > \*\*Posters, especially long-term ones, are “given a pass” on behavior all the time. Whether it be an inflammatory post, an offensive slip of the tongue, an admission of some horrible sin, a bit of copyright infringement, a dab of libel, a bitch about the Board or the Mods which is way out of line, or whatever. \*\* :smack: **Anthracite** , don’t **say** that! Constantly, newbies are saying, “You’re just picking on me because I’m new…but regulars get away with anything!” The favored response is, “No, everyone’s subject to the same standards.” Have you been sleeping through the recent libel/slander/parody/misattribution/second-guessing-of-mods conflicts? No one is being “given a pass”. There’s a concerted effort right now to crack down on all the things you said, no matter who might attempt them. How is **Cnote** a wanker, anyway? I don’t believe he’s suggesting that Wally should be struck from the annals of the SDMB. But the thing is, the cybersex thread is regarded as **THE** Wally thread. So much of his legacy is built around it, and if he didn’t write it, that shouldn’t be. It’s still possible to honor his memory in other ways; just remove the cybersex association. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899/51 "2002-08-08T13:04:07Z")
But Wally was more than just some joke threads. Sure, people loved to read his really funny posts, but he was more than that. He supported people on this board, he cared about them, and he could tear apart a putz faster than anyone on record. 99.9% of his posts couldn’t have been plagiarized, because he spent alot of time supporting, joking with, or tearing down people on the board one on one. He did not spend all of his time creating joke threads. So when people here say that they loved and admired Wally, it wasn’t just because he could tell a funny story (and he could, and he did), but because, even on a message board, his personality came through and he helped people. Like **Lib** said: > [@](#): > > Wally is a good-hearted man. He loves Dopers like his own children. He has been in the trenches with many of us, uplifting our spirits both publicly and privately. And that’s why Wally is loved and admired. Fortunately for us, he was also funny as hell. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899/52 "2002-08-08T13:06:55Z")
There _might_\* be a legitimate basis for the OP, but it could not possibly have been asked less tactlessly: “Was all his anecdotes and funny stories lifted from others? Was any of what he said true? Why the reverence for this guy if all he ever said was bullshit? . . . I know this is a touchy subject, and probably a thing most would assume not arise, but the question begs to be asked, ‘Was Wally a fraud?’” Great Horned Toads . . . the man’s **family** posts here. Is this really the way you want to ask this question, if you want to ask it at all? I’d like to see some evidence for Demo’s “99%” claim also. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899/53 "2002-08-08T13:22:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TwistofFate \* > \*\*BTW, Chris, it was a perfectly acceptable question to ask. I don’t think you should be hopped on for asking it. \*\* I know “me too” posts are silly, but I wanted **Chris** to know that I also understood what he was asking. Thanks for bringing it up. And thanks to **tomndebb** for actually answering the question. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899/54 "2002-08-08T13:24:21Z")
The question has been asked and answered. Lynn [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wally-was-a-plagarist/122899.md?page=2)