# ...so why hasn't Elmore been banned yet?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-hasnt-elmore-been-banned-yet/828645>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [January 30, 2019, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-hasnt-elmore-been-banned-yet/828645 "2019-01-30T00:16:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 6

<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [February 1, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-hasnt-elmore-been-banned-yet/828645/101 "2019-02-01T20:53:47Z")

</div>

It’s a mixed metaphor. Lynch mobs are comprised of (usually non-LEO) people who collectively decide to take the law into their own hands. And there is an image of peasantry rising up to band together as a makeshift army, and lacking real weapons they grab the tools that could best serve in that capacity and pitchforks are simultaneously available and effective.

However it’s a mixed metaphor because the term “lynching” is considered to have started around the time of the American Revolution (the etymology is a bit unclear), and in the American colonies firearms would have been available. By that point pitchforks would be neither necessary nor preferred.

So a mixed metaphor, but I think you get the idea.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\
**Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-hasnt-elmore-been-banned-yet/828645/102 "2019-02-01T21:19:30Z")

</div>

> [@Atamasama](#):
>
> It’s a mixed metaphor. Lynch mobs are comprised of (usually non-LEO) people who collectively decide to take the law into their own hands. And there is an image of peasantry rising up to band together as a makeshift army, and lacking real weapons they grab the tools that could best serve in that capacity and pitchforks are simultaneously available and effective.
> 
> However it’s a mixed metaphor because the term “lynching” is considered to have started around the time of the American Revolution (the etymology is a bit unclear), and in the American colonies firearms would have been available. By that point pitchforks would be neither necessary nor preferred.
> 
> So a mixed metaphor, but I think you get the idea.

This is all cool–genuinely so–but the key point is that pitchforks=violence, lynch mobs=violence, snarky criticism on messageboards != violence.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [February 2, 2019, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-hasnt-elmore-been-banned-yet/828645/103 "2019-02-02T00:16:57Z")

</div>

> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> This is all cool–genuinely so–but the key point is that pitchforks=violence, lynch mobs=violence, snarky criticism on messageboards != violence.

Yes it’s definitely an extreme hyperbole.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-hasnt-elmore-been-banned-yet/828645.md?page=5)