Symbol to indicate cultural or literary reference

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1

If you’re making a sarcastic or facetious remark and you don’t want people to misinterpret it, you add a /s at the end of the post. How about a symbol for those occasions when you make an obscure literary or cultural reference that perhaps many people won’t get. I know people have gotten warnings from moderators for these, so I think it’d be a good thing to have available.

If everyone thinks this is a good idea, please make a suggestion as to what the symbol should be. Perhaps /r to make it parallel the /s.

2

If I have to flag my ironic posts so as to prevent misinterpretation by the locals, a hell of a lot of the whimsy of this place will be lost.

If this causes a mod to step in with a warning then “done the crime, doing the time”.

3

The problem is the person making the reference is usually flabbergasted that all and sundry don’t recognize it immediately.

4

This is the Straight Dope. We use real words. I see no reason why we cannot use [sarcasm off] or similar.

5

Yes, sarcasm comes with membership and is worth every penny that we pay.

The mods are fairly leniant about its use and while they may call it out, they give you a chance to explain yourself if someone takes offense. I for one would never remebr the “rule” you suggest.

6

This.

7

Here, a custom-made gif to use.

8

If I were making an obscure literary or cultural reference, I’d “footnote” it by including a hyperlink to a source or explanatory reference.

Or, I just wouldn’t make it. Or I’d make it in such a way that it doesn’t hurt if people don’t recognize it.

9

Didn’t everybody have to pass a quiz on Monty Python before they could register?

Just me?

10

Well, you were carrying that coconut.

11

I only made it past the first two questions.

12

Is that a literary or cultural reference?

13

See! There’s no way to know.

14

The quiz was only on the tv show. No coconuts. Did they do something after that?

15

No, they pretty much faced into obscurity, which is why references to them must be clearly marked /mpfc

16

mpfc?

Monty Python Faded Culturally?

17

Seems to me the whole point of obscure literary or cultural or entertainment references is a variant on

If you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it.

Which snobbish elitism is exactly why I hang out here. If I get and you don’t, time for you to ask the magic goggles to explain it to you. If you get it and I don’t, time for me to ask the magic goggles. Everybody gains. Either the folks who get it and smily slyly to themselves, or the folks who don’t and go learn something.


tl;dr: The OP’s idea is bonkers, a nonsense no-hope solution in search of an imaginary problem.

18

A lot of the fun of an obscure reference is most people not getting the reference. It is slipping one past the mundanes. For instance, Dr. Strangelove very nicely slipped one into this post recently. (You’ll see it.)

19

Here’s the thing… If you want to post something that might offend people who don’t get the reference, and the reference is extremely obscure, you’re playing with fire. Don’t do that. I could post, for example, a line from The IT Crowd that’s very transphobic because it was spoken by a character who was being a transphobe on the show. If I posted it bare, no meme link or photo or attribution, then people might assume it was my own opinion and I would deserve the scorn and maybe moderation for it.

Don’t do it. Always think what the consequences might be if people don’t get it.

20

Or assume they’re ignorant offenderati and when they bitch, tell them do some learning first then chill. With Mod backing for that response.