# Symbol to indicate cultural or literary reference **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 29, 2023, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272 "2023-08-29T06:52:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/1 "2023-08-29T06:52:09Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/2 "2023-08-29T07:00:36Z")
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”. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2023, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/3 "2023-08-29T07:48:39Z")
The problem is the person making the reference is usually flabbergasted that all and sundry don’t recognize it immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/4 "2023-08-29T08:23:10Z")
This is the Straight Dope. We use real words. I see no reason why we cannot use [sarcasm off] or similar. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/5 "2023-08-29T12:21:43Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/6 "2023-08-29T15:16:53Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > 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. This. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/7 "2023-08-29T15:18:02Z")
Here, a custom-made gif to use. [![](https://i.postimg.cc/0QtfXFm2/sarcasm.gif) ](https://i.postimg.cc/0QtfXFm2/sarcasm.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/8 "2023-08-29T16:29:02Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > How about a symbol for those occasions when you make an obscure literary or cultural reference that perhaps many people won’t get. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/9 "2023-08-29T17:02:12Z")
Didn’t everybody have to pass a quiz on Monty Python before they could register? Just me? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/10 "2023-08-29T17:14:39Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Just me? Well, you were carrying that coconut. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/11 "2023-08-29T17:18:57Z")
I only made it past the first two questions. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/12 "2023-08-29T18:11:31Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Well, you were carrying that coconut. Is that a literary or cultural reference? ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/13 "2023-08-29T18:12:32Z")
See! There’s no way to know. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/14 "2023-08-29T18:15:29Z")
The quiz was only on the tv show. No coconuts. Did they do something after that? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/15 "2023-08-29T18:41:31Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Did they do something after that? No, they pretty much faced into obscurity, which is why references to them must be clearly marked /mpfc ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/16 "2023-08-29T21:26:39Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > No, they pretty much faced into obscurity, which is why references to them must be clearly marked /mpfc mpfc? Monty Python Faded Culturally? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/17 "2023-08-30T01:19:54Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/18 "2023-08-30T02:55:13Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Seems to me the whole point of obscure literary or cultural or entertainment references is a variant on A lot of the fun of an obscure reference is most people _not_ getting the reference. It is slipping one past the [mundanes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundane). For instance, Dr. Strangelove very nicely slipped one into [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/407) post recently. (You’ll see it.) ---
**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:** [August 30, 2023, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/19 "2023-08-30T23:00:21Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272/20 "2023-08-30T23:20:42Z")
Or assume they’re ignorant offenderati and when they bitch, tell them do some learning first then chill. With Mod backing for that response. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-to-indicate-cultural-or-literary-reference/989272.md?page=2)