# What's the Official Mod ruling on "Drumpf"? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 9, 2016, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392 "2016-03-09T10:57:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/1 "2016-03-09T10:57:22Z")
Some people have added an extension to their browsers that automatically changes the word Trump to “Drumpf”. If this gives them satisfying giggles, fine, whatever. If they want to go further and actually type Drumpf into their posts here, it’s annoying but, fine, whatever. The problem arises with quoted text. To alter quoted text from news cites and other sources is certainly distasteful. To alter quoted text from another poster here on the boards is straight up against the rules. **Jonathan Chance** has spoken twice on the matter but did not issue warnings either time. **March 2nd** > [@The GOP Super Tuesday Thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-super-tuesday-thread/746794/262): > > SlackerInc- > > I realize you may have an extension that changes Trump to Drumpf per John Oliver. However, it’s changing text in quotes and that breaks the rules. Please disable it for the purpose of use on the SDMB, please. > > No warning issued. **March 5th** > [@Mitt Romney's Speech](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romneys-speech/747836/181): > > No. That’s a warnable offense, changing text inside quote tags. I’m certainly not junior modding. > > You get a pass this time but another and they’ll be coming. Thus far, altering text within quotes attributed to other posters has been done by: [**Fear Itself**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19145413&postcount=15), once, before **Jonathan Chance** ’s first non-warning. [**John Stamos’ Left Ear**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19154074&postcount=30), once, after **Jonathan Chance** ’s first non-warning. [**SlackerInc**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19147453&postcount=254), once, before **Jonathan Chance** ’s first non-warning. [**SlackerInc**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19154348&postcount=4), again, after **Jonathan Chance** ’s first non-warning, which was addressed to **SlackerInc** himself. [**SlackerInc**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19164290&postcount=98), again, after **Jonathan Chance** ’s second non-warning. Recently, **John Stamos’ Left Ear** posted an altered quote of Mitt Romney’s speech. Though perhaps not as serious a board violation as altering a quote of another poster, when he was called out on it his attitude certainly did not err on the side of elevated discourse. > [@Mitt Romney's Speech](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romneys-speech/747836/174): > > I installed the [“Make Donald Drumpf Again!” Chrome extension](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/drumpfinator/hcimhbfpiofdihhdnofbdlhjcmjopilp?hl=en). It does it for me. I didn’t care to change it back because a) it’s funny b) everyone knows who I’m talking about and c) I’m lazy. Deal with it. So, can we get an official Mod ruling on this? Do we “deal with it”? Or do board rules apply even in the face of “But I _myself_ didn’t violate board rules! It was my browser extension’s fault! P.S. It’s funny, deal with it!” ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/2 "2016-03-09T11:29:37Z")
Altering quotes is a warnable offense. If you have installed something that alters quotes, it is still your responsibility. We’ll probably cut you some slack if you are unaware that your browser extension altered a quote, but if you are aware of it and continue doing it just because you think it is funny, you can expect to be warned for it at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/3 "2016-03-09T12:32:55Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > [**SlackerInc**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19154348&postcount=4), again, after **Jonathan Chance** ’s first non-warning, which was addressed to **SlackerInc** himself. > [**SlackerInc**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19164290&postcount=98), again, after **Jonathan Chance** ’s second non-warning. Did you report these posts? Especially as quickly as Election threads are moving right now, mods can’t read everything. I think the mods have made it clear that altering text in a quote is unacceptable, and if the posts were reported, action would have been taken. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/4 "2016-03-09T12:55:47Z")
Referring to Trump as Drumpf is childish. It’s like saying “The Democrat Party”. It’s childish disrespect, and only a hypocrite would tolerate one but not the other. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/5 "2016-03-09T13:06:00Z")
😕 What’s a Drumpf? Why is that supposed to be funny? Would it be equally funny if it changed Trump to Shumpk? Clumph? Prumpk? If not, why not? Am I just humor-impaired or am I clueless about something relevant to the char string “Drumpf”? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/6 "2016-03-09T13:08:47Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Why is that supposed to be funny? Would it be equally funny if it changed Trump to Shumpk? Clumph? Prumpk? If not, why not? Am I just humor-impaired or am I clueless about something relevant to the char string “Drumpf”? John Oliver did a segment on his show a few weeks ago about how [Trump’s ancestor changed the family name to “Trump” from “Drumpf”.](http://www.snopes.com/donald-drumpf/) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/7 "2016-03-09T13:10:09Z")
Has there been a ruling on whether “Trumpkin” (for a Trump supporter) is verboten? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/8 "2016-03-09T13:20:05Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Has there been a ruling on whether “Trumpkin” (for a Trump supporter) is verboten? Or Trumpling? ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/9 "2016-03-09T13:21:29Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Did you report these posts? Especially as quickly as Election threads are moving right now, mods can’t read everything. I reported the most recent offense and **tomndebb** has since issued an official warning. Two of the offenses were before **Jonathan Chance** ’s first non-warning and two of the offenses had already been addressed- but not as official warnings. Since we have many John Oliver fans here, I figured there’s no telling how many people have added this stupid browser extension so I thought an official ATMB Thread would be helpful in case any future offenders will want to claim that they didn’t know this wasn’t permitted. …and to allow for the unlikely possibility that the official mod ruling would be “It may be hard to catch this problem when it’s being applied by the poster’s browser, it’s not such a big deal, get over it.” That way, everyone who’s annoyed by it would know if it was being officially tolerated. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2016, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/10 "2016-03-09T13:33:41Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > 😕 > > What’s a Drumpf? > > Why is that supposed to be funny? Would it be equally funny if it changed Trump to Shumpk? Clumph? Prumpk? If not, why not? Am I just humor-impaired or am I clueless about something relevant to the char string “Drumpf”? It’s from John Oliver’s show — In short, Oliver says that part of Trump's appeal lies in his name, "Trump," so a tool to combat that appeal is to use his family's original name, which really was "Drumpf," and which won't confer that same advantage. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/11 "2016-03-09T13:37:53Z")
It is a warnable offense. It’s certainly childish, and I believe that most of the instances of such have been non-malicious, but it’s certainly warnable. I’ve tried to be easy going so far but enough is enough. We certainly hope to have an elevated level of discussion and debate in Great Debates and Elections. Such childishness - not unlike ‘Democrat Party’, ‘Repugnican’ and various similar derogatory names for people of other political points of view - don’t help us achieve that goal. So the first warning - as mentioned by Tom - has been given based on it. It was given to someone who had been noted already for such behavior. Going forward there may or may not be notes prior to warnings for such. Other than small changes for brevity (‘snip’ and such) text inside quote boxes may not be altered. That’s a hard rule. Please help by reporting the instances you see. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/12 "2016-03-09T13:41:23Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Please help by reported the instances you see. Thanks for the response, **Jonathan Chance**. I appreciate the feedback. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/13 "2016-03-09T13:44:59Z")
A thought occurs. Since the extension in question changes _all_ uses of “Trump” to “Drumpf”, it might be possible for someone trying to correct an altered quote to err in the opposite direction and replace “Drumpf” with “Trump” when that’s what the quoted poster actually intended to say. I.e., Poster X posts “I think Donald Drumpf is a stupid-head”. Poster Y, who has the extension, quotes them, assumes that Poster X actually said “I think Donald Trump is a stupid-head”, and manually changes “Drumpf” to “Trump”, thereby breaking the rule in an attempt to avoid breaking the rule. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/14 "2016-03-09T13:49:44Z")
Then I would assume it sucks to be them. Their own browser extension - again juvenile and pointless - gets them in trouble. I’ve placed a sticky about this in Elections. Hopefully, this’ll burn itself out in a month or two and we can go back to our normal lives. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/15 "2016-03-09T14:09:36Z")
“Shrub” still ok? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/16 "2016-03-09T14:12:37Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Other than small changes for brevity (‘snip’ and such) text inside quote boxes may not be altered. That’s a hard rule. Here’s a question I should probably already know the answer to, and it’s not a big enough deal for its own thread: The “snip” and such you referred to…I’ll grant that it’s good form to use, but is it required? I’ve never been warned for not including a notation like that, but have I just avoided detection on that? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/17 "2016-03-09T14:17:51Z")
I’ve never considered it required. But I think it is good form to note that you’ve done some editing on the quote. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/18 "2016-03-09T14:19:54Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Here’s a question I should probably already know the answer to, and it’s not a big enough deal for its own thread: > > The “snip” and such you referred to…I’ll grant that it’s good form to use, but is it required? I’ve never been warned for not including a notation like that, but have I just avoided detection on that? Here, from ED. \* \*\*Quoting: do not alter words within quote tags beyond fair usage standards \*\* Do not change quotes of other posters or off-board citations beyond fair usage standards. If you delete material, use either ellipses or descriptive tags (e.g., \, [material deleted], etc.) to indicate you’ve done so. To add non-editorial explanatory material, use square brackets, which means things like [sic] or replacing a pronoun to make a partial quote clearer. If you add formatting for emphasis, please indicate you’ve done so, either in square brackets within the quote or immediately after the quote. Quote tags are for actual quotes only - don’t use them to paraphrase another’s argument or make a joke. \* I realize that’s a pit rule, but it’s pretty much the way I’ve seen it for the entire board. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/19 "2016-03-09T16:23:20Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > “Shrub” still ok? This ruling does not affect at all posters who wish to use Drumpf instead of Trump in their own text. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392/20 "2016-03-09T16:32:36Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Going forward there may or may not be notes prior to warnings for such. > [@](#): > > Other than small changes for brevity (‘snip’ and such) text inside quote boxes may not be altered. That’s a hard rule. So not changing texts within quote boxes is a **hard rule** but there may or not may be warnings. What will this **hard rule** not be enforced be based on? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-official-mod-ruling-on-drumpf/748392.md?page=2)