# Who and what are the mods? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 11, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961 "2006-02-11T02:54:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/1 "2006-02-11T02:54:55Z")
How did the SDMB mods get to be mods? Are they volunteers or paid? Full-time employees of Chicago Reader, or part-time dopers? Can one apply or must one be “chosen”? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/2 "2006-02-11T03:01:48Z")
Mods are gods. Once you accept that, it all makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/3 "2006-02-11T03:08:45Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > How did the SDMB mods get to be mods? Are they volunteers or paid? Full-time employees of Chicago Reader, or part-time dopers? Can one apply or must one be “chosen”? We get to be mods by applying to [tubadiva@aol.com](mailto:tubadiva@aol.com) We are not paid, unless one counts a (pretty cool) coffee mug. (One must supply one’s own jackboots. Or fuzzy bunny slippers, depending upon one’s style.) We’re all dopers; we all still do our regular things as posters. There have been some who have been asked to be a mod, I think. I applied. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/4 "2006-02-11T03:26:55Z")
Remember the bit in _Lord Of The Rings_ with the guys on horses, with hoods and you can’t see their faces - mods. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/5 "2006-02-11T04:18:10Z")
[How do you become a mod?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=55501) gives the secret origins of many of them. (Although many of those mentioned in the thread are now ex-mods, it gives an idea of how they often start out.) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/6 "2006-02-11T04:24:17Z")
I don’t know about you other jamokes, but they pay me 50K/yr. Forget the mug. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/7 "2006-02-11T04:57:11Z")
Helpful hint for would-be mods: Don’t change your name to **nonpolar**. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/8 "2006-02-11T06:20:51Z")
Mods live in your closet and probably intend to eat you after you fall asleep tonight. “Mods” can also refer to a group of amphetamine-using young rock-and-rollers in Britain in the 1960s. Their amphetamine abuse (and we’re getting into wide-brush mode, BTW) made them widely known (in Britain) as chronic stutterers, and the Who song “My Generation” used intentional stuttering to gain their attention. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/9 "2006-02-11T07:08:19Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > I don’t know about you other jamokes, but they pay me 50K/yr. That reminds me. The sent your annual paycheck to me by mistake. Here you go: > [@](#): > > KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/10 "2006-02-11T14:13:25Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > “Mods” can also refer to a group of amphetamine-using young rock-and-rollers in Britain in the 1960s. Their amphetamine abuse (and we’re getting into wide-brush mode, BTW) made them widely known (in Britain) as chronic stutterers, and the Who song “My Generation” used intentional stuttering to gain their attention. Really? Or did I just get totally whooshed here? ---
**Author:** ![rayh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@rayh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayh)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/11 "2006-02-11T14:37:18Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Really? Or did I just get totally whooshed here? No, you are not being whooshed.[Mods.](http://www.stthomasu.ca/~pmccorm/modsandrockers2.html) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/12 "2006-02-11T14:49:17Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > … the Who song “My Generation” used intentional stuttering to gain their attention. Not [according to the album’s producer](http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2002-09-26/music_feature4_p.html), Shel Talmy: > [@](#): > > Perhaps Talmy’s most innovative collaboration with The Who was the follow-up single, Anyhow, Anywhere, Anyway. Townshend’s now-famous feedbacking guitar break proved highly influential for Detroit teen Wayne Kramer, who would later use the buzzing noise to great advantage with the MC5. > > Unlike Roger Daltrey’s stutter in My Generation (" **It was one of those happy accidents and I thought we should keep it in," shrugs Talmy** ), the feedback was no mistake. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/13 "2006-02-11T15:13:43Z")
No, I knew about the mods (I’m old enough to have seen _Hard Day’s Night_ on its first theatrical release – when John was asked if he was a Mod or a Rocker, he replied, “I’m a Mocker”) – it was the speed/stuttering connection I was asking about. Or meant to ask about, I guess. And apparently that wasn’t deliberate. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/14 "2006-02-11T17:04:02Z")
_Who are the Mods? What are they? That all our swains commend them. Holy, fair and wise are they, The heavens such grace did lend them That they might admirèd be._ (With profuse apologies to Will, and Sylvia too.) ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/15 "2006-02-11T23:04:53Z")
> [@](#): > > KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK hhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaannnnnnnnn! ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/16 "2006-02-12T02:20:39Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > it was the speed/stuttering connection I was asking about. Or meant to ask about, I guess. I read it in a textbook for a Rock History class. Excuse me while I go put a grain or two of salt on my book… ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/17 "2006-02-13T22:12:54Z")
I stuttered in the 1960s as a wee young lad. Yippers, I was a **Junior Mod**. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/18 "2006-02-13T22:36:04Z")
I stuttered once… Maybe I shouldn’t even go there. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/19 "2006-02-14T01:05:39Z")
Well SDMB is an acronym for BDSM. MODS is an acronym for DOMS. It all makes sense now. ---
**Author:** ![rayh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@rayh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayh)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961/20 "2006-02-14T02:08:04Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Well SDMB is an acronym for BDSM. MODS is an acronym for DOMS. It all makes sense now. **EvilCaptor** is that you? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-and-what-are-the-mods/343961.md?page=2)