# Yes, Marley23, you are stupid **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 23, 2008, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081 "2008-11-23T05:58:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/21 "2008-11-23T16:56:04Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > … do you really think sniping at him in IMHO is the best way to handle that? Probably not. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/22 "2008-11-23T17:08:52Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > is not language for someone under a mod hat. “Knock it off” is retarded and arrogant. I really wish you mods will “knock it off” with it. It never ever serves to defuse a situation, and isn’t that what you guy want? It works for me. Usually the poster apologizes and everyone moves on, or the poster shuts up and everyone moves on. And in many cases it’s much nicer than what I want to say. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/23 "2008-11-23T17:18:17Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Personal (not in any way official) request: could you not quote **Sapo** ’s whole post when you want to chime in with him? Alright. But only because you asked nicely. Also, I fear jackboots. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/24 "2008-11-23T17:20:35Z")
> [@Gfactor](#): > > It works for me. Usually the poster apologizes and everyone moves on, or the poster shuts up and everyone moves on. And in many cases it’s much nicer than what I want to say. In the nicest of ways and with sugar on top, I urge you and all mods to reconsider its use in mod warnings. It really sounds condescending and rude. “Knock it off” is what I would tell my 4yo when he kicks the back of my seat in the car. I don’t think that’s the right image for mod actions. Just my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/25 "2008-11-23T17:25:33Z")
> [@Gfactor](#): > > It works for me. Usually the poster apologizes and everyone moves on, or the poster shuts up and everyone moves on. And in many cases it’s much nicer than what I want to say. My opinion FWIW is that it sounds needlessly condescending and antagonistic. I hope you will reconsider using it. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/26 "2008-11-23T17:26:37Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > In the nicest of ways and with sugar on top, I urge you and all mods to reconsider its use in mod warnings. It really sounds condescending and rude. “Knock it off” is what I would tell my 4yo when he kicks the back of my seat in the car. I don’t think that’s the right image for mod actions. Just my opinion. Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/27 "2008-11-23T17:32:59Z")
> [@Gfactor](#): > > It works for me. Usually the poster apologizes and everyone moves on, or the poster shuts up and everyone moves on. And in many cases it’s much nicer than what I want to say. With all respect, I don’t think the point is that it works for you. There’s probably a lot of ways to phrase the same basic thought, all of which would accomplish what you want to accomplish. But some of those ways are rude, and some aren’t. Why opt for the one that puts peoples’ hackles up…especially when people are nicely asking? I think it might be worth at least considering revising your approach, vs. brushing it off without a thought. ---
**Author:** ![Fantome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Fantome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fantome)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/28 "2008-11-23T17:33:33Z")
Man, some of you need to grow thicker skins. If you’ve done something worthy of even a mild warning in a message board, being insulted after hearing “knock it off” is for pussies. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/29 "2008-11-23T17:38:19Z")
> [@Fantome](#): > > Man, some of you need to grow thicker skins. If you’ve done something worthy of even a mild warning in a message board, being insulted after hearing “knock it off” is for pussies. Well, I don’t think I’ve ever had it said directly to me, so being personally insulted isn’t my issue. My issue is that I think it would be nice if the Mods tried to raise the discourse on the board, not drag it down. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/30 "2008-11-23T17:38:59Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Agreed. Disagreed. Sometimes board members act like four-year olds. At any rate “knock it off” sounds very mild to me - I don’t get where the offense comes from. “Shut the fuck up”, yeah, that would be a wee bit unprofessional ( I used to think **manhatten** crossed the line a little too often, much as I appreciated him in other ways ). But “knock it off” isn’t even in the same universe, IMHO. Personally I think that overall mods are rather more restrained than they were in the early days of the board. But each to their own and I guess this is a rather silly hijack to be arguing anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/31 "2008-11-23T17:42:10Z")
Yeah maybe I’m just insensitive, but I don’t see ‘Knock it off’ as condescending at all. Imo it gets right to the point in just a few short words. And I hate to take mod points away from Marley, but I think he’s one of the coolest mods around. He seems pretty smart and funny…but of course I’ve never snorted at him, so maybe that brings out the bastard in him. I might snort at him one of these days just to see what happens… ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/32 "2008-11-23T17:48:32Z")
> [@Fantome](#): > > Man, some of you need to grow thicker skins. If you’ve done something worthy of even a mild warning in a message board, being insulted after hearing “knock it off” is for pussies. I don’t find it insulting (which would be silly with me using all kinds of poor language on the boards), I just think that, for one, it is not professional. This is a business and it prides itself on its level of discourse. Having the mods be the higher standard would help its cause. Also, nobody likes to be treated like a child, whether we are offended or not. Politeness often goes a long ways in defusing situations and keeping the good will of a place. Even if it works in the short term and people stop what they are doing, it doesn’t make them grow in respect for the rule. See how it works for kids. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/33 "2008-11-23T17:48:43Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > With all respect, I don’t think the point is that it works for you. [QUOTE=Sapo] It never ever serves to defuse a situation, and isn’t that what you guy want? [/QUOTE] My point was that \*\*Sapo \*\*is mistaken here. It defuses situations for me. > [@](#): > > “Knock it off” is what I would tell my 4yo when he kicks the back of my seat in the car. This may surprise you, but sometimes we have posters here who behave that way. That said, I will consider the comments in this thread next time I’m tempted to use that phrase. I’ve only used it in a warning once, and in that particular case, I think it was fine. I usually reserve that for quick moderator notes, which are less formal. ---
**Author:** ![Fantome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Fantome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fantome)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/34 "2008-11-23T17:57:26Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > I don’t find it insulting (which would be silly with me using all kinds of poor language on the boards), I just think that, for one, it is not professional. This is a business and it prides itself on its level of discourse. Having the mods be the higher standard would help its cause. Well you did say “It really sounds condescending and rude” and then likened it to being treated like a 4 y.o., so it sure sounds like you found it insulting. Regardless, this is a message board, where all sorts of language, talk, personal exploits, etc. is not deemed inappropriate; it’s not a work place. While I’m not saying mods shouldn’t have some level of professionalism when admonishing, “knock it off” wouldn’t even be considered unprofessional for a boss to say at work when employees are acting like idiots. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/35 "2008-11-23T17:58:09Z")
I think “Knock it off” is often exactly the right tone for a lot of situations here (including ones where I was the offender). Don’t want to be treated like a 4-yr old? Then don’t act like a 4-yr old. Edit: I don’t think it’s the mods’ job to “raise the level of discourse” or somesuch. That’s the job of the populace in general. Mods are police, not debate chairs. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/36 "2008-11-23T18:25:20Z")
Interesting. In 11 years of message board surfing, four years of moderating a message board, and way too many years of speaking American English in the U.S., the is the very first time I have ever heard that “knock it off” was demeaning or insulting or whatever. Is this a regional thing? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/37 "2008-11-23T18:30:33Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Interesting. In 11 years of message board surfing, four years of moderating a message board, and way too many years of speaking American English in the U.S., the is the very first time I have ever heard that “knock it off” was demeaning or insulting or whatever. > > Is this a regional thing? I’ve seen some of the Southern posters complain about it before in one of the \*\*TubaDiva \*\*pit threads. So it appears it is a regional. Though \*\*Sapo \*\*is I think from Puerto Rico and not the south. It seems incredibly mild to me but of course I am from the land of the crass, NYC/NJ. 😉 Jim ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/38 "2008-11-23T18:46:14Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I’ve seen some of the Southern posters complain about it before in one of the \*\*TubaDiva \*\*pit threads. So it appears it is a regional. Though \*\*Sapo \*\*is I think from Puerto Rico and not the south. It seems incredibly mild to me but of course I am from the land of the crass, NYC/NJ. 😉 > > Jim You cannot go much farther south and still be in the US, you know? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/39 "2008-11-23T18:56:08Z")
> [@Gfactor](#): > > My point was that \*\*Sapo \*\*is mistaken here. It defuses situations for me. No. Your hat does. People knock it off not because the phrase works but because you are in authority and no matter how you say it, they know that the smart thing is to knock it off or be shown the door. And just because you got the _Pax Imperia_, that doesn’t mean that the feeling is gone. If people leave feeling shut up, they can hang on to that and be on the lookout for a future chance to return the favor. Anyways, that was just my opinion on it and I just took a chance to express it and ask the mods to consider it. It seems that I am neither alone in my view nor I am the voice of the consensus, so this might be a coke vs pepsi thing. That said, I think that just the fact that it is not a clear cut issue should be reason for the mods to consider it. If it bothers some people, why risk it? There is already one mod that said he might consider it in the future, so I will play the optimist and be happy I said it. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081/40 "2008-11-23T19:00:29Z")
> [@Darth\_Nader](#): > > Isn’t there some sort of secret mod forum y’all could take care of this on? > > 'Cause I doubt most folks besides **Frank** really give a shit. Heh - that was my post before I edited. Us Darths think alike. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-marley23-you-are-stupid/474081.md?page=3)