Probably not.
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.
Alright. But only because you asked nicely. Also, I fear jackboots.
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.
My opinion FWIW is that it sounds needlessly condescending and antagonistic. I hope you will reconsider using it.
Agreed.
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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
My point was that **Sapo **is mistaken here. It defuses situations for me.
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.
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.
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.
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
You cannot go much farther south and still be in the US, you know?
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.
Heh - that was my post before I edited. Us Darths think alike.