Charley's Aunt

[exchemist]

Having been rapped over the knuckles by the mods for referring to Brazil as "where the nuts come from", I suppose I should explain that this is a reference to a catchphrase from "Charley's Aunt". This is a late Victorian farce, subsequently made into more than one film, with a plot involving an Oxford undergraduate in drag, pretending to be an aunt returned from Brazil, "where the nuts come from". https://www.comedy.co.uk/film/charleys_big_hearted_aunt/about/

 

[Lorentz Jr]

Too many trolls using things like that as excuses for abusing people, too many snowflakes taking everything literally these days.

Edited March 1, 2023 by Lorentz Jr

[StringJunky]

Look guys, if it's more than five years old, it's probably offensive in the modern vernacular.

[TheVat]

8 hours ago, exchemist said:

Having been rapped over the knuckles by the mods for referring to Brazil as "where the nuts come from", I suppose I should explain that this is a reference to a catchphrase from "Charley's Aunt". This is a late Victorian farce, subsequently made into more than one film, with a plot involving an Oxford undergraduate in drag, pretending to be an aunt returned from Brazil, "where the nuts come from". https://www.comedy.co.uk/film/charleys_big_hearted_aunt/about/

 

Not sure why that phrase, clearly the lightest of remarks, would get a ruler slap from mods, but I didn't see the context.  I don't want to admit how old I was before I realized that Charley's Aunt was NOT authored by Oscar Wilde.  

I will agree that, in some circles, there is a disturbing trend to take the finest-toothed comb to everything someone says in search of tiny particles of offense which will then be amplified a million-fold through context-free repetition and condemnation.  I think people on the ideological Left need to own up to the fact that some of their number are engaged in this monumentally self-harming game.  What makes it particularly stupid is the apparent blindness to historical context and lack of awareness that to reference an imperfect patch of history (and its locutions) is not to praise it or perpetuate it.  

[exchemist]

1 hour ago, TheVat said:

Not sure why that phrase, clearly the lightest of remarks, would get a ruler slap from mods, but I didn't see the context.  I don't want to admit how old I was before I realized that Charley's Aunt was NOT authored by Oscar Wilde.  

I will agree that, in some circles, there is a disturbing trend to take the finest-toothed comb to everything someone says in search of tiny particles of offense which will then be amplified a million-fold through context-free repetition and condemnation.  I think people on the ideological Left need to own up to the fact that some of their number are engaged in this monumentally self-harming game.  What makes it particularly stupid is the apparent blindness to historical context and lack of awareness that to reference an imperfect patch of history (and its locutions) is not to praise it or perpetuate it.  

No it was a fair cop in that I had been using it to poke fun at a Brazilian crank, which was a bit rude of me. But I wasn't being rude about Brazilians, which is what the mod seemed to think. (I'm quite well in with the local Brazilian community, as it happens.) Anyway, the moral of the story for me is that making assumptions about shared culture is risky.    

[Phi for All]

I didn't know the cinematic reference, but have given warnings to others (newcomers) recently about disparaging groups of people, so it felt hypocritical not apply the rules to old hands as well. Staff has had trouble recently too with off-topic comments in threads that call out suspected sockpuppets and crank profiles in a discussion rather than reporting them or dissecting their arguments, so I may have been a bit sensitive about that.

Still, I'd rather be sensitive than insensitive. I'm happy to step down as moderator if my blindness and lack of awareness to reference and context is causing a problem. 

[swansont]

29 minutes ago, Phi for All said:

Staff has had trouble recently too with off-topic comments in threads that call out suspected sockpuppets and crank profiles in a discussion rather than reporting them or dissecting their arguments, so I may have been a bit sensitive about that.

Can confirm - we recently discussed how to clamp down on such commentary. It does nothing to move the discussion forward, and only provides opportunity to sidetrack things, with folks who seem prone to tangents.

 

 

[MigL]

3 hours ago, StringJunky said:

Look guys, if it's more than five years old, it's probably offensive in the modern vernacular.

I don't know, Stringy.
"Vernacular" sounds obscene and offensive to me ...
😄 😄