Oh boy, ILX! That's where I'm a viking!..?

surely ralph wd think of vikings as excellent

a viking is its own metaphorical viking

you voted for the 3rd option didn't you

also I apologize for the clunkiness of the phrasing of the poll options grammar is obviously where I'm not a viking

can't believe we haven't had this one here but feel obligated to say you have to be stupid to think it's option A

:-{

Ralph goes to sleep, he dreams that he is a viking. Why are we having a poll about this?

And uh seriously, is there anyone on this board who's not old enough to get the "bum is on your lips" reference?

ageist

didn't vote yet, i await further socratic exposition and 'fukken vikings', and probably something to do with race, and the backlash against the nerd pathologies required to care about this shit, and all other intrigue to come itt

well we can proceed now that the obligatory 'anticipating patterned shitstorm' post has been already made

Ralph goes to sleep, he dreams that he is a viking. Why are we having a poll about this?

because, as difficult as you will find this to believe - but just wait - there are people who think "viking" means "totally badass at stuff," and that Ralph means "in the field of sleep, I excel to such an extent that I consider myself 'a viking at it'"

imo it boggles the fucking mind that there are people who think that "viking" means "really good at something," if one first conflates notions of brute strength with the ability to excel," and yet, here we are

always wait until after the shitstorm to cast your vote

xp ^^ has obviously not watched a lot of pro sports

always wait until after the shitstorm to cast your vote

lol, least viking strategy at living

I mean that might sort of make sense, but would Ralph be clever enough to employ such slang in that context? Or is he making up his own slang.... ohhhhh.....

wait dudes. shit just got real.

xp ^^ has obviously not watched a lot of pro sports

you're aware, right, that the Vikings of Minnesota are called that because of a preponderance of Swedes and Norwegians in the region

not because anybody older than 12, prior to this degraded age, thought that "viking" was shorthand for "exceptionally skilled at things"

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2230/1753116728_888a4b5027_o.jpg

the vikings were after all a highly discursive people, and formed the oldest extant parliament in the world iirc, they could sublimate their disputatious nature like the best of them

this type of discussion would have been a familiar activity to the vikings

iirc the producers said that "viking" was an acronym of "vast, infinite-knowing intellectually natured German"

I first watched this episode when I was 12 btw

anyway I think the joke becomes much less funny when you take it literally than when you take it metaphorically I mean ralph is just the kind of chucklehead who you would expect to be proud that he excels at sleeping. and if ralph knew how to use english as a way to properly and accurately communicate his meaning well then you're just grievously misunderstanding the nature of ralph's character

"hello super nintendo chalmers" WAIT DOES RALPH REALLY THINK SUPERINTENDANT CHALMERS IS IN ACTUALITY THE POPULAR SUCCESSOR OF A REVOLUTIONARY JAPANESE VIDEO GAME ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM

vikings wouldn't have liked nfl, they wd probably dismiss it as 'mere simulacrum'

True, but the idea of Ralph even using a metaphor is sort of beyond him, isn't it? Most of his humor seems to be awkwardly-phrased literal declarations.

Also did not mean to insult those who didn't get the bum bum reference; not saying you're dumb if you didn't get it, just saying that you were old enough to be around when it happened whether you saw it or not.

WAIT DOES RALPH REALLY THINK

ageist xp

http://tv.boingboing.net/2007/10/25/simpsons-subgenius.html

never trust an author when they talk about their work. btw silverman wasn't even the writer for that episode

anyway I think the joke becomes much less funny when you take it literally than when you take it metaphorically I mean ralph is just the kind of chucklehead who you would expect to be proud that he excels at sleeping

no, because then the joke has to go through too many steps to get to the punchline: "that's where I'm a viking" -> "this person understands 'viking' to mean something other than what it means" -> back to character's original utterance to re-parse -> LOL? OTOH, "sleep, where I get to be a viking!" -> asleep on desk -> LOL

I have never understood viking to mean anything other than 'being awesome at something'

CAPITAL ONE, WHAT'S IN YOUR WALLET

multixp But I know how old you are-ish!! I am speaking to you!

I get irrationally bummed about this because the "viking means badass!" explanation seems so exceptionally dumb to me, and the joke clearly isn't "lol ralph is so dumb he thinks viking means badass!" esp. since everybody who argues in favor of that interpretation always wants to argue that everybody secretly really believes "viking" and "badass" have been interchangeable since time immemorial

xpost right & I have never understood "water" to mean anything other than "beer" but when I ask for water at a restaurant I don't complain when they don't bring me beer, because I am WRONG

I'M NOT AGEIST, ALL MY BEST FRIENDS HAVE AN AGE!

I had no idea this was a Great Debate until today.

if one first conflates notions of brute strength with the ability to excel

anyways this is a totally common notion when talking about any sport in general, RELEASE THE KRAKEN

j0hn iirc you are a boxing fan, you have never encountered a description where someone compares a boxer to some historical/literary figure known for their brute force as a way to express how good he is at boxing?

I had no idea this was a Great Debate until today.

it's less a great debate than a completely unsupportable claim with a lot of people willing to stan for it

never heard viking used in this way fwiw

probably some american thing

I understand having a hard time with interpreting expressions ('No news is good news') but this is just silly.

j0hn iirc you are a boxing fan, you have never encountered a description where someone compares a boxer to some historical/literary figure known for their brute force as a way to express how good he is at boxing?

yeah dude all that's true but "sleep, where I am a viking, in the sense that vikings are really good at something, and that something is being strong, which here stands in for 'excellence in general,' so in the sense that vikings are good at being strong, I am a viking at sleep, in the sense that when vikings set out to demonstrate their strength, they excel," etc etc

I mean it's just so transparently obviously not what the joke means, but the internet means that you can find out just how many people think eg that barack obama was born in kenya & surprise, a bunch of people don't get a really obvious joke, too - not trying to be a total dick but that really does seem to me the level of willfully not-getting-it you need to torture "sleep, at which I am a badass in the sense that vikings are badass, i.e., they are strong" out of a really simple joke

I don't take as many steps to get there btw as you are claiming: viking means badass -> I'm a badass at sleeping

really the fact that there have been countless threads on a galaxy of other message boards about this is just deeply, deeply amazing/distressing to me, j0hn otm

that being said, i kinda like the idea of sublimating viking into an adjective. tho i think it appeals to my baser, bro-ier tendencies

"dude did u see mike's backflip off the windlip, shit was ~viking~"

you do take as many steps - they're metaphorical, and you're ignoring the use of "where" - why "where" in the line? because ralph conceives of sleep as a place. ralph's character would be perfectly capable of saying "oh boy! I'm a viking at sleep" - it would actually save him words & be easier for him to see

anyway that's too many posts from me on what seems an incredibly obvious point that people just like to get into argts abt

wait why does it make sense to conceive of sleep as a place

later dudes, I'm going to visit sleep

the 'viking' as sports meme isn't only about power/violence i think.....they are a sort of mythic archetype right?
like a transfigured 'family romance' for farmboys from wisconisin to believe they were descended from leif erikson rather than livonian peasants

i

wait why does it make sense to conceive of sleep as a place

nobody's ever used the phrase "the land of dreams," I guess

I guess I just grew up around too many sports dudes who were constnatly making brute force = excellence metaphors i.e. "dude's a beast at basketball"

anyway I'm tired of goin ham on dudes itt peace

btw itt i am a viking

didn't the vikings (or some other olden times ppls w/e) believe they visited another physical world in dreams?

no they meant that they were awesome at dreaming

anyone who thinks/votes option a is retarded, end of story.

sleep is where vikings became semi-retarded 8 year olds

why "where" in the line? because ralph conceives of sleep as a place.

see you are taking just as many hermeneutic steps as I am when you conceive of sleep as a metaphysical-cum-physical place

yeah no that's wrong

this is just not actually complicated, the only complicated part is trying to explain it to people who don't get it, cf magnets & how they work

all my thread predictions now fulfilled ^^

has been a good thread

sleep! that's where i'm a homicidal clown!

:o stay out of my drams gbx

sleep! that's where I'm a pelican = sleep is where I get free cell phones

pleagic everywhere

*pelagic

xpost JESUS FUCKING CHRIST PEOPLE IT'S A GODDAMN SIMPSONS QUOTE. why are we analyzing it like a Platonic work...

this isn't really even an argument w/ two sides? it's just a handful of people who refuse to accept that they're wrong about something stupid

next thing you know someones gonna suggest people who voted option A should be put in camps

I just sc'd you cattle

suggest camped?

wow, being in ilx is dangerous now!

http://www.campvikingcapecod.org/

http://www.vikingcamps.net/

tres blinkered ^^

first, they came for the people who voted for option A.....

then the vikings killed everyone

fukken sleep, how does it work

you would know if you were a viking of sleep

so are the Minnesota Vikings just people who dream they're football players??? i'm confused

next thing I know people are gonna tell me goin ham means going to a place called ham

8 hours til work. ah work, where I'm a viking

vikings wd probably be asleep by now, it wd be 5.25am for most of them afaik

xpost this is where i'm an ocd viking

-- mookieproof, Thursday, January 3, 2008 3:32 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

ILE is one of the only three message boards in existance not to have a screaming match over the "that's where I'm a viking."

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Thursday, January 3, 2008 6:51 PM (2 years ago)

:( :( :( :( :( :( :( it has come to pass

it's alright if it makes u feel meta

it'd be really funny if the writers came by and said neither answer was right....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham,_Belgium

Yay, Belgium, that's where I'm a waffle....

I have never heard this whole argument until tonight. I get how B makes sense but I don't think it's very plausible. This thread, however, is wildly entertaining.

is pill really moving the trap to Belgium??????

So seriously in Pickle Surprise when Sister Dimension is repeating her mantra ("ham") she is actually talking about Belgium or going to sleep, right?

wait guys I'm still trying to find out if the Minnesota vikings are real or not...

And when Lady Bunny and RuPaul and co. each say "ham" they are actually all expressing ENTIRELY DIFFERENT MEANINGS which are left to the viewer to decode!!! Reference point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgWn7zbgxZ4

btw obama was born in ham

Honey Baked?

Clearly Lahoma is referencing the son of Noah while Lady Bunny is alluding to amateur radio. RuPaul and friend are obviously expressing "ham" as overaction or exaggeration of behavior.

I didn't know until tonight about the debate either but

I get how B makes sense but I don't think it's very plausible.

You mean "A", right??

I think Ralph's quote was his way of saying he didn't approve of the Brett Favre trade and/or the abuse of child labor laws in Scandinavian countries.

All these references to B, A, etc. will make no sense when the results come in unless someone does this:

A ralph means that sleep is an area in which he excels
B ralph means that sleep is literally where he becomes a viking
C I am a hermeneutic anarchist and am going to convince you of the validity of my own interpretation itt

(Thx)

3xp oh yes I meant A sorry

you guys are denying the power of English to be a fun and creative language

and Cattle Grind I think your reading of this is entirely too superficial. You're not reading between the lines.

p.s. I am realizing that most of my contributions to this thread are coming off less "goofball" and more "insufferable prick". Sry :/

the lines of ham? ok fuk it i'm off to sleep i'm gonna have nightmares about this now!

it's okay it means you're a viking at ilx xp

This is bullshit. Surely we could have got a Tuomas joke up in this area (FINLAND!!), you guys are no longer trying. Bring back Momus, I say.

BTW I'm reloaded

seems the translators agree with me

So, I did some elementary research on the DVD while the board was down, and I am absolutely appalled to report that if the foreign translations are anything to go by, Mr. Nog and other "lateral-thinking motherfuckers" may be right.

French = "Dormir, c'est là que je suis le plus fort" ("Sleep, that's where I'm the best!")
Dutch = "Slapen, daar ben ik goed in" (I don't know any dutch, but I'm guessing that's "Sleep, now that's something I'm good at")
Portuguese = "Ena, pa, dormir! E nisso que sou um Viking" (any Portuguese-speaking people around? I'd have to ask my ladyfriend, but she's not around. Sounds like it's just the literal, equally ambiguous translation anyway)

This said, I'd like to point out that translators can be serious lateral-thinking motherfuckers, too. I should know: I'm one (a translator, that is). The case is therefore NOT closed.

also if you examine the quote in context

Ralph: Umm, Miss Hoover?
Hoover: Yes Ralph, what is it?
Ralph: My worm went in my mouth and then I ate it...can I have another
one?
Hoover: No Ralph, there aren't any more...[shaking her head] just try to
sleep while the other children are learning.
Ralph: Oh boy...sleep! That's where I'm a viking!

ralph has just failed at a task, and is now exuberant at being offered the chance to participate in a task in which he excels.

btw people itt who think that B is the only possible interpretation of the quote are akin to people who think that there wasn't a predator ship in ALIEN

^^^^ does find it amusing how smug and "OMG ONLY A MORON/DOOFUS/BUTTHOLE/IDJUT/FUKTARD WULD THINK IT WAS ANSWER A" the answer B people always are on these boards.

I hadn't ever seen the quote cuz I abandoned the Simpsons years ago, but my natural reaction was option A, just cuz Ralph's such an incompetent klutz that only he would be excited about sleep because it's the one place where he's awesome. Answer B isn't funny to me in the least.

another board in which the debate occurred: http://www.lastplanetojakarta.com/forums/index.php?topic=8708.0

oh lord the pred ship in alien thing again. someone oughta visit that other board and provoke that one guy again.......

I have seen this episode approximately 10,000 times and I have never even thought of the concept of interpreting the line literally. This interpretation kind of horrifies me. The idea that Ralph is so amped up about his sleeping ability that he considers himself a viking of sleep is so much funnier than the idea that he wants to go to sleep so he can dream about being a viking.

hahahahahahahahahahahaha

I read the first few posts of this thread in mounting bafflement that this was actually an argument.

I love this board.

Some of dyao's arguments are actually swaying me a little. Admittedly, I haven't seen this episode since I was a teenager and don't even remember the scene in question very clearly.

will go on record and admit that answer b hadn't occured to me before opening this thread

starting to believe there's a small population of ILXors that interprets all jokes literally and is in constant fear of being eaten by the number seven

really the fact that there have been countless threads on a galaxy of other message boards about this is just deeply, deeply amazing/distressing to me, j0hn otm

wait, WAHT

oh humanity, hahahahahahaha

idgtt

wait, WAHT

oh humanity, hahahahahahaha

yeah it's a whole thing - the only reason anybody ever starts this thread is to have a big clusterfuck about it - it's really "hilarious"

clusterfucks, that's where I'm a Viking!

also massive uncontrollable lols at Cattle Grind's link

if the internet never happened option b absolutely never ever would have entered my mind

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=that%27s%20where%20I%27m%20a%20viking

hahahahaha

has Ralph ever said anything that wasn't meant 100% literally in the history of The Simpson, btw

more like have any characters ever acted 100% consistently in the history of The Simpsons

dyao is totally trolling itt

you must love this thread HI DERE, the "viking equals badass!" brigade will be quite happy to demonstrate for you many, many examples of ralph's sophisticated abstract thinking & cutting-edge use of figurative language

dyao is goofin, n/a appears to be ~trolling~

the "viking equals badass" subtext is implied, but really if that is actually what the writers intended the character Ralph Wiggum to mean, rather than it being a randomly weird remark to show how excited Ralph was to get to sleep after accidentally eating his worm again* I will eat a hat

* itt: a phrase that sounds dirty but isn't

You don't strike me as a hat kind of guy, tbh.

btw anyone who didn't vote for "I am a hermeneutic anarchist and am going to convince you of the validity of my own interpretation itt" is straight-up lying

Scandinavia! that's where I'm a viking!

the "viking equals badass" subtext is implied, but really if that is actually what the writers intended the character Ralph Wiggum to mean, rather than it being a randomly weird remark to show how excited Ralph was to get to sleep after accidentally eating his worm again* I will eat a hat

he is excited because IN SLEEP, HE IS A (METAPHORICAL) VIKING

also are you arguing that there is an unintended subtext that is obvious enough that apparently thousands of viewers have thought that it was the primary interpretation but this somehow "slipped by" the writers, editors, proofreaders, etc.?

I am not trolling, I am VIKING

h8 whiney so much for casually dropping that this "debate" exists and then sitting back and laughing

In dreams I am a metaphor.

I'm just not clear what's so obviously correct about the literalist interpretation that dudes feel like they can sit around being huffy and superior about it.

Although the literalist interpretation never occurred to me before all this, I don't necessarily think it's a "wrong" interpretation, it's just so much of a less funny interpretation that it makes me sad that that's what people have been going around thinking for years and years. Like their world must feel dreary and sepiatoned while mine is technicolor + dolby.

also are you arguing that there is an unintended subtext that is obvious enough that apparently thousands of viewers have thought that it was the primary interpretation but this somehow "slipped by" the writers, editors, proofreaders, etc.?

actually I'm arguing that someone noticed it and laughed at the ambiguity

so you're arguing it was intended

omg

I'm considering ending this argument by telling you to "go fly a kite," forcing you to literally go out, buy a kite, and fly it.

The idea that Ralph is so amped up about his sleeping ability that he considers himself a viking of sleep is so much funnier than the idea that he wants to go to sleep so he can dream about being a viking.

No, you see, what's funny about it is the fact that he interprets his dream-state not as the biological process of "dreaming" but as a literal place where he takes on alternate personae.

(But I'm with you: it's never occurred to me that there are multiple ways to interpret this line.)

Jaymc OTM re interpretation. (That does sound much more in keeping with Ralph's character, don't you think?)

I'll also note that translators often will substitute something that works in the 'new' language rather than translating directly.

omg n/a this is srsly threatening our relationship

tho I guess now I can write a boner jamz tune about bein a sleep viking so

we just got to work through it bro

http://i43.tinypic.com/1zlx4b6.jpg

ILX, that's where I'm a bottle opener!

lolling so hard at that bottle opener

racist

I know ;_;

to express myself in a way which those this message pertains to will understand: this thread is where i'm a viking of sbing.

how is this debatable? dreaming about being a viking isn't funny. sleep being the area in which one excels the most is, and it's particularly fitting for ralh. the context of the line is that Ralph just ate a worm he was supposed to dissect, the teacher tells him to sleep while the other students are learning. what he is saying is "ah, now this is something i'm good at".

Dreaming about being a viking isn't funny. Your dreams being a separate place where you are a Viking is.

ok i swore i wasn't going to get into this but lol @ the idea that ralph could come up with a fanciful and original metaphor such as "viking" being "something you are good at"

also ralph dreaming about being a viking IS funny because look at him for chrissakes

as noted above, the simpsons is not exactly consistent in portraying characters' abilities and personalities, especially when they can just make a funny joke instead

Dreaming about being a viking isn't funny. Your dreams being a separate place where you are a Viking is.

― kingkongvsgodzilla, Monday, April 26, 2010 2:32 PM (3 minutes ago)

this.

xxpost -- THAT TOO.

did I miss the part where people give other instances in our culture, pre-dating the Simpsons episode, where the term "viking" is used to mean "excels at"?

the best part about this argument is "explain how that's funny!"/"ok, here's how"/"I'm not laughing" as if "explain how that's funny" will ever, anywhere, in the history of the universe, result in somebody laughing after the explanation is given

I think we are approaching the critical "show them the lesbian orgy" portion of the argument.

call all destroyer otm

i still don't understand what the Tom Green reference in the title has to do with anything.

xpost ummm

curse and bless you HI DERE for the gis at which I am presently agog

just a hunch but I'm saying some of these women aren't actually lesbians

did I miss the part where people give other instances in our culture, pre-dating the Simpsons episode, where the term "viking" is used to mean "excels at"?

― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Monday, April 26, 2010 2:38 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

THERE ARE NONE
THIS IS WHAT IS CALLED AN "ORIGINAL JOKE"

(sorry for the all-caps, guys, MIA is guest-writing my posts today)

"Yo! Hey what's happening dude?
I'm a guy with a rep for bein' a Viking when it comes to being rude."

Sleep? You've got another think coming!

i'm so sorry for bringing this cancer here

no i think that's called a bizarre misreading of a simple joke

as long as my "bizarre misreadings" of jokes are actually funnier than the other possible readings, I'm cool with it

h8 u so much whiney

xpost you'd find the correct reading funnier if your heels weren't dug in tho

also you're reading is dumb and unfunny. "ralph equates being good at something as being viking at it, chortle".

oh boy "you're"

I need to go get a haircut, but I will leave you with a link to one of my best-conceived threads: Which is more annoying: arguing about what people find funny or arguing about what people find sexy?

egg on my face

which is funny because i have wasted perfectly good egg

you are totally egg on your face about scolding people for misreading jokes

i don't see how not making any sort of sense makes something more funny, but fyi "it's funnier this way" is not ever a valid argument for whether something is a correct interpretation. ugh i now want to kill myself and everyone else here.

lol ok to the next person who reminds us that arguing about what is funny is pointless: we know

ugh i now want to kill myself and everyone else here.

okay now THIS is a board description

hahahahaha

think people who misread this are too used to non-sequitur humour at this stage or something. "I'M VIKING AT SLEEP. IN WALKS FONZIE. FART."

if you guys want to have a serious fit, read the 1000-post board.crewcial.org take on this

http://board.crewcial.org/thread/view/201813/

jim u may have something there

lol hstencil never forget

whiney is like our older cousin showing us filthy message board threads when we're 13

the more i think about it the more option b absolutism is one of the weirdest awful human behaviors i never woulda learned of had it not been for internet message boards

jesus god why did i bookmark this abortion

a b c winning the devolution of the argument award

i just can't believe this is an argument that has haunted the internet for years and not a 24-post thread on alt.tv.simpsons in 1995

The next thread should be an argument about what Ralph really meant when he said "My cat's breath smells like cat food."

for ralph, "cat food" means "totally awesome"

this thread is not cat food

http://www.richmolnar.com/Sounds/Homer%20-%20You%27re%20all%20nuts.wav

I bent my "Wookie"

lol!

http://c2.api.ning.com/files/*K0CPt1rhrSSvi5mrSpSuDdXRTF4U5C6-Ma1FXvlc38_/wook17.jpg

I love all of you.

also feeling sad I broke this promise:

I am NOT arguing about the Simpsons on the internet.

― n/a (Nick A.), Tuesday, July 12, 2005 2:25 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

But when you say "love"....

like I'm a worse person, now that I've argued about The Simpsons on the Internet, and one day my daughter will find this thread and think that I was a terrible person

yeah but prob cause you didn't understand a simple joke

give it time, ILX will by the end of day have a pejorative adjective ending in "ist" for both supporters of Option A AND Option b.

n/a to make amends you must raise your daughter to be a Viking irl

meaning raise his daughter to be awesome, or to be a literal Viking?

she must be a viking at being a viking

http://www.mtbs.com/bkbz/kidwar/02_bg.jpg

just gonna reaffirm that option B absolutists = pred ship denyers

: D

dear god AaronHZ may be drawn to this thread if you mention the pred ship....

ok i swore i wasn't going to get into this but lol @ the idea that ralph could come up with a fanciful and original metaphor such as "viking" being "something you are good at"

― call all destroyer, Tuesday, April 27, 2010 3:36 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

ftr I totally don't get this argument, when has ralph ever been aware of the import of anything he says. he's totally the kid you teach solecisms to who'll never question the meaning of it and always use it. someone taught one of the chinese tutors at my last job that saying "I'm really horny!" was a cool & american way of saying "I'm really happy!" and he went around for a week telling people he was really horny before someone broke it to him.

and then afterwards he pooped right before showering....

So we need to assume that someone has already told Ralph that "viking" = "expert"?

not implausible if you know anything at all about the relationship between ralph and chief wiggum

ok fine i mean that is remotely plausible/highly unlikely

the thing here is i don't think ralph generally thinks of himself as being bad at school or specifically as having failed the task, so for me it doesn't really follow that he'd be pleased because he felt he was given another task he excelled at.

i also don't know if this is u&k or not, but part of the joke is that he's still got the worm in his mouth when he calls on miss hoover to tell her he ate his worm, and only then does he eat the worm. it seems for b to be correct the sequence should go: eats worm > realizes he screwed up task > requests new worm > denied worm, given new task > elated at viking capabilities re: new task. however, since he doesn't actually eat the worm until immediately before he says he ate the worm the first three steps are happening almost simultaneously and out of the correct order. there's no space for the "feel bad about failing task" to "feel good about mastery of new task" turnaround.

timeline (minutes and seconds of show):

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa295/slugbert/zapruder1.jpg

06:19: Ralph: Umm, Miss Hoover?

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa295/slugbert/zapruder2.jpg

06:21: Hoover: Yes Ralph, what is it?

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa295/slugbert/zapruder3.jpg

06:22: Ralph: My worm went in my mouth and then I ate it...can I have another one?

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa295/slugbert/zapruder4.jpg

06:26: Hoover: No Ralph, there aren't any more...[shaking her head] just try to sleep while the other children are learning.

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa295/slugbert/zapruder5.jpg

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa295/slugbert/zapruder6.jpg

06:31 - 06:34: Ralph: Oh boy...sleep! That's where I'm a viking!

holy shit at this zapuder take down¿¡

i'm not hardcore abt this, btw.

lol i was like why the fuck are these screencaps getting posted but well done sir

ralph looks sad... that's not how i remembered it.

sleeping ralph screencap is a moment where it feels tragic that ilx doesn't do avatars

says the guy who posted screencaps!!!

but Ralph looks sad throughout the whole sequence so he knows he fucked up

i meant for "a" to be correct (self x-post)

can't wait til this thread hits 300 replies

Holy shit this thread is the saddest display of wtfery I've seen here since the salt one.

AND I AM A SIMPSONS FAN. o_0

love all the dudes itt getting sanctimonious w/0 revealing their position

guys i think maybe Ralph is srsly an intelectual pretending to be stupid so he can win milhouse's heart......

hay i revealed mine already!!11!!!

if you think it's "sleep is an area in which he excels" then you clearly misunderstood it when it aired and now have to justify your inability to judge words by the context of the sentence in which they appear. stop being so stubborn.

Its "thats where i am dreaming and thus I can be a viking" ffs it was a simple, unadorned joke and I'm staggered this is even on the table.

ok i swore i wasn't going to get into this but lol @ the idea that ralph could come up with a fanciful and original metaphor such as "viking" being "something you are good at"

― call all destroyer, Tuesday, April 27, 2010 3:36 AM (5 hours ago)
ftr I totally don't get this argument, when has ralph ever been aware of the import of anything he says. he's totally the kid you teach solecisms to who'll never question the meaning of it and always use it. someone taught one of the chinese tutors at my last job that saying "I'm really horny!" was a cool & american way of saying "I'm really happy!" and he went around for a week telling people he was really horny before someone broke it to him.

so your counter argument is that we are to assume there's a backstory of someone teaching Ralph that viking=one who excels? that's the more logical to view it? occam's razor works well with comedy

Wow, never even heard of the "dreams he's a viking" version until tonight. Totally baffled and flummoxed by it... I mean I file this under the same as Marge declaring "Now it's Marge's time to shine!" except just using this weird idiom that's probably something one of Ralph's teachers have fed him when trying to encourage him to go to sleep.

a) lovin this thread; ii) amazed that this is a thing; 3) can see how in a moment of unguarded innocence someone might think that ralph means he excels at sleeping; cannot see how, on being told the dream explanation, they would not go 'OH my god OF COURSE that is so OBVIOUS!'

if you think it's "sleep is an area in which he excels" then you clearly misunderstood it when it aired and now have to justify your inability to judge words by the context of the sentence in which they appear. stop being so stubborn.

you're right, language is static and words never take on new meanings

I never take context into account when interpreting language!

I mean I file this under the same as Marge declaring "Now it's Marge's time to shine!"

OK wow now see that one's an obvious turn of phrase for "marge's time to be awesome" because ITS ALREADY A SAYING.

"I'm a viking" isnt a saying aaaaaa this is like the think/thing thread hahaha this is doing my head in.

http://www.bingegamer.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/lost-vikings.jpg

guys.

ralph means that sleep is literally where he becomes a viking

shit is simple

flummoxed by people connecting "sleep" + "a scenario that is not connected to reality" = dreaming? seriously? you are. flummoxed. you. right now. by that.

i do have to say that ILX seems way more in agreement on this than most places

Crut OTM.

Even the grammar doesn't work. That's WHERE I'm a viking. Not: I'm a viking at the task of sleeping. I'm the viking of sleep, you could say. When it comes to sleeping, it's safe to consider me to be at viking level.
vs
In the land of dreams, that's where it's like I'm an actual viking and being a viking is cool cause of the exploring and the cool helmets, I so can't wait to get back to sleep and do some pillaging.

me fail english, that's unpossible

yeah but it's not even fucked up enough grammar to be funny, just enough to make interpretation A implausible

this poll should be a question on civil service exams

it establishes that ralph is an unreliable narrator

has post-structuralism taught us NOTHING

Off to sleep for me, where I'm a Mayan at explaining jokes to fools

IMO: "sleep, thats where I'm a viking!" = "sleep, thats where I'm a fairy queen/merchant banker/cyborg destructor/[insert fantasy dreamstate of choice]"

Shouldn't option B say: Ralph means that sleep is where he dreams he is a viking? I mean obviously he doesn't literally become a viking when he's asleep (though if he does, maybe he dreams about being a boy).

the problem is，sleep doesn't necessarily imply dreaming

ralph a bit sketchy on the whole

http://intepid.com/res/417.gif

distinction

He might believe that he becomes a viking, but that doesn't mean that we should believe it.

"ralph means that sleep is literally where he becomes a viking" - that is what ralph means. what we believe is not important.

What's this salt thread Trayce is talking about?

I forget what the title was but people were arguig over wether it was polite to salt food before you ate it or not. It got hilariously heated.

Taste your food before you salt it, of course. Fuck politeness - too much salt leads to high.blood pressure.

Pepper on the other hand, I will dump like 5 packets of that on my french fries. It's like I hate the taste of french fries so much that it takes that much pepper to eat them. I would probably be better off pouring all that pepper on a salad or summat.

really is the most wtf thread i have encountered after nearly 8 years of ILXing

http://www.bb-shopping.com/prod_images/image_cat60/thumbs/300/thumb_3917_image1_homer_simpson_low.jpg

Well played.

As much as I am a b-ist on this one, the argument of using grammar with Ralph Wiggum is sort of not holding any weight

Man, had I known, I would've posed this to Simpsons writer/producer Mike Reiss when I met him briefly a couple months ago.

http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2008/10/27/128696138717354358.jpg

the problem is，sleep doesn't necessarily imply dreaming

right, not necessarily. but when you talk about fantasy role playing...
not to be a dick but are you really this obtuse? find it hard to believe you're not trolling.

I mean I can definitely see where you B types are coming from but I just don't think it's as cut and dry as ya'll are making it out to be. state of sleep != dreaming first of all (I find it hard to conceive of sleep as a place, fantastical or otherwise) and second the phrase "that's where I'm (x)" is more ambiguous than ya'll are giving it credit for being. if ralph had said "that's where I become a viking" I admit we wouldn't be having this argument.

you people are blowing my mind.

like.

i did not think this was a real debate at first.

what a bunch of Ralphs

fwiw I was trained as a lit major in college and thus always look for the hermeneutic road less traveled and really cannot believe that people can get so dogmatically insistent over something as transient and mutable as language

(I've also believed in option A since first viewing this episode as a rerun on FOX in the mid 90s)

the insistence isn't about the language as such. it's the insistence that option B makes sense in the context of the character whereas A doesn't at all.

do I really need to start posting youtube clips of "Kids say the darndest things!" itt

http://www.metafilter.com/61946/Sleep-is-where-Ralph-is-a-Viking

A doesn't make sense.

Ralph is not a kid he is the voice of scriptwriters writing gags for a character with an identifiable persona!

http://content.ytmnd.com/content/e/0/e/e0e0fb9640c3227b23f0f7074d925dc6.jpg

IS RALPH WIGGUM LITERALLY SUGGESTING THAT HE IS IN FACT A TIGHT-FITTING ONE-PIECE GARMENT OF STRETCHABLE FABRIC COVERING THE BODY FROM THE NECT TO THE FEET

Ralph Wiggum: I look like cable TV!

IS RALPH WIGGUM IN FACT A CATHODE RAY EMITTING TUBE UNDER THE CONTROL OF NEFARIOUS CONTENT-TRANSMISSION COMPANIES

jokes are where i'm a viking and can tell you it is B so lock thread.

sometimes i have arguments where the other person is so convinced of their rightness that an element of doubt creeps in, perhaps i am making a colossal mistake.

this is not one of those times.

i'm kind of annoyed that "B" is the second option and not the first option

i honestly wonder what it means that ILX is so united about this. BCO pretty much had a civil war over it

Unitard is him mistaking one word for another, not a metaphor. No one is arguing that language is static and inflexible; it's just that in the context of Ralph's character, it seems like he'd be more likely to be getting all excited about the opportunity to go to sleep and dream of being a viking than it does for him to be using the word "viking" as "v good at".

But we are chasing our tails here at this point.

it means we the best xpost

i honestly wonder what it means that ILX is so united about this. BCO pretty much had a civil war over it

the fact that ilx is pretty united on this issue makes sense cause people here are generally less retarded than on other msg boards and you would have to be pretty retarded to not understand such a simple joke (+ stay in denial after someone explains it to you)

all language is metaphoric, btw

can't it be BOTH a and b, all schrodinger's ralph style?

yah I'm not arguing for the exclusivity of a just the validity of a, so that's why I don't understand all these b-pred ship denyers

"don't you see, PREDATOR wasn't a movie at the time ALIEN was made. THEREFORE IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN A PREDATOR SHIP."

are you retconning this gag

i don't understand this predator/alien thing you keep referring to

I have never heard this pred ship thing. Is there a way to ask what it is w/o people exploding?

wimsatt and beardley have given me express permission to do so xxp

the Most hilarious fanboy message board debate of all time

one of the all time classic ILX threads

people who are championing A are doing some severe cart-before-the-horse-ing in terms of how sayings get invented, imo

like, it is completely understandable, valid and funny to extrapolate from that scene that Ralph sucks at school and is good at sleeping and therefore turn "that's where I'm a Viking" into an idiom meaning "I am good at this", but the likelihood of that meaning actually being present in the scene, particularly given the history of the character and they way he's been portrayed before and since, is pretty fucking small

I am frequently talking out of my ass when I say things like this but in this particular case I feel relatively confident in saying that this is a great example of how postmodernism has ruined people's ability to interpret simple things; while it is true that pretty much anything can be interpreted a bazillion different ways, that doesn't change the fact that the simplest explanation is usually the most useful one (assuming you are too subjective to use the word "correct")

also the correct answer here is still C

i think the quote isn't done justice in writing, someone find the audio of this

oh god...i can't live this all again.

stop ppl for your own good.

i was a part of the "original" debate referenced on the bco thread.

step away.

Unitard is him mistaking one word for another, not a metaphor.

anyway the problem with this argument "ralph is incapable of using a metaphor" is that ralph doesn't need to be aware that he's using a metaphor in order to use a metaphor. he could have said "oh boy, sleeping! that's where I'm the tits!" and there wouldn't be any ambiguity and nobody would question him using a metaphor there would they BUT WAIT HE JUST USED A METAPHOR.

1. "the tits" is an established saying
2. they would never say "the tits" on The Simpsons, come on

Gotta admit: The longer this thread goes on, the more I've come to appreciate the absurdity of the idea of option (a) as the correct interpretation, even tho I don't believe it for a second. Eventually it'll reach a tipping point where after which I'll wish the wrong interpretation was the one intended

anyway being a viking at something meaning the same thing as being good at something has now been retconned into our culture

Xander: It happens that I'm good at a lot of things. I help out with all kinds of... stuff. I have skills and... stratagems... I'm very... help me out.
Anya: He's a Viking in the sack.

well aren't you just the bees knees xxp

at being asleep she means xp

lol did u just quote buffy the vampire slayer

yeah but I stole it from the metafilter thread :(

why don't we talk about how being a viking in the sack makes a hell of a lot more sense as an original coinage than being a viking at sleep

I think we're all gonna need some big hugs and reassurances that we all still respect one another, after this thread.

I blood eagle every girl I sleep with, tbh

xxp Because Vikings "sack" villages.

fwiw I was trained as a lit major in college and thus always look for the hermeneutic road less traveled and really cannot believe that people can get so dogmatically insistent over something as transient and mutable as language

(I've also believed in option A since first viewing this episode as a rerun on FOX in the mid 90s)

^damning post to your side

lol in reality it has only ever led to me making tons of totally inappropriate/non sequitor "that's what she said!" jokes in polite company

and is probably one of the reasons why I find myself in the predicament stated over in the not getting invited to things thread

Well, ok, I invite you to the Colonial Diner. BUT ONLY if you cut this Option A horse shit stat.

haha I'll take you up on that when I return for the summer (but I'm not making any promises)

btw guys "ILX" was originally meant to be "I Love Christ" and all you guys have been posting to a board for born-again Christians for the past 10 years

thing is, this isn't even about the mutability of language or anything literary. it's like if a doctor told a family member of yours "you have pancreatic cancer" and everyone else goes "oh shit, what are the ramifications, what can I do to help" etc, while you're like "wait wait! what if mayyyyybe the doctor was coining a new phrase and by saying 'you have pancreatic cancer' really meant 'you are a great patient'?????"

you are a great patient, granny dainger

(maybe you should go see a doctor)

state of sleep != dreaming first of all (I find it hard to conceive of sleep as a place, fantastical or otherwise)

Come on, is this really less plausible than the idea that Ralph is either a) inventing a metaphor or b) quoting something that was told to him in an implied-but-never-shown backstory?

ok I admit that b) is far-fetched (but not to me as a simpsons fan) but a) is totally more plausible given ralph's general ineptness with language, as in, he's inventing a metaphor unintentionally

HE MEANT IT LITERALLY
RALPH

MEANT WHAT HE SAID LITERALLY

RALPH SAYS RANDOM AND WEIRD STUFF ALL THE TIME IT IS WHAT HE DOES HE IS RALPH

HE IS RANDOM AND WEIRD
AND WHEN HE SLEEPS HE GETS TO PRETEND HES A VIKING HEH WHY CAUSE ITS FUNNY AND WEIRD AND RANDOM
LIKE RALPH

STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS

hahahaha dyao I thought you were referencing the original a) and b) in the poll options at first

lol or was I?

anyway time to go be a viking, I expect this thread to have broken 1000 when I wake up tmrw

sxp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92IkddsjtAA

i meant xxp

like, it is completely understandable, valid and funny to extrapolate from that scene that Ralph sucks at school and is good at sleeping and therefore turn "that's where I'm a Viking" into an idiom meaning "I am good at this", but the likelihood of that meaning actually being present in the scene, particularly given the history of the character and they way he's been portrayed before and since, is pretty fucking small

So how come MILLIONS of people apparently watched this episode and took away this reading? It's not like this is something one person made up and gradually converted others to after all.

Also, wtf sense does it make that Ralph would consistently and regularly dream about the same thing? Who does that? Dreams are different all the time. "Dream" theory just doesn't make sense.

So how come MILLIONS of people apparently watched this episode and took away this reading?

Because people can be stupidly over-analytical, particularly re: shows that have been branded as entertainment for smart people?

I assure you when I was twelve or whatever and first saw this episode I was not trying to "analyze" this cryptic comment, it just immediately read as the "viking = excels" joke and it was funny.

millons? really?

Viking was a random choice by Ralph based on a recent dream. Another day he would've said pirate, lawyer, board admin etc.

Also, wtf sense does it make that Ralph would consistently and regularly dream about the same thing? Who does that?

haha waht this happens all the time!

I assure you when I was twelve or whatever and first saw this episode I was not trying to "analyze" this cryptic comment, it just immediately read as the "viking = excels" joke and it was funny.

― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, April 27, 2010 12:05 PM (50 seconds ago) Bookmark

well you just operate on a higher plane of consciousness than the general population then

haha waht this happens all the time!

does anyone actually have recurring dreams where good shit happens tho? mine are just the 'back at school or old job wtf this isn't cool but i'm too baffled by how this has happened to protest' ilk

Dreams are different all the time.

Yeah. Tell that to the many people who have ever worked in radio and have recurring dreams of screwing everything up. There's a whole Facebook page devoted to it.

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2350714789&topic=8594

doesn't mean he always dreams he's a viking, but there's a chance he will and it's such an awesome dream that the possibility of it occuring again excites him.

at this point there are really only two options to resolve this discussion:
* attempt to marshal our resources and get a definitive answer from an authoritative source (ie a writer or producer of this episode)
* marvel at the fact that this is a joke that can be seen from two different perspectives, both of which are funny, like the picture of the old ugly lady that is also a picture of a young hot lady, and just sit and think about how wonderful and amazing that is

we could also continue fake-having this argument just to lol at the people who genuinely find it irritating

When I was a kid I frequently had a recurring dream where I had to fight sapient refrigerators and ovens in a giant, glowing pyramid that had pterodactyls flying over it.

did you draw a comic about this?

because that would be so incredible

Maybe I should...it would have to be in color, though.

waiting for granny dainger to come along and tell me that picture is CLEARLY ONLY of an old crone and if I see a young hot lady I must be some kind of IDIOT DOUCHEBAG

abbott i'd be willing to provide colour from my extensive post-production suite

nah you're an idiot douchebag no matter what sorry

are there any other instances in books, films, etc. where people use "viking" in place of "excels"

the optical illusion analogy is kinda weak though cause that's designed to be dually interpretable whereas ralph literally meant he was a viking in his dreams and people just mistakenly misinterpreted him, it's no big whoop though just a simple misunderstanding

pre-ralph i mean

I have been calling my .xls files "viking spreadsheets" for years.

lol Abbott

jaymc yesterday

http://lib.lbcc.edu/handouts/images/Vikings/vikings3.jpg

So how come MILLIONS of people apparently watched this episode and took away this reading?

i've been asking around since i saw this thread and *everyone* has assumed that Ralph was dreaming about being a viking. they also now know i spend my time debating these things online instead of just watching porn like most civilized people.

jesus xposts!

itt a strange RALPH asks if you saw the VIKING on that one.

well you just operate on a higher plane of consciousness than the general population then

I am the general population! This is the default, obvious reading of this joke! You "dream" believers are maniacs clinging to an unsustainable, over-stretched, non-joke.

jesus. we all fucking need this:
http://www.geekologie.com/2009/04/21/thor.gif

are vikings viking at being vikings

Wowwww that THor gif is fantastic./

Ralph idl (in dream life):
http://meuk.ouweouwe.nl/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/viking.gif

I am the general population! This is the default, obvious reading of this joke!

This is kind of like saying that viewing this as a gaping mouth with 3 top teeth and 4 bottom teeth is the obvious, default reading of this image:

http://www.orgs.bucknell.edu/res_halls/RTK/KRSS/KG_K1/images/batman-logo-large-view.gif

like... yes I see how can view it that way but I seriously doubt that was what was intended

to me, you "dreamers" are the bat-tooth-see-ers.

Come on, that's a bit of a challops, surely.

smh

(xp)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8sVAY2TlYo

Someone wake me when this is over.

When I was a kid I frequently had a recurring dream where I had to fight sapient refrigerators and ovens in a giant, glowing pyramid that had pterodactyls flying over it.

― Walter Melon (Abbott), Tuesday, April 27, 2010 1:18 PM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark

you too???

I like the resource-pooling idea. I'd like to get a solid resolution to this.

This is kind of like saying that viewing this as a gaping mouth with 3 top teeth and 4 bottom teeth is the obvious, default reading of this image:

I seriously never understood it was a bat until the 2nd movie came out.

guys this is INCREDIBLE

but seriously: can ANYONE name any example other than the buffy one of the word viking being used to mean anything other than 'I am probably muscly and wear a hat with horns'???

Uh, even on "Buffy" that's probably what it meant. Remember, Anya consorted with actual Vikings once upon a time.

I never saw the show so my only Anya reference is the ANTM contestant.. :)

I, on the other hand, am a nerd.

http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/blink/2008/03/14/anya_antm.jpg

"in the sack, he is very much of a Viking"

I'm a Lostafarian. (xp)

LOL!

but seriously: can ANYONE name any example other than the buffy one of the word viking being used to mean anything other than 'I am probably muscly and wear a hat with horns'???

― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Wednesday, April 28, 2010 3:01 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

can anyone name one example of someone saying "tastes like...burning!" before that simpsons episode

What confuses me even more than people defaulting to option A are the ones that truly, honestly CANNOT FATHOM how ANYONE could POSSIBLY consider option A to be valid.

xp

the fact that ralph can't make simple grammatically correct phrases "tastes like...burning" / "that's unpossible" etc. is probably a good sign that he's not going to be creating complicated metaphors

I still don't get why you guys are arguing that ralph is /intending/ to create a complicated metaphor.

because that's what the bizarro interpretation depends on?

people create silly 'complicated' metaphors all the time through misusing language - how is babee formed - doesn't mean that they did so intentionally

you guys are also not looking at the screencaps - he looks so sad!

http://i637.photobucket.com/albums/uu92/damien_stone/wargames.jpg

ralph doesn't recognize the nature of dreaming, he just thinks he's a viking when he goes to sleep because he previously had a dream or series of dreams in which he was a viking. the joke is character-based. ralph doesn't have the self-consciousness necessary for assessing his performance in any field. he's "sad" because he ate a worm, plus he now hasn't got a worm.

i hate myself

greetings professor falken

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbh4u_oA0rk

ralph is also capable of using language at a higher level

http://www.libertyfree.fr/simpson/images/s04e15.jpg

Zvookster OTM. (Basically, I'm with Dan on this.)

can anyone name one example of someone saying "tastes like...burning!" before that simpsons episode

you're an english major and you really think this is a good comparison?

not to mention that there's a bazillion examples of people saying food is hot/mouth is on fire

by which obv they meant their mouth is on a streak of great success

and everyone is invited

dyao stfu iirc

lol whiney if you are really so butthurt about this why don't you go tweet about it

can u show me past instances of ppl saying 'co-a-che-lla'

why is there even an 'a' in that word

good job, co-ach

man see u I'm gonna go call my co-ach-man to take me outta here

haha so who wants to talk about the emphasis on different words in the youtube clip

see also: heartburn
xps

btw I have it on good authority from matt groening himself that ralph is actually referring to becoming a NASA space probe sent to explore and survey Mars, the fourth planet in our solar system. it is unclear, however, if Ralph was referring to the first or second iteration of the probe.

dyao the guy who told you he'd pay you two cents a post if you started a thread that generated a lot of posts? I don't know how to tell you this man but he was pulling your chain

xpost this thread is making me want to drink until I'm convinced I'm Harriet Tubman

i will admit that i've got to be biased towards the world i've been living in since i was ten years old but i genuinely believe that the way ralph says "i'm" points to option a

shit aerosmith how else am I supposed to monetize cultural criticism in the age of new media. next thing I know you're gonna tell me I'm not really getting a book deal out of my hipster viking tumblr.

surely there is more stress on I'm than one would expect in the dyao interpretation. One would expect all the stress to fall on viking

 ˘   /     /      /      ˘    /  ˘  /  ˘ 

 Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a viking!

sleep is where it's ralph's time to shine

is there a way i can block myself from viewing this thread

ralph's time to shine

restore strongo's mod powers imo

Although the literalist interpretation never occurred to me before all this, I don't necessarily think it's a "wrong" interpretation, it's just so much of a less funny interpretation that it makes me sad that that's what people have been going around thinking for years and years. Like their world must feel dreary and sepiatoned while mine is technicolor + dolby.

― congratulations (n/a), Monday, April 26, 2010 2:06 PM (Yesterday)

god this is so depressingly wrong, like i don't want to live in a world where adolescent synonyms for "badass" are cooler than actually becoming a viking in your dreams, or actively voicing your desire to sleep so you can be a viking

havent read the thread so i'm sure by this 400 post mark we've started with the picture bombs and euthanasia calls, but i just wanted to say that

can't wait til the murders start....

theres something totally grating about the EVERYONE WHO INTERPRETS IT AS 'A' IS A TOTAL MORON perspective. what is w/ so many otherwise-sensible ppl getting wrapped up in it?

especially since it seems much more likely 2 me that it was written w/ a slightly different meaning -- viking doesn't mean 'excels,' its more like ... vikings were explorers, sailors, adventurers, etc. at least in the received understanding, and in sleep, ralph isnt 'excelling' he's a viking, which means he both literally dreams about being a viking but also implies a level of success/exploration/leadership that he doesnt have in the real world -- i think the 'viking' is specifically chosen to indicate that hes more hero/less zero in his dreams -- like, they wouldnt have said "sleep! thats where i'm a goldfish!"

meaning, i interpreted it as a reaction to his 'irl' failure -- well, at least in sleep im a viking! -- the writers were obviously calling on this as a reaction to his set-up for failing. so i get why ppl are saying 'excels,' although i think its more like 'explores' -- imo both answers are opposite sides of the same coin & thats why its super aggravating reading ppl act all self-righteous about this shit WHINEY & HI DERE & KEV & etc

I think that's completely right, and the answer would still be B and not A...

that is 100% the correct interpretation imo

I'm a little more mad about the super nintendo chalmers thing.

so i get why ppl are saying 'excels,' although i think its more like 'explores' -

yeah but you are not arguing that ralph is saying he "explores at sleep" you are just arguing about him being something else in his sleep. as k3v said you aren't really bridging anything here.

B.
― Gifted Unlimited Display Names Universal (deej), Tuesday, April 27, 2010 10:25 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

any interpretation that has ralph truly grasping what a viking is/does is wacky to me

i am arguing that he explores sleep, absolutely -- that it implies he is a viking at sleeping as well as literally being a viking. i think the writers intentionally built ambiguity into it, so no, not b. both

why would ralph not know what a viking is? thats not exactly an obscure bit of history

pretty clear that Ralph is a cipher

So, what this thread really needs to explore is the issue of who would win in a fair fight: Ralph Wiggum or a napkin dispenser?

btw lol @ this being the one meaningless dumb argument where ppl like to climb up and say "gee fellas it really sucks that you just can't respect people's opinions and consider the other side"

deej are you familiar with the character of ralph?

You guys this thread is killing me. This is like .00000000000125 steps away from those dudes that post 35 page long Simpsons "episode guides".

deej is attempting to make the a. people look good by coming up w/ an even worse answer

ffs it is patently clear that the reason this argument is so popular is that it allows people to argue, for fun, with absolutely nothing at stake. it's really not so surprising that we're all going round and round on it.

this isn't like a us politics thread or some iltmi bullshit where *feelings might be hurt*

not nothing at stake! i would hate to see ralph co-opted by rightwingers.

lol

btw I just got a call that I'm getting a book deal out of this thread so nyah nyah

http://www.partyprosrental.com/tn_easyStriker9.jpg

right wingers pretty much ruined Groundskeeper Willy's "surrender-monkeys" for me.

GO TO THE FUCK YOU SONS OF PICHES!!1!1!!!

deej is attempting to make the a. people look good by coming up w/ an even worse answer

― iatee, Tuesday, April 27, 2010 9:36 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

no. in context, "A" makes a fair amount of sense -- the word 'viking' certainly leads u to believe he might have meant that he is an explorer/on the frontier/cutting edge of sleep. i think the choice of 'the viking' was intentional & suggests that the 'real answer' is ambiguity -- that we're not entirely supposed to understand ralph's meaning

cad is otm tho it's not like we have anything better to do on a Tuesday night

deej, you realize that like EVERYONE you are calling out by name for being disappointing are not taking this argument nearly as seriously as you seem to be, right

please don't devalue the efforts of usenet simpsons recapper weirdos, if those things didn't exist there would have been nothing to do in seventh grade computer lab but search encarta for swears

i don't think this would be a 95 page thread if Ralph said "yay, sleep, where I'm a hedgehog" or "yay sleep where I'm a Geisha"...

deej is attempting to make the a. people look good by coming up w/ an even worse answer

― iatee, Tuesday, April 27, 2010 9:36 PM (2 minutes ago)

"it is super disappointing that people are having mutually-understood fun, I really expected better of you guys" *shakes head*

wooster

okay let's not go there, Mr Begging-To-Be-Banned

tbh I don't even know why it's a zing

if those things didn't exist there would have been nothing to do in seventh grade computer lab but search encarta for swears

crackin up at this

deej, you realize that like EVERYONE you are calling out by name for being disappointing are not taking this argument nearly as seriously as you seem to be, right

― Marriage, that's where I'm a Viking! (HI DERE), Tuesday, April 27, 2010 9:42 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

i dont see how im taking it any more seriously than u aside from avoiding any hairs-breadth away from Ned Raggett type "*chuckles*" posts

who is cattle grind

how is 'the writing is intentionally ambiguous' a bad answer

cattle grind is bjo

why is he being creepy itt

btw granny dainger the bulls lost and iirc 'bulls' starts with a 'b' so you lose

the word 'viking' certainly leads u to believe he might have meant that he is on the cutting edge of sleep.

the word 'viking' certainly leads u to believe he might have meant that he is on the cutting edge of sleep.

the word 'viking' certainly leads u to believe he might have meant that he is on the cutting edge of sleep.

the word 'viking' certainly leads u to believe he might have meant that he is on the cutting edge of sleep.

the word 'viking' certainly leads u to believe he might have meant that he is on the cutting edge of sleep.

the word 'viking' certainly leads u to believe he might have meant that he is on the cutting edge of sleep.

the word 'viking' certainly leads u to believe he might have meant that he is on the cutting edge of sleep.

the word 'viking' certainly leads u to believe he might have meant that he is on the cutting edge of sleep.

like gucci mane is on the cutting edge of rap music maybe

I went with option A - that's where I excel. I don't think Ralph knows the literal meaning of viking

this thread is now complete

guys

stop posting to this stupid fucking thread

^^ new board description

yeah I kinda love how guys are all like "this is the last time I'm ever posting to this thread" and then 5 minutes later "it's option b you fuckwits"

john then we would have to argue about something important and that's just not what i want to be doing

'the word 'viking' certainly leads u to believe he might have meant that he is on the cutting edge of sleep.'

duh

deej, i didn't think you could have worse opinions and there you go.

ralph is obv very good at not many things, but one thing he would be good at is sleep -- 'cutting edge of sleep' is me being tongue-in-cheek

whiney, you're wrong about almost everything, ever

spoken like a true white hipster

worse opinions than green day being relevant in 2009?

'relevant'

stfu you two

nothing will ruin a goof argument thread faster than the dullest beef on ilx

lol

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd120/hipsterrunoff/cher-1.jpg

dyao, you're gunning for me pretty hard in this thread

i dont know, maybe you should waste your life on acerbic self-aware commentary or perhaps gimmick twitter reviews that 'comment on' a phenomenon by embracing everything bad about it

deej idk if guys participating in the sleep that's where i'm a viking thread get to call other dudes out for "wasting their lives"

i've been such i fool. if i could only have the charmed life of the dude with the least read reviews on pitchfork

you're right -- i should probably cancel my plans to tweet about 1000 simpsons nerd arguments in 2010 then, huh

it's pretty easy tbh xps

yes, because i really secretly wish i was writing about MGMT

thread is getting sorta entertaining again

jesus christ you guys, i don't even remember where either of you stands on the viking issue at this point.

congrats john you have won because these two chuckleheads have made this thread unreadable

if i recall, whiney is bringing on some HRO-style meta-level of superiority over my superiority over his superiority over the idea that someone can interpret a simpsons joke differently than he does

thread making now feel like:
http://starsmedia.ign.com/stars/image/article/975/975962/line-o-rama-ralph-wiggum-20090423033812157-000.jpg

curious if the option A ppl think thread is more entertaining now and the option B ppl think whiney & i are chuckleheads making thread unreadable, or if there's no overlap

maybe you should start a poll

no id rather wait & see if whiney brings next-level white people humor by mentioning that im 'white' in this thread again

lol @ "the dullest beef on ilx"

™

that thing white ppl do when they disparage other white ppl

i'm ralph btw

really the only solution is to go back in time and prevent this joke from being written in the first place.

beef: it's what's for duller

The best part is that the summary of this thread for "thread where we summarize ilx clusterfuck threads so you don't have to read them" can basically just be the poll options.

so who's winning so far the blogger or the blogger/twitterer

Can we set up a webcast "celebrity" boxing match between Whiney and deej?

http://www.rustypants.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/rock-em-sock-em.jpg

Hype Machine / Gorilla vs. Bear / Cocaine Blunts Proudly Presents the Epic Battle of 2010

so who's winning so far the blogger or the blogger/twitterer

― am0n, Tuesday, April 27, 2010 10:22 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark

u forgot about hipster puppies

u forgot about d4vid-dr4kes-bukkake-dojo.com

i stole that joke from the daily show, tbh

callin dudes out by their real name when shit gets heated

nece$$@ry g00glepr00fing