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

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