i'm kind of annoyed that "B" is the second option and not the first option
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:13 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm Ann Reinking! (Stevie D), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:14 (fourteen years ago) link
it means we the best xpost
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:18 (fourteen years ago) link
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)
― iatee, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:19 (fourteen years ago) link
all language is metaphoric, btw
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:19 (fourteen years ago) link
can't it be BOTH a and b, all schrodinger's ralph style?
― stunting how my father did before me (m bison), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:21 (fourteen years ago) link
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
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:22 (fourteen years ago) link
"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
― the big pink suede panda bear hurts (ledge), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:23 (fourteen years ago) link
i don't understand this predator/alien thing you keep referring to
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:24 (fourteen years ago) link
I have never heard this pred ship thing. Is there a way to ask what it is w/o people exploding?
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm Ann Reinking! (Stevie D), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:24 (fourteen years ago) link
wimsatt and beardley have given me express permission to do so xxp
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:24 (fourteen years ago) link
the Most hilarious fanboy message board debate of all time
one of the all time classic ILX threads
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:25 (fourteen years ago) link
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")
― Marriage, that's where I'm a Viking! (HI DERE), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:29 (fourteen years ago) link
also the correct answer here is still C
― Marriage, that's where I'm a Viking! (HI DERE), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:30 (fourteen years ago) link
i think the quote isn't done justice in writing, someone find the audio of this
― sonderangerbot, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:39 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― Shakey Ja Mocha (M@tt He1ges0n), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:39 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:40 (fourteen years ago) link
1. "the tits" is an established saying2. they would never say "the tits" on The Simpsons, come on
― Marriage, that's where I'm a Viking! (HI DERE), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:43 (fourteen years ago) link
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
― extremely low expectations (which, yes, were "met"). (Myonga Vön Bontee), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:43 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:44 (fourteen years ago) link
well aren't you just the bees knees xxp
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:45 (fourteen years ago) link
at being asleep she means xp
― mdskltr (blueski), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:46 (fourteen years ago) link
lol did u just quote buffy the vampire slayer
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:48 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah but I stole it from the metafilter thread :(
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:49 (fourteen years ago) link
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
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:49 (fourteen years ago) link
I think we're all gonna need some big hugs and reassurances that we all still respect one another, after this thread.
― Walter Melon (Abbott), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:50 (fourteen years ago) link
I blood eagle every girl I sleep with, tbh
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:50 (fourteen years ago) link
xxp Because Vikings "sack" villages.
― jaymc, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:53 (fourteen years ago) link
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)
(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
― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:54 (fourteen years ago) link
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
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:56 (fourteen years ago) link
and is probably one of the reasons why I find myself in the predicament stated over in the not getting invited to things thread
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:57 (fourteen years ago) link
Well, ok, I invite you to the Colonial Diner. BUT ONLY if you cut this Option A horse shit stat.
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm Ann Reinking! (Stevie D), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 15:59 (fourteen years ago) link
haha I'll take you up on that when I return for the summer (but I'm not making any promises)
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 16:00 (fourteen years ago) link
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
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 16:05 (fourteen years ago) link
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'?????"
― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 16:16 (fourteen years ago) link
you are a great patient, granny dainger
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 16:17 (fourteen years ago) link
(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?
― Sundar, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 16:22 (fourteen years ago) link
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
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 16:26 (fourteen years ago) link
HE MEANT IT LITERALLYRALPH
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 WEIRDAND WHEN HE SLEEPS HE GETS TO PRETEND HES A VIKING HEH WHY CAUSE ITS FUNNY AND WEIRD AND RANDOMLIKE RALPH
STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS
― iiiijjjj, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 16:26 (fourteen years ago) link
hahahaha dyao I thought you were referencing the original a) and b) in the poll options at first
― Marriage, that's where I'm a Viking! (HI DERE), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 16:30 (fourteen years ago) link
lol or was I?
anyway time to go be a viking, I expect this thread to have broken 1000 when I wake up tmrw
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a ILXing! (dyao), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 16:32 (fourteen years ago) link
sxp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92IkddsjtAA
― Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm Ann Reinking! (Stevie D), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 16:32 (fourteen years ago) link
i meant xxp
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.
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 17:02 (fourteen years ago) link
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?
― Marriage, that's where I'm a Viking! (HI DERE), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 17:04 (fourteen years ago) link
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, 27 April 2010 17:05 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― mdskltr (blueski), Tuesday, 27 April 2010 17:06 (fourteen years ago) link