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

How about literalists (those who think Ralph is literally saying he's a viking in his dreams) versus metaphorists (those who think Ralph is using "viking" as a metaphor of being good at something)?

You could just call them 'right' and 'wrong'.

"viking" is never used as a metaphor for "champ"

Minnesotans know this instinctively.

;_;

EDITED:

Arquette had such a look of gratitude when the restaurant guy says what he says, and she has it again (though a little more ambiguous--there's a trace of "You're telling me this now?") when Hawke thanks her at Mason's graduation party; she really is overlooked by almost everyone in her life.

― clemenza, Tuesday, September 9, 2014 7:31 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

she really is overlooked by almost everyone in her life

this point was not lost on me btw
i didn't type it out bc it was too depressing (and i thought clear?!) but yeah

― cross over the mushroom circle (La Lechera), Tuesday, September 9, 2014 7:42 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Arquette had such a look of gratitude when the restaurant guy says what he says

I like your read of the scene and all, but I did not get that from Arquette at all.

― a guy named Christian White who represents the typical white Christian (Eric H.), Tuesday, September 9, 2014 8:01 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

To me it felt like a mix of gratitude and surprise/shock. The one thing I'll say is that I think it's a film that deserves a second look; felt I got much more out of it the second time. (The three hours went by unusually quickly, too.)

― clemenza, Tuesday, September 9, 2014 8:26 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Arquette had such a look of gratitude when the restaurant guy says what he says

I'm with Eric, it was more like "Who IS this guy?"

― son of a lewd monk (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, September 9, 2014 10:57 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm with Eric, it was more like "Who IS this guy?"

It's possible to think both: "Wow, that's sweet. Who IS this guy?"

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, September 9, 2014 10:59 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

if I'm correctly assuming you wouldn't have gotten "Mom realizes she will die alone" from the crying

I might have, I might not have. I prefer it that way. (To use an exaggerated example, Stanley Kramer always tells me exactly what to think.)

― clemenza, Tuesday, September 9, 2014 11:13 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'd have to look at it a third time to be sure--I'd never even considered the other possibility--but to me it seemed clear that Arquette knew who the restaurant guy was.

― clemenza, Tuesday, September 9, 2014 11:14 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Because she's a teacher and she remembers people!! It's a job skill. Her transformation from student to teacher was rly poignant IMO.

― cross over the mushroom circle (La Lechera), Tuesday, September 9, 2014 11:19 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I mean, I sometimes have a hard time remembering students when they come up to me five years after they've left my school--sometimes just the name, but sometimes who it even is--but there you're talking about people I knew when they where 12 or 13 who are now 18; the change is sometimes incredible. I thought the restaurant guy looked more or less the same as when he was working on Arquette's house.

― clemenza, Tuesday, September 9, 2014 11:24 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

For the record, she didn't teach that guy for an entire year. More like she said two sentences to him while standing outside her house.

― a guy named Christian White who represents the typical white Christian (Eric H.), Tuesday, September 9, 2014 12:23 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That's all we see, but fair point--we don't really know how long he's been doing work for her. Could be a few weeks, but maybe it was just one afternoon.

― clemenza, Tuesday, September 9, 2014 12:53 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i really don't think they showed her advising a guy to go to school and then showed him thanking her for advising her to point out that she DIDN'T remember him

this is a richard linklater movie not a todd solondz movie

― da croupier, Tuesday, September 9, 2014 12:56 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it was part of the whole "belated appreciation of mom" element of the last part of the film, and it resonated for me

― da croupier, Tuesday, September 9, 2014 12:57 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I know! But it isn't absurd to think she might have remembered him bc they had a meaningful interaction.

― cross over the mushroom circle (La Lechera), Tuesday, September 9, 2014 1:11 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ll you were x-posting to eric, right? cuz i'm definitely on Team Mom Recognized Waiter (at least by story, if not on sight).

― da croupier, Tuesday, September 9, 2014 1:17 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

as a teacher myself who also sometimes forgets students I learned it takes a while to develop the public face when a stranger approaches and praises me; Arquette captured that awkwardness.

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, September 9, 2014 1:22 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i'm definitely on Team Mom Recognized Waiter

let's have a softball game

― son of a lewd monk (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, September 9, 2014 1:24 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

as a teacher myself who also sometimes forgets students I learned it takes a while to develop the public face when a stranger approaches and praises me; Arquette captured that awkwardness.

otm. my mom was a prof and used to laugh about these kinds of public interactions. If anything I think she'd be more apt to remember this guy's story than she would a student she didn't have much personal interaction with.

― da croupier, Tuesday, September 9, 2014 1:29 PM (57 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otherwise the implication would be that arquette was blithely going around pitching night school to everyone she meets, and i don't think that was the intended takeaway

― da croupier, Tuesday, September 9, 2014 1:30 PM (56 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

omg eff u urbandictionary submitter guy:

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

Urban dictionary, that's where Mr. Whim is a viking.

nah he explains clearly enough: While obviously meaning that he is a viking in his dream, it has been reinterpreted by nerds to mean that Ralph excels at sleep, and describes himself as a "viking" in that field.

did we do this one?

Delighted to announce that I’ve cleared all of this up for everyone. Have a great weekend. pic.twitter.com/VKuZt1FyI5

— SimpsonsQOTD (@SimpsonsQOTD) June 8, 2018

has Jordan Peterson ever given his opinion on the meaning of 'that's where I'm a viking'? I feel like he could be the guy to settle this once and for all

i think hes given enough succour to americans eager to embrace their norse ideals

lol

i still feel like my rediscovery of the use of "viking" on pete and pete was underappreciated in its time as the bombshell that it clearly was

Wow, I'd totally forgotten about this argument, what a ride it was! I guess this was ILX's "pineapple in pizza" moment?

Do you mean it was our best moment, because pineapple pizza is the best?

more like ilx's plutonium on pizza moment really

ralph means that sleep is an area in which he excels

I think I've always remained a little suspicious of anyone who argued strongly that this is the more sensible interpretation.

ayo tuomas what up!

the "safe enough" people are bad but not as bad as the "sleep is something I excel at" people

Do you mean it was our best moment, because pineapple pizza is the best?

It most certainly isn't!

in the new patreon episode of chapo trap house, former simpsons showrunner bill oakley state that the correct interpretation of this line is 'ralph means that sleep is literally where he becomes a viking'

case closed

so he's in bed asleep but suddenly wearing viking gear, or it materialises on him at a slower rate as his genetics are also modified to match more those of someone from that region and era? pfff wouldn't happen imo

flag post

let he who does not subscribe to chapo’s patreon flag the first post

done

he also covers "ever see a man say goodbye to a shoe" line in the Hank Scorpio episode and the answer is most satisfying imo

in the new patreon episode of chapo trap house, former simpsons showrunner bill oakley state that the correct interpretation of this line is 'ralph means that sleep is literally where he becomes a viking'

case closed

fake news

Total Viking hunt

Unfortunately the case will only ever be closed by thinking about it for 5 seconds while having at least a vague conception of how the English language or jokes work

he also covers "ever see a man say goodbye to a shoe" line in the Hank Scorpio episode and the answer is most satisfying imo

was it this answer?

It turns out the line was ad-libbed by Dan Castellaneta. BuzzFeed reached out to the voice actor, who responded, “The line was improvised. Albert Brooks always improvised whenever he did the show. That line was a reflexive response to Albert’s improvised line about seeing a man say goodbye to a shoe. I probably thought it was a previous time, but it is funnier if it means he saw it at that moment.”

Yep.

it is satisfying, I agree

Ha, I missed or forgot that line. It's a good one.

I was reminded of this thread tonight and I want to state that anyone who voted “ralph means that sleep is an area in which he excels” is either a simpleton or, more likely and more troublingly, an unrepentant scoundrel.

i try to remember this thread whenever ppl seem (to me) to be going to rather extreme lengths to misunderstand the obvious thrust of simple statements on ilxor.com

it doesnt help but i try, god help me but i do

the root of the problem is that ralph would not know the word or the concept "viking" even literally so both readings are impossible

The problem is that playful subversion of meaning is the soul of linguistic fun but pretending to misunderstand Simpsons jokes isn't that

my problem is better

Perhaps but i am resisting your attempts to delimit Ralph who is apparently functioning at a second grade level

the baby looked at me

In a deleted scene Clancy had taken Ralph to see Erik The Viking but upon realising Ralph was too young for its PG-13 rating they instead saw Uncle Buck. To avoid upsetting Ralph, Clancy convinces Ralph that they are actually watching the former and a few years later Ralph still belives Vikings to be feckless deadbeat cigar chompers from Chicago who you shouldn't really let look after your kids.

Mrs Hoover has clearly left the students watching The History Channel's 'Vikings' while she is absent from the class

WTF? “ralph means that sleep is an area in which he excels”? Who the fuck thinks this shit?

I have never seen this thread before. You people are insane.

i've been an "exceller" since age 13 and i'll be an "exceller" til the day i die

I'm an ex-exceller. Now I think the dream reading is right, but the excel reading was just how it struck my ear when I was really young, and went unchallenged long enough to stick.

My guess as to how this happens is that, given the preceding dialogue, one might anticipate that Ralph will say something to the effect that sleep is an area in which he excels. So when some people hear the line, they start from this anticipated meaning and apply that to what he says, rather than starting from the words and drawing the literal meaning from them.

y'all are bending my wookiee

My guess as to how this happens is that, given the preceding dialogue, one might anticipate that Ralph will say something to the effect that sleep is an area in which he excels. So when some people hear the line, they start from this anticipated meaning and apply that to what he says, rather than starting from the words and drawing the literal meaning from them.

This is partly why the 'dream' interpretation seems much funnier to me: it is more unexpected.

so is he good at sleep?