Eponysterical

June 19, 2007 1:43 PM

What's the origin of the term "eponysterical"?
posted by misha to MetaFilter-Related at 1:43 PM (85 comments total)

http://www.mssv.net/wiki.cgi?Eponysterical
posted by defenestration at 1:46 PM on June 19, 2007

See also.
posted by brain_drain at 1:49 PM on June 19, 2007

Eponym + hysterical = eponysterical!
posted by CKmtl at 1:59 PM on June 19, 2007

What is the origin of the (NOT RACIST!) comment, for that matter? That wiki link by defenestration seems pretty out of date.
posted by hincandenza at 2:01 PM on June 19, 2007

Thanks, all.
posted by misha at 2:06 PM on June 19, 2007

I've been wondering the same thing hincandenza. At first I found it unbelievably annoying. Now I find it a little annoying, if occasionally funny. (NOT NOTRACISTIST)
posted by kosem at 2:11 PM on June 19, 2007

Hey, I haven't seen scarabic around it a while...did I miss an exciting flameout or something?
posted by freebird at 2:13 PM on June 19, 2007

I think [NOT RACIST] started here, though stav says in that thread that he's seen it used on other sites.
posted by team lowkey at 2:16 PM on June 19, 2007

Is jdate.com racist? Or just adorably xenophobic?
posted by four panels at 2:34 PM on June 19, 2007

FREEBIRD!

That wasn't addressed to the MeFite by that handle. It was actually a request for someone to start playing Skynyrd. I thought this thread was an appropriate place to do it.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:34 PM on June 19, 2007

This post would have been funnier if the poster's name was "etymology". That would have been $5 well spent.
posted by pb (staff) at 2:41 PM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

LURK MOAR.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 2:45 PM on June 19, 2007

It has never happened to me.
posted by Samuel Farrow at 2:53 PM on June 19, 2007

* holds up lighter *
posted by freebird at 3:01 PM on June 19, 2007

♫ ♪ 'Cause I'm as free as a bird now, And this bird you can not change. ♪ ♫
posted by quin at 3:02 PM on June 19, 2007

four panels: you're allowed to be on JDate as a non-Jew, or any sort of quasi-Jew. I don't see the xenophobia, just maybe your knee-jerk antisemitism. I've always recommended it to anyone looking to date online seriously, since it's not as big and the members are com(like Chinese or most any group) prefer dating and mating within their culture/faith, but I tend to give that a pass based on their recent near-extinction.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:09 PM on June 19, 2007

team lowkey wrote "I think [NOT RACIST] started here, though stav says in that thread that he's seen it used on other sites."

I'm pretty sure it's an SA forums thing originally, although I think it started as "(NOT GAY)", as in "man, Jack Bauer is awesome (NOT GAY)". The idea is that you use (NOT whatever) after a statement that may imply that you *are* whatever. People on MeFi often don't seem to always "get" the proper usage (such as there is one), though.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:09 PM on June 19, 2007

*strolls through, pointedly not munching on Nymphaea caerulea flowers*
posted by exlotuseater at 3:09 PM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

...com^mitted enough to their dating success to pay for the service. Some Jews, of course, ^ (like...

I'm gonna have to make an AskMe about this damnable touchpad deletion habit I cannot defeat.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:16 PM on June 19, 2007

Oh, great. Next someone is going to ask what "." means. [NOT EPONYSTERICAL]
posted by grouse at 3:22 PM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

¹ See infra.
posted by footnote at 3:34 PM on June 19, 2007

As per the Wiki, the name was coined (along with the lesser-used noun "nomenquipture" by scarabic in this MetaChat thread.
posted by dg at 3:38 PM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

I wish my username were [NOT RACIST].
posted by ORthey at 3:51 PM on June 19, 2007

I thought it had something to do with Wendell.
posted by Astro Zombie at 4:00 PM on June 19, 2007

I don't see the xenophobia, just maybe your knee-jerk antisemitism.

Ha! The very fact that you replied to that comment seriously in a thread that has nothing to do with it is knee-jerk something.
posted by smackfu at 4:02 PM on June 19, 2007

In tonight's episode of Xenophobia: Jewish Princess Warrior, Joxer is felled by Gabrielle's powerful new knee-jerk to the groin move. (Rerun)
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:43 PM on June 19, 2007

I am not responsible for any of this.
posted by disclaimer at 5:15 PM on June 19, 2007 [6 favorites]

iamnotresponsibleforanyofthiseither
posted by iamkimiam at 5:29 PM on June 19, 2007

18 USC § 36(b)(1): A person who, in furtherance or to escape detection of a major drug offense and with the intent to intimidate, harass, injure, or maim, fires a weapon into a group of two or more persons and who, in the course of such conduct, causes grave risk to any human life shall be puni
posted by Partial Law at 5:30 PM on June 19, 2007 [5 favorites]

I am not responsible for any of this either. [NOT ANAGRAMISTERICAL]
posted by wendell at 5:31 PM on June 19, 2007

Now we just need loquacious to post a 1000 word comment, Etherial Bligh to accuse everyone of Mutiny, It's Raining Florence Henderson to shower us with Wesson Oil, dios to post a prayer in Spanish and jonson to show us his jonson.
posted by wendell at 5:36 PM on June 19, 2007

We're not responsible for any of this either.
posted by team lowkey at 5:49 PM on June 19, 2007

Aslan............................................................................p.3
African lion...................................................................p.6
Catamount, cougar,
mountain lion, puma,
panther........................................................................p.8
Fortitude......................................................................p.10
Patience.......................................................................p.11
Nemean Lion; Hercules...................................................p.13
posted by LionIndex at 6:02 PM on June 19, 2007 [7 favorites]

It's times like this that I wish I had a name which allowed me to make eponysterical comments.

So much so that I would almost spend $5 for the opportunity.
posted by knapah at 6:04 PM on June 19, 2007

It's times like this that I wish I had a name which allowed me to make eponysterical comments.

So much so that I would almost spend $5 for the opportunity.

Oh, listen to you whine. You could almost be a famous whine region.
posted by LionIndex at 6:13 PM on June 19, 2007 [2 favorites]

Of course, you all realise that it doesn't count if you do it on purpose, don't you?
posted by dg at 6:15 PM on June 19, 2007

I don't have an Erdős–Bacon number, but I sure like bacon!
posted by exlotuseater at 6:18 PM on June 19, 2007

carsonb
carsonb
posted by carsonb at 6:27 PM on June 19, 2007

Smooth!
posted by zamboni at 6:35 PM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

Oy, I'm drowning in here.
posted by OmieWise at 6:45 PM on June 19, 2007

Oy

For the last time, OmniWise - you're not Jewish!
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:03 PM on June 19, 2007

That IS good news!
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 7:11 PM on June 19, 2007

xknt
posted by yhbc at 7:20 PM on June 19, 2007

filmmakeractorcharacterinasongtunnelssingercandy
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:35 PM on June 19, 2007

Jesus Christ! This is the stupidest thread ever. If only there were something I could do to stop it other than shitting in it...

Huh, didn't think that sockpuppet would show up again
posted by [!] at 8:07 PM on June 19, 2007

This thread is unforgettable.
posted by Eideteker at 8:15 PM on June 19, 2007

The thing I find really interesting about the [NOT FOOIST] thing is how it has generalized as it has become initially pervasive and then moved out a couple generations from the origin. What started as strictly square-brackets all-caps pejorative -ism constructions (e.g. "[NOT RACIST]" adapted to "[NOT SEXIST]") saw changes to both the bracketing (see use of standard parens instead of squares) and looser variations on the -ism—either as non "IST" forms (e.g. "[NOT HOMOPHOBIC]") or syntactically different forms with a literal "IST" or similar ending (e.g. "[NOT DENBESTE]").

All of the above are nonce examples, mind you; Google doesn't seem to make searching for bracketed forms viable, and I don't have the patience right now to hunt down citations brute force—but observing the phenomenon casually has been fun, and all of the above have been represented in spirit if not in exact form. For some reason, the change from [] to () is most striking to me—I think it's because I associate square brackets very strongly with editorial rather than narrative asides, and so [NOT RACIST] and (NOT RACIST) read very differently to me.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:16 PM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

You wouldn't be overthinking this, would you cortex?

that is interesting, though
posted by dg at 8:23 PM on June 19, 2007

I think [NOT RACIST] started here, though stav says in that thread that he's seen it used on other sites.

Yep, that thread was where it started, as far as Metafilter goes. Yay, I birthed an injoke! I'm quite pleased about the way it has spread and morphed, even if it has gotten a little out of hand, as these things usually do.

AmbroseChapel (kinda disappeared after that thread -- I wonder if he's back under a new name) didn't get the joke, so I had to explain (and beat him about the neck and shoulders).

I'm pretty sure it's an SA forums thing originally, although I think it started as "(NOT GAY)", as in "man, Jack Bauer is awesome (NOT GAY)". The idea is that you use (NOT whatever) after a statement that may imply that you *are* whatever. People on MeFi often don't seem to always "get" the proper usage (such as there is one), though.

Yeah, SA was where I'd seen it most often, but also other places. Your analysis of the usage is incorrect, however. It's a little more layered -- to say "Man, Jack Bauer is awesome [NOT GAY]" is to say "I know that the more dimwitted and comedy-foolsgood-digging amongst you might take my opinion of the awesomeness of JB and make accusations of homosity, so I'll tag this [NOT GAY] as a bit of a joke, because even though it might be funnier if you went all 'Dude, you're totally gay for JB' it's funnier if I head you off at that obvious pass with the [NOT GAY] thing, which is funny because anybody with two brain cells to rub together could tell that I'm just totally not gay for fictional characters or anybody, really, and it's dumb that I'd have to defend myself against stupid shit like that even if I were".

Thus and therefore, my joke, which sucked ol' Ambrose in because he thought I was saying [NOT RACIST] actually proved that I figured I might have to defend in any serious way against accusations of racism. But I was having a little ha-ha at my own and his expense.

The brackets, as far as I have seen, are always [NOT X], which, as cortex explains, is editorial.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:53 PM on June 19, 2007 [2 favorites]

I think its time I got involved in this thread.
posted by bystander at 9:47 PM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

Yeah, this term is my OTHER contribution to MeFi arcana. I still get eponysterical submissions over email all the time, but I'm a lazy bastard and haven't 1) updated the list or 2) put it on the MeFi wiki so others can. I suck / have better things to do, apparently.

Unsolicited trivia: the other candidate sniglet for this was "nomenquipture"

As for me, sheezus, it felt like my entire MeFi experience was one long flameout. I am still around, but more out of interest in the few personalities I managed to get to know around here. The Blue and what goes on there haven't done anything for me in a long time.
posted by scarabic at 10:21 PM on June 19, 2007

Actually, the meaning has been corrupted.

Originally, it referred to laughable pony requests. Back in usenet days, these were referred to as electronic ponies, which turned into 'ePonies' during the dotcom boom.

Hope this clears everything up.
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:08 PM on June 19, 2007

note: this lead to offshoot branch of the complementary philosophy of "e-ponysterical and ivorytowerism", which, under the eponymous philosophical system, sat together more or less in perfect harmony.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:46 AM on June 20, 2007

On the other hand, you could be overlooking the alternatives.
posted by or at 3:39 AM on June 20, 2007

Interesting thread.
posted by TwoWordReview at 3:50 AM on June 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

I guess the real question is this: Is a MeFi sockpuppet account worth £2.50?
posted by chuckdarwin at 4:08 AM on June 20, 2007

For the last time, OmniWise - you're not Jewish!

Everyone can dream.
posted by OmieWise at 5:36 AM on June 20, 2007

e-ponies?
posted by that girl at 6:31 AM on June 20, 2007

Dave Grohl is a talentless hack.

[NOT FOOIST]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:35 AM on June 20, 2007

If you see me in the road, don't kill me.
posted by notbuddha at 9:00 AM on June 20, 2007

[sacks ormond]
posted by ormondsacker at 9:11 AM on June 20, 2007

This stranger has good taste. He said that he wished there was a large tray of baklava. I said that he could only have half of it. He said that the syrup should be made with three parts sugar and one part honey. I agreed, and said that they all had to mix well. Next he suggested that we should cook it on blazing fire. And I added that we should pour crushed nuts on top of it.
posted by nasreddin at 9:32 AM on June 20, 2007

Hectic, labyrinthine, departures.
Ubiquitous, tax-evading duty-free shops.
Disorderly, bureaucratic customs.
Lazy, glacial baggage claim.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 9:40 AM on June 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

“As for me, sheezus, it felt like my entire MeFi experience was one long flameout. I am still around, but more out of interest in the few personalities I managed to get to know around here. The Blue and what goes on there haven't done anything for me in a long time.”

Some of us miss you a lot, though. But it seems like you'd been almost exclusively active on MeTa for a long time, which is sort of the "end-game" for being a mefite. I had thought that maybe you'd switched jobs and you had less time lately.

I was gone for three or four months at the end of last year and the beginning of this one. I had intended it to be permanent at the time. I was pretty negative on MeFi at the time. Coming back, however, I find that I've avoided even more than I had previously the things about MeFi I didn't like, which included a lot of how I would respond on MeFi to those things I didn't like on MeFi. The flip-side of that is that while I still pretty affiliated with MeFi after coming back, I also care less about it, I have less investment. Which I sort of rue. Ideally, those of us who make up the core active community on MeFi could be very active and remain quite emotionally invested in it (which is natural when one is highly active and one feels part of a community) and avoid the intense negative things that often come from being strongly emotionally invested. But it's easier for me to solve the last problem by limited my motivation rather than altering my behavior. That may be the lazy way out.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 11:25 AM on June 20, 2007

It's like a whole thread of Tom Swifties! This rules!

There is no joke I can make about my name without fear that jonmc will appear to call me a poseur
posted by hincandenza at 11:51 AM on June 20, 2007

I can't believe I just waded though all 65 comments in this thread.
posted by slogger at 2:05 PM on June 20, 2007

*snorts*
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:13 PM on June 20, 2007

*squints eyes*
I'm judging all of you.
posted by deborah at 3:58 PM on June 20, 2007

Fair enough.

*closes one eye*

*holds up thumb and index finger*

Judge all you like, I am crushing your head.

*squeezes fingers together*

crushy-crushy-crush.
posted by quin at 4:18 PM on June 20, 2007

Good golly!
posted by MsMolly at 4:23 PM on June 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

Please do Ceiling Cat next, quin. And crush it up really good - I don't want any of the hard bits in there.
posted by killthepuppyorkittenFilter at 4:28 PM on June 20, 2007

Is favoriting broken for anyone else in this thread?
posted by ztdavis at 6:50 PM on June 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

I wouldn't know, there's nothing to favourite.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:12 PM on June 20, 2007

Merdre!
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:14 PM on June 20, 2007

ztdavis: it was broken for me on all MetaTalk threads. I almost made a post about it. I decided to do a force refresh (ctrl + F5) and that worked.
posted by deborah at 7:36 PM on June 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

I wonder why that solved the problem.
posted by ztdavis at 7:38 PM on June 20, 2007

Can I have an e-pony for Christmas, please?

Good lord, this thread is still going? Don't you people have lives?!
posted by misha at 8:01 PM on June 20, 2007

Epony is the name of my horse in The Legend of Zelda for the Wii.

I just like saying his name...

Epony.
posted by quin at 8:08 PM on June 20, 2007

Can I have an e-pony for Christmas, please?

NO! We've discussed this before & your mother & I agree that...oh, great, now she's throwing one of her hysterical tantrums again. She gets it from your side of the family, you know...
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:23 PM on June 20, 2007

Don't you people have lives?!
*cries*
posted by dg at 12:33 AM on June 21, 2007

ztdavis: I checked AskMe and MeFi and I could favourite and un-favourite willy-nilly. So, I came back to MeTa did the force refresh thingie and it worked. Weird, eh?
posted by deborah at 1:37 PM on June 21, 2007

"Steve, are you done butchering that hog?"
posted by SteveTheRed at 4:55 PM on June 21, 2007

.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:39 PM on June 21, 2007

Merdre!

Hey, what's that mean? Cause it don't mean shit.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:24 PM on June 22, 2007 [2 favorites]

That's good to hear.
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:42 PM on June 22, 2007