Our favorite under-loved comments of 2021 January 11, 2022 4:19 PM Subscribe
Remember that comment you cackled over, and then discovered was criminally underappreciated by others? Share your amazing discovery, and let us cover it in more favorites!
As seen previously: " Let's show some love for the hidden-gem comments that made you laugh, cry, or cheer this year, which you immediately recognized as genius, but somehow slipped under everyone else's radar. As is traditional, please try to stick to comments that received 12 or fewer favorites, and no self-links."
As seen previously: " Let's show some love for the hidden-gem comments that made you laugh, cry, or cheer this year, which you immediately recognized as genius, but somehow slipped under everyone else's radar. As is traditional, please try to stick to comments that received 12 or fewer favorites, and no self-links."
Wordshore, thank you for "in the atomic world." brook horse offers a good list of monthly challenges! schyler523, all I have to say is put-put-put-put-put-put-put-put? Oyéah, with this bit of beauty, and this one too.
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:58 PM on January 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:58 PM on January 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
Without Fuchsoid, I would never have come across a semi-feral colony of wallabies. elkevelvet somehow occupied my brain when it's considering deer in an abandoned Walmart: Wastin' Away. The_Vegetables spoke to my urge to eat Wendy's during high garden season. Mister_Sleight_of_Hand talks about mimes and clowns and juggling and unicycles, oh my! The corpse in the library has a crowded house. Same, corpse, same. Miko, on national amnesia. jonp72 dishes on lutefisk.
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:26 PM on January 11, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:26 PM on January 11, 2022 [2 favorites]
Kattullus on Kolker.
chavenet on Harvard.
chasing/Meta
BuddhaInABucket on Australian houseplants/ Honor to Joe too.
posted by clavdivs at 8:35 PM on January 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
chavenet on Harvard.
chasing/Meta
BuddhaInABucket on Australian houseplants/ Honor to Joe too.
posted by clavdivs at 8:35 PM on January 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
y2karl on It can be terrifying to make a Front Page post. Please be kind.
posted by dg at 9:51 PM on January 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by dg at 9:51 PM on January 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
y2karl on It can be terrifying to make a Front Page post. Please be kind.
posted by y2karl at 10:49 PM on January 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by y2karl at 10:49 PM on January 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
Jokes from Viola Swamp.
Hope from Aniola.
Lolz from schroedinger.
Advice from ominous_paws.
posted by ellieBOA at 3:29 AM on January 12, 2022
Hope from Aniola.
Lolz from schroedinger.
Advice from ominous_paws.
posted by ellieBOA at 3:29 AM on January 12, 2022
dbmcd: If it’s at all possible, get deeply involved in local politics
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:27 AM on January 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:27 AM on January 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
the all singing all dancing all shithead spoon river anthology
posted by phunniemee at 9:44 AM on January 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by phunniemee at 9:44 AM on January 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
phunnimee, that was my ask, and I took that advice! hahahahasob
posted by Lawn Beaver at 9:52 AM on January 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Lawn Beaver at 9:52 AM on January 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
dismas with the Metatalktails theme song.
Foosnark: "Drum group drum drum group"
posted by mbrubeck at 9:56 AM on January 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
Foosnark: "Drum group drum drum group"
posted by mbrubeck at 9:56 AM on January 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
phunnimee, that was my ask, and I took that advice! hahahahasob
I think you meant dbmcd. Please don't give me credit for any good advice. I only do the rude advice. Trying to keep my brand on point for 2022. Thx.
posted by phunniemee at 9:59 AM on January 12, 2022 [7 favorites]
I think you meant dbmcd. Please don't give me credit for any good advice. I only do the rude advice. Trying to keep my brand on point for 2022. Thx.
posted by phunniemee at 9:59 AM on January 12, 2022 [7 favorites]
I have favorites turned off, and will forever, so (((handwave))), but surely this...
posted by ersatzkat at 11:42 AM on January 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by ersatzkat at 11:42 AM on January 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have a few -
Splunge on how badly they want to keep their toilet
Calvin and the Duplicators on How Yoda hooks up
bartleby on old station wagons
1970s Antihero linked to this amazing purple carpeted house
Mr. Yuck on why Jimmy Carter actually underestimated the killer swamp rabbit threat
From my own thread, but so what, an awesome elephant joke from signal and another one from Daisy Alice
Finally, someone really needs to animate stormyteal's stories about their family's doggie door
posted by Mchelly at 12:10 PM on January 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
Splunge on how badly they want to keep their toilet
Calvin and the Duplicators on How Yoda hooks up
bartleby on old station wagons
1970s Antihero linked to this amazing purple carpeted house
Mr. Yuck on why Jimmy Carter actually underestimated the killer swamp rabbit threat
From my own thread, but so what, an awesome elephant joke from signal and another one from Daisy Alice
Finally, someone really needs to animate stormyteal's stories about their family's doggie door
posted by Mchelly at 12:10 PM on January 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
Chuckling again at geoff.’s The Briefe and True Report of the Venders of New Found Land of Brighton Beach
posted by mubba at 4:18 PM on January 12, 2022
posted by mubba at 4:18 PM on January 12, 2022
mhoye on the eerie quietude of breaking outside a game's boundaries
flabdablet on the workmanlike charm of his favorite chess set (and later, a more unorthodox one)
Superilla on the unexpected origin of the names from that funny Japanese baseball game roster
humuhumu links an ultra-high-resolution scan of Rembrandt's The Night Watch
mcstayinskool on the bravery of Hank Aaron
kinnakeet on the healing power of music
dmh's four-word parody of MeFi's UI aesthetic still makes me laugh
abulafa on the inhumanity of heaven
ricochet biscuit on pop-cultural osmosis and forgotten references
xdvesper on how convenience killed the immersion in World of Warcraft
neckro23 on the psychology of roundness in low-poly games
travertina learns the meaning of the word "unfathomable"
BlackLeotardFront shares a passage from Victor Hugo on the nature of argot
Harald74 shares a clip explaining why He-Man rides a giant alien tiger
mediareport on Marcia Lucas's pivotal role in Star Wars
warriorqueen on adapting veteran writers to the wild world of internet reviews
Ghidorah on the tiny parks of Japan
enigmango goes above and beyond to find an old Onion graphic
clavdivs uses his real voice for the first time
mrsbrauer remembers (and oulipian links) an intriguing nested folders game
DirtyOldTown on the primal genius of the first Paranormal Activity movie
Orlop on the strangeness of technological overlap
goatdog on the time his kid broke a guitar string
posted by Rhaomi at 5:56 PM on January 12, 2022 [7 favorites]
flabdablet on the workmanlike charm of his favorite chess set (and later, a more unorthodox one)
Superilla on the unexpected origin of the names from that funny Japanese baseball game roster
humuhumu links an ultra-high-resolution scan of Rembrandt's The Night Watch
mcstayinskool on the bravery of Hank Aaron
kinnakeet on the healing power of music
dmh's four-word parody of MeFi's UI aesthetic still makes me laugh
abulafa on the inhumanity of heaven
ricochet biscuit on pop-cultural osmosis and forgotten references
xdvesper on how convenience killed the immersion in World of Warcraft
neckro23 on the psychology of roundness in low-poly games
travertina learns the meaning of the word "unfathomable"
BlackLeotardFront shares a passage from Victor Hugo on the nature of argot
Harald74 shares a clip explaining why He-Man rides a giant alien tiger
mediareport on Marcia Lucas's pivotal role in Star Wars
warriorqueen on adapting veteran writers to the wild world of internet reviews
Ghidorah on the tiny parks of Japan
enigmango goes above and beyond to find an old Onion graphic
clavdivs uses his real voice for the first time
mrsbrauer remembers (and oulipian links) an intriguing nested folders game
DirtyOldTown on the primal genius of the first Paranormal Activity movie
Orlop on the strangeness of technological overlap
goatdog on the time his kid broke a guitar string
posted by Rhaomi at 5:56 PM on January 12, 2022 [7 favorites]
MrVisible on meowing to learn to sing while playing the guitar
posted by the primroses were over at 7:01 PM on January 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by the primroses were over at 7:01 PM on January 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm always happy to learn about people's pet updated, including this one from Pouteria in the open thread.
The Bellman: LILLIAN GISH?? You're just gonna put that there in parentheses and move on, fucking TV Guide?
Praemunire: It has beeneightzero days since the last AskMe Gift Tax Incident.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:12 PM on January 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
The Bellman: LILLIAN GISH?? You're just gonna put that there in parentheses and move on, fucking TV Guide?
Praemunire: It has been
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:12 PM on January 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
All of mine, without exception. But I'm not (quite, though it was a near thing) so gauche as to link to them myself.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:46 PM on January 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:46 PM on January 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
bleep's excellent comment on 90s Dad Thrillers: "I like it when someone finally provides a name I can use to bundle up a bunch of benign little sticklers in my unconscious so I can finally throw them away."
puffyn gave me a new-to-me term that my San Diego lifestyle really appreciates: "Although I now live somewhere that the tradition four season books work well for, I didn't grow up in one, and snow normativity bugged me as a kid."
Jeanne provides a reframing for the broken windows model of policing: "Now, you could draw from that the conclusion "punish people for smashing windows." But what if the conclusion was "don't let properties become neglected and abandoned and full of weeds"?"
Big Al 8000 makes an excellent point about online learning: "Personally, we need more educators reading Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and fewer tech-bro MOOC online revolution fever dreams."
Huffy Puffy is trenchant (but accurate) on college football: "If we had to choose between capitalism and college football we’d teach the marching band the Internationale. That’s how much people like college football."
Harald74 makes us all feel old: "Another interesting thing is to ask people of different ages to mime "talking on the phone" for you. Note the age of people who poke out their thumb and little finger vs the age of people mimicking cradling a mobile phone in their hand."
posted by librarylis at 8:50 PM on January 12, 2022 [5 favorites]
puffyn gave me a new-to-me term that my San Diego lifestyle really appreciates: "Although I now live somewhere that the tradition four season books work well for, I didn't grow up in one, and snow normativity bugged me as a kid."
Jeanne provides a reframing for the broken windows model of policing: "Now, you could draw from that the conclusion "punish people for smashing windows." But what if the conclusion was "don't let properties become neglected and abandoned and full of weeds"?"
Big Al 8000 makes an excellent point about online learning: "Personally, we need more educators reading Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and fewer tech-bro MOOC online revolution fever dreams."
Huffy Puffy is trenchant (but accurate) on college football: "If we had to choose between capitalism and college football we’d teach the marching band the Internationale. That’s how much people like college football."
Harald74 makes us all feel old: "Another interesting thing is to ask people of different ages to mime "talking on the phone" for you. Note the age of people who poke out their thumb and little finger vs the age of people mimicking cradling a mobile phone in their hand."
posted by librarylis at 8:50 PM on January 12, 2022 [5 favorites]
Quite, though it was a near thing
That's a nice line. Can I steal it? As getting around to you, Greg.
👉👁️👈
posted by clavdivs at 11:00 PM on January 12, 2022
That's a nice line. Can I steal it? As getting around to you, Greg.
👉👁️👈
posted by clavdivs at 11:00 PM on January 12, 2022
All of mine, without exception. But I'm not (quite, though it was a near thing) so gauche as to link to them myself.
I feel your pain.
No, I mean, really.
posted by y2karl at 11:37 PM on January 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
I feel your pain.
No, I mean, really.
posted by y2karl at 11:37 PM on January 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
Can I just say how much I appreciate/love these threads? Not only do I get to re-experience highlights from earlier in the year, but I also get a handful of favorites on old comments of my own, as a knock-on from OTHER people re-experiencing threads from earlier in the year and liking my commentary in there. It's like having my own little time-release Skinner box.
posted by Mayor West at 5:54 AM on January 13, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by Mayor West at 5:54 AM on January 13, 2022 [10 favorites]
That's a nice line. Can I steal it?
I'm sure I stole from somewhere, so sure, knock yerself out!
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:02 AM on January 13, 2022
I'm sure I stole from somewhere, so sure, knock yerself out!
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:02 AM on January 13, 2022
This comment from DoctorFedora taught me a cool magic trick.
To pull back the curtain a little, back in my sleight-of-hand days I was fond of a trick that you'd do by effectively guiding your opponent through a step-by-step process to choose a random card (other than the aces, "because they're too obvious"). You would then produce your wallet and say, hey, funny story, but I was given a playing card by a stranger long ago, and told to hold onto it. You then pull out the card.
"Oh, that's the THREE of clubs, though. I chose the FOUR of clubs."
And that's when you reveal that, even more interestingly, the mysterious stranger told you — as you turn the card around to reveal — that the "OFF BY ONE" written on the back of the card would one day make sense.
To break this down, removing the aces not only encourages a more "random" selection, but also neatly reduces your options per suit to twelve. The "off by one" means that you can actually cover three selections per card (2-3-4, 5-6-7, 8-9-10, J-Q-K), which means you only need four cards per suit, or sixteen cards total, which is actually decently manageable in a normal-sized wallet, especially if you use tiny playing cards.
If you're the sort to enjoy doing this sort of thing, it's definitely worth a try! It's a lot of fun to have a go-to card trick that you can perform at a moment's notice without even having a deck of cards available.
posted by wittgenstein at 10:43 AM on January 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
To pull back the curtain a little, back in my sleight-of-hand days I was fond of a trick that you'd do by effectively guiding your opponent through a step-by-step process to choose a random card (other than the aces, "because they're too obvious"). You would then produce your wallet and say, hey, funny story, but I was given a playing card by a stranger long ago, and told to hold onto it. You then pull out the card.
"Oh, that's the THREE of clubs, though. I chose the FOUR of clubs."
And that's when you reveal that, even more interestingly, the mysterious stranger told you — as you turn the card around to reveal — that the "OFF BY ONE" written on the back of the card would one day make sense.
To break this down, removing the aces not only encourages a more "random" selection, but also neatly reduces your options per suit to twelve. The "off by one" means that you can actually cover three selections per card (2-3-4, 5-6-7, 8-9-10, J-Q-K), which means you only need four cards per suit, or sixteen cards total, which is actually decently manageable in a normal-sized wallet, especially if you use tiny playing cards.
If you're the sort to enjoy doing this sort of thing, it's definitely worth a try! It's a lot of fun to have a go-to card trick that you can perform at a moment's notice without even having a deck of cards available.
posted by wittgenstein at 10:43 AM on January 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
The comment was deleted and I can't remember who said it, but there was an AskMe where someone was complaining about the unsightliness of their building super using a shopping cart as tool cart and someone responded (paraphrasing) "your super actually fixes things? I wouldn't care if mine dragged their tools around on a buffalo carcass if they did that." It just landed the right way for me and the phrasing was better than my attempt to reproduce it. I get why it was deleted, but that comment was cut down in its prime- so young and with so many potential favorites ahead of it.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 11:17 AM on January 13, 2022 [21 favorites]
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 11:17 AM on January 13, 2022 [21 favorites]
Back in October, bbqturtle asked us to help us flirt with their wife by finding strange things to yell from the balcony. And I still just utterly love momus_window's sweet suggestion:
posted by mochapickle at 7:00 AM on January 14, 2022 [8 favorites]
I like non-appearance-based compliments for this. "Dang, lady, you got a fine personality." "ooh honey, I love the way you fix my bike" etc.Honestly, more romance movies should have scenes where people holler over rooftops about their loved one's unique personal qualities. "You're really good at math!" "No one can cook a turkey like you, baby!" "That thing you said about Werner Herzog's position at the forefront of New German Cinema really made me think!"
posted by mochapickle at 7:00 AM on January 14, 2022 [8 favorites]
This comment from DoctorFedora taught me a cool magic trick.
Where is this comment from? What is this trick? Why am I not seeing it or the link? Is that the trick?
posted by Mchelly at 7:07 AM on January 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
Where is this comment from? What is this trick? Why am I not seeing it or the link? Is that the trick?
posted by Mchelly at 7:07 AM on January 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
"your super actually fixes things? I wouldn't care if mine dragged their tools around on a buffalo carcass if they did that."
That was me! I was rather proud of it, and it did get a lot of favorites, and it was sadly nuked from orbit for going against the Ask rules of not being too clever unless you are also being helpful.
I'm happy you remember it so fondly :)
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 8:35 AM on January 14, 2022 [9 favorites]
That was me! I was rather proud of it, and it did get a lot of favorites, and it was sadly nuked from orbit for going against the Ask rules of not being too clever unless you are also being helpful.
I'm happy you remember it so fondly :)
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 8:35 AM on January 14, 2022 [9 favorites]
Mchelly: "Where is this comment from? What is this trick? Why am I not seeing it or the link? Is that the trick?"
At risk of angering the Magician's Guild, I think the bulk of that comment was quoting the original, and italicizing the first-line intro was just an awkward way of separating the two.
posted by Rhaomi at 1:13 PM on January 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
At risk of angering the Magician's Guild, I think the bulk of that comment was quoting the original, and italicizing the first-line intro was just an awkward way of separating the two.
posted by Rhaomi at 1:13 PM on January 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
(I couldn't remember how to link to a comment, so I just copied and pasted it. )
posted by wittgenstein at 4:34 AM on January 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by wittgenstein at 4:34 AM on January 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Album cover spotted at a flea market in Berkely:
I Drag My Tools on a Buffalo Carcass
posted by mule98J at 4:29 PM on January 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
I Drag My Tools on a Buffalo Carcass
posted by mule98J at 4:29 PM on January 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
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This ranked list of eggs is ova, rated.
posted by notoriety public at 4:56 PM on January 11, 2022 [8 favorites]