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

surely ralph wd think of vikings as excellent

a viking is its own metaphorical viking

you voted for the 3rd option didn't you

also I apologize for the clunkiness of the phrasing of the poll options grammar is obviously where I'm not a viking

can't believe we haven't had this one here but feel obligated to say you have to be stupid to think it's option A

:-{

Ralph goes to sleep, he dreams that he is a viking. Why are we having a poll about this?

And uh seriously, is there anyone on this board who's not old enough to get the "bum is on your lips" reference?

ageist

didn't vote yet, i await further socratic exposition and 'fukken vikings', and probably something to do with race, and the backlash against the nerd pathologies required to care about this shit, and all other intrigue to come itt

well we can proceed now that the obligatory 'anticipating patterned shitstorm' post has been already made

Ralph goes to sleep, he dreams that he is a viking. Why are we having a poll about this?

because, as difficult as you will find this to believe - but just wait - there are people who think "viking" means "totally badass at stuff," and that Ralph means "in the field of sleep, I excel to such an extent that I consider myself 'a viking at it'"

imo it boggles the fucking mind that there are people who think that "viking" means "really good at something," if one first conflates notions of brute strength with the ability to excel," and yet, here we are

always wait until after the shitstorm to cast your vote

xp ^^ has obviously not watched a lot of pro sports

always wait until after the shitstorm to cast your vote

lol, least viking strategy at living

I mean that might sort of make sense, but would Ralph be clever enough to employ such slang in that context? Or is he making up his own slang.... ohhhhh.....

wait dudes. shit just got real.

xp ^^ has obviously not watched a lot of pro sports

you're aware, right, that the Vikings of Minnesota are called that because of a preponderance of Swedes and Norwegians in the region

not because anybody older than 12, prior to this degraded age, thought that "viking" was shorthand for "exceptionally skilled at things"

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2230/1753116728_888a4b5027_o.jpg

the vikings were after all a highly discursive people, and formed the oldest extant parliament in the world iirc, they could sublimate their disputatious nature like the best of them

this type of discussion would have been a familiar activity to the vikings

iirc the producers said that "viking" was an acronym of "vast, infinite-knowing intellectually natured German"

I first watched this episode when I was 12 btw

anyway I think the joke becomes much less funny when you take it literally than when you take it metaphorically I mean ralph is just the kind of chucklehead who you would expect to be proud that he excels at sleeping. and if ralph knew how to use english as a way to properly and accurately communicate his meaning well then you're just grievously misunderstanding the nature of ralph's character

"hello super nintendo chalmers" WAIT DOES RALPH REALLY THINK SUPERINTENDANT CHALMERS IS IN ACTUALITY THE POPULAR SUCCESSOR OF A REVOLUTIONARY JAPANESE VIDEO GAME ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM

vikings wouldn't have liked nfl, they wd probably dismiss it as 'mere simulacrum'

True, but the idea of Ralph even using a metaphor is sort of beyond him, isn't it? Most of his humor seems to be awkwardly-phrased literal declarations.

Also did not mean to insult those who didn't get the bum bum reference; not saying you're dumb if you didn't get it, just saying that you were old enough to be around when it happened whether you saw it or not.

WAIT DOES RALPH REALLY THINK

ageist xp

http://tv.boingboing.net/2007/10/25/simpsons-subgenius.html

never trust an author when they talk about their work. btw silverman wasn't even the writer for that episode

anyway I think the joke becomes much less funny when you take it literally than when you take it metaphorically I mean ralph is just the kind of chucklehead who you would expect to be proud that he excels at sleeping

no, because then the joke has to go through too many steps to get to the punchline: "that's where I'm a viking" -> "this person understands 'viking' to mean something other than what it means" -> back to character's original utterance to re-parse -> LOL? OTOH, "sleep, where I get to be a viking!" -> asleep on desk -> LOL

I have never understood viking to mean anything other than 'being awesome at something'

CAPITAL ONE, WHAT'S IN YOUR WALLET

multixp But I know how old you are-ish!! I am speaking to you!

I get irrationally bummed about this because the "viking means badass!" explanation seems so exceptionally dumb to me, and the joke clearly isn't "lol ralph is so dumb he thinks viking means badass!" esp. since everybody who argues in favor of that interpretation always wants to argue that everybody secretly really believes "viking" and "badass" have been interchangeable since time immemorial

xpost right & I have never understood "water" to mean anything other than "beer" but when I ask for water at a restaurant I don't complain when they don't bring me beer, because I am WRONG

I'M NOT AGEIST, ALL MY BEST FRIENDS HAVE AN AGE!

I had no idea this was a Great Debate until today.

if one first conflates notions of brute strength with the ability to excel

anyways this is a totally common notion when talking about any sport in general, RELEASE THE KRAKEN

j0hn iirc you are a boxing fan, you have never encountered a description where someone compares a boxer to some historical/literary figure known for their brute force as a way to express how good he is at boxing?

I had no idea this was a Great Debate until today.

it's less a great debate than a completely unsupportable claim with a lot of people willing to stan for it

never heard viking used in this way fwiw

probably some american thing

I understand having a hard time with interpreting expressions ('No news is good news') but this is just silly.

j0hn iirc you are a boxing fan, you have never encountered a description where someone compares a boxer to some historical/literary figure known for their brute force as a way to express how good he is at boxing?

yeah dude all that's true but "sleep, where I am a viking, in the sense that vikings are really good at something, and that something is being strong, which here stands in for 'excellence in general,' so in the sense that vikings are good at being strong, I am a viking at sleep, in the sense that when vikings set out to demonstrate their strength, they excel," etc etc

I mean it's just so transparently obviously not what the joke means, but the internet means that you can find out just how many people think eg that barack obama was born in kenya & surprise, a bunch of people don't get a really obvious joke, too - not trying to be a total dick but that really does seem to me the level of willfully not-getting-it you need to torture "sleep, at which I am a badass in the sense that vikings are badass, i.e., they are strong" out of a really simple joke

I don't take as many steps to get there btw as you are claiming: viking means badass -> I'm a badass at sleeping

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

that being said, i kinda like the idea of sublimating viking into an adjective. tho i think it appeals to my baser, bro-ier tendencies

"dude did u see mike's backflip off the windlip, shit was ~viking~"

you do take as many steps - they're metaphorical, and you're ignoring the use of "where" - why "where" in the line? because ralph conceives of sleep as a place. ralph's character would be perfectly capable of saying "oh boy! I'm a viking at sleep" - it would actually save him words & be easier for him to see

anyway that's too many posts from me on what seems an incredibly obvious point that people just like to get into argts abt

wait why does it make sense to conceive of sleep as a place

later dudes, I'm going to visit sleep

the 'viking' as sports meme isn't only about power/violence i think.....they are a sort of mythic archetype right?
like a transfigured 'family romance' for farmboys from wisconisin to believe they were descended from leif erikson rather than livonian peasants

i

you're describing "waiting to cross the street".

xpost

Always hated that senseless cliche. XP

because you thought it meant you wouldn’t piss on someone who was about to light a match?

in what scenario would peeing on someone who is aflame help anything. Have at it. This is the thread lol

kinky death

xp
It's slightly better than failing to assist a person in danger and it's the only water you have on you ?

smother the flames with your body ffs

i would hug any of you if you were on fire tbrr

in

we need to hear the line read. somebody post the clip

^the chaos agent has logged in

i wouldnt piss on you if you were on fire has more going on that the option to dampen flames to save a life. the disgust in the delivery ought be weighted on the "i wouldnt piss on him" imo and ime because the level of contempt starts with a disavowal of even that level of contact with which your status is maximised and the potential leakee's is minimised, the further scenario extended is merely underlining that not even in the extremity of circumstances with the direst of outcomes for the enflamed would you be enticed to even this level of interaction

fight me cunts

https://comb.io/eAuG8m - wow that’s cold!

i wouldn't even piss on him with deems' dick!

When Bart says “Don’t have a cow, man” he’s obviously asking someone to live the vegetarian lifestyle, but recently I heard a different interpretation

lol

which episode is this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQSmvmzO-Nk

which episode is this?

― maf you one two (maffew12), Friday, September 22, 2023 11:02 AM (eighteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

It was more a t-shirt than an episode

A+ work maffew

Little-known fact: Homer Simpson originally dreamt of being a pastry chef, a baker, or working in a pizzeria.

That's why he frequently exclaims "dough," to indicate his chagrin about the way his life has unfolded. Every time things go wrong for him, he wishes he had followed his passion for breadmaking, hence his continual lament: "dough."

You're overthinking it like usual. It's really that he keeps forgetting to pick it up at the market, and the recurring gag is him suddenly realizing the oversight at random points throughout his day.

There's a simpler explanation for the dough, YMP.

https://i.pinimg.com/1200x/d5/4d/6b/d54d6be53291588f246a458876a9072d.jpg

i always thought Homer was doing solfege and establishing where "Do" was for his barbershop buddies

This is the best thread

when's the movie coming out

and who is doing the voice of ILE

Oh wow thanks I never realized

So you're saying he is craving to be reunited with the mysterious colorful "O" shaped object that he once found on the gray tiled floor of the bathroom, when he was lying there to have his morning cry and noticed just above his head. Curious, he reached out and grabbed it between his two fingers and felt suddenly elated, complete again. So whenever he is in a stressful situation, he says "the O!" or "da O!" to recalibrate.

I'm so stupid

It's so much simpler than I thought

It's okay, Evan. Dan Castellaneta worked hard to cover up his Chicago accent, but there are a few "tells" such as this one.

That scene where Sideshow Bob keeps trying to break the rakes with his head. Why does he hate rakes so much?

he was trying to explain his thoughts on complex social issues and every time he said "I be leaf", the rake reacted

Krusty is a rake by blood iirc

I am given to understand that "eat my shorts" is actually a reference to Bart's longstanding hobby of writing, directing, and starring in brief films. He hopes (metaphorically) that audiences will enthusiastically consume them.

So when he says "eat my shorts," he's really saying "please voraciously watch my limited-duration movies."

maffew i must belatedly and abashedly recognise your genius

aw don't be abashed

Splash splash I was taken, abashed

along about a Saturday night

I was surprised to hear a podcaster I listen to casually drop the "that's where I'm a viking" expression the other day in the context of "that's where I'm at my peak contentment / comfort zone".

He does like to drop the odd Simpsons reference now and again, but it made me wonder how proliferate this expression is outside of ILX?

i think it's from the simpsons

haha

Just to say I've been having a bad health day and decided to load all answers on this thread, only made it to the bit where Tuomas' fluency in English is questioned but had an amazing time.

when people say "it's joever" do they mean:

A: it's jo-ever, i.e. joe biden forever?
B: it's joe-ver, i.e. it's over for joe biden?

Depends on what day it was said

all of reasons I can think of to interpret it as "it's all over for joe" make sense to me. I can't think of one simple way to get "joe forever" out of it that wouldn't equally apply to "joe? whatever".

I’ve only ever heard this said on podcasts etc as “joever” ie B

*joe-ver, rather

I think of it as an echo of Lieberman's "Joementum."

So it rhymes with Dover.

I'm still struggling with Ralph's line about sleep "That's where I'm a Viking!" -- meaning: He's really good at sleep... OR, he dreams of being a Viking when he sleeps?

— Rob Baker (@Raaawb) July 12, 2025

Ffs, where are the high powered ILX lawyers to sue this joker into oblivion?