Keep Calm And .....

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fuck off!

http://www.theawl.com/2011/10/keep-calm-and-carry-on-trademark-fight

In which a bookshop in Alnwick and the dude that founded Viz collide with that stupid guy that pied Rupert Murdoch..

and make him look even less sympathetic than before!

Mark G, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 12:28 (thirteen years ago)

I think he should be forcefed pies until he explodes.

DaTruf (Nicole), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 12:30 (thirteen years ago)

pied?

Franz Kappa (S-), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 12:31 (thirteen years ago)

Pied.

Mark G, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 12:34 (thirteen years ago)

Hold on, where in the article does it talk about that guy?

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 12:37 (thirteen years ago)

ah.

OK, MODS!!

(my contact lenses are to blame)

Mark G, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 12:41 (thirteen years ago)

Someone bought me a mug with that slogan on it once, and it still makes me angry when I see it at the back of the cupboard.

Lars and the Lulu Girl (NickB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 12:45 (thirteen years ago)

Not having its desired effect, then.

good luck in your pyramid (Neil S), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 12:46 (thirteen years ago)

Being patronised by crockery just pushes the wrong buttons I guess.

Lars and the Lulu Girl (NickB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 12:54 (thirteen years ago)

really dont get the fascination with this nonsense

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15014748

― Once Were Moderators (DG), Thursday, September 22, 2011 2:02 PM (2 weeks ago)

with video!

Once Were Moderators (DG), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 13:17 (thirteen years ago)

Has anyone written a song yet called "Keep Calm and Carry On, Wayward Son?" If not, can we get that moving?

Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan M. (Phil D.), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 13:42 (thirteen years ago)

I fucking hate seeing KCACO shit EVERYWHERE

Ravaging Rick Rude (a hoy hoy), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:34 (thirteen years ago)

'keep calm and carry on' is the new 'i am not a plastic bag'

koogs, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:35 (thirteen years ago)

x-post - Never ever look at Etsy then. There is so much of this crap there it's unreal.

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:36 (thirteen years ago)

Is the joke supposed to be that in one sense "carrying on" is the opposite of "keeping calm"? I don't understand the popularity.

rustic italian flatbread, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:39 (thirteen years ago)

I don't really think there's supposed to be a joke.

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:40 (thirteen years ago)

It's just like stay cool and get through it. It's ~motivational~, you see.

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:41 (thirteen years ago)

It being whatever shit might ordinarily make you lose your cool? Whatever it is, I sure am tired of seeing it.

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:41 (thirteen years ago)

First heard this phrase when Kevin Shields was going to sack the drummer, but the rest of the band counselled against it and encouraged him to keep going.

Lars and the Lulu Girl (NickB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:42 (thirteen years ago)

"carrying on" is the opposite of "keeping calm"

Oh! I just got this and that had never occurred to me before but I see what you mean. Hmmm. Yeah. Beats me.

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:43 (thirteen years ago)

I am not fond of it either. It's even more aggravating to me that it was never actually even used as propaganda in actual WWII.

rustic italian flatbread, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:43 (thirteen years ago)

i think the joke is 'lol ww2' basically

Once Were Moderators (DG), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:44 (thirteen years ago)

Oh wait, is that what it's from? Obv didn't read the article. Oops.

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:45 (thirteen years ago)

"Keep Calm and Carry On Cowboy"

Mark G, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:47 (thirteen years ago)

"carry on" being synonymous with "get rowdy" or something...

rustic italian flatbread, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:47 (thirteen years ago)

Keep calm and carry on (60 million people are about to die)

Lars and the Lulu Girl (NickB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:47 (thirteen years ago)

I just skimmed the article. I never knew that's what it which makes it at least a teensy bit interesting, yeah, no. NO MORE.

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:49 (thirteen years ago)

knew that's what it which makes

^^ (missing a "was from") in there

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:49 (thirteen years ago)

Keep calm, enbb.

rustic italian flatbread, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:51 (thirteen years ago)

Keep Calm and Carrion.

Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan M. (Phil D.), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:52 (thirteen years ago)

Keep Calm And NSFW

Young Swell (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:52 (thirteen years ago)

x-post - I CAN'T! It enrages me in the same way those Coexist bumper stickers do. It's an irrational thing.

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:53 (thirteen years ago)

I had a friend in college who would randomly interrupt someone who was speaking with "Calm down, _____". It was a successful tactic for really pissing people off.

rustic italian flatbread, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:53 (thirteen years ago)

aw, the coexist bumperstickers at least have their heart in the right place.

rustic italian flatbread, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:54 (thirteen years ago)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4154a2S4BTL.jpg

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:56 (thirteen years ago)

I know, I know and so do the majority of ppl who buy this stuff wanting people to be chill. I said it was irrational goddammit!! ;)

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:56 (thirteen years ago)

Is that why they buy KCACO? My sense of it (in a non-ironic, original sense) is something like "resign yourself to death".

rustic italian flatbread, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:58 (thirteen years ago)

I don't desire to ever own a product with this slogan on it, but trying to buy and copyright it makes me irrationally angry, damnit.

Young Swell (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 15:00 (thirteen years ago)

I mean, just for the sake if it's history, leave it alone ffs

Young Swell (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 15:01 (thirteen years ago)

of

Young Swell (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 15:01 (thirteen years ago)

Oh god that Stereophonics album, now I'm really pissed off.

Lars and the Lulu Girl (NickB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 15:02 (thirteen years ago)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ruNyVjkCL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

ngggh

Lars and the Lulu Girl (NickB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 15:03 (thirteen years ago)

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/homefront/spies/graphics/p_s4.jpg

mark s, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 15:08 (thirteen years ago)

http://u1.ipernity.com/15/88/66/7918866.f9040984.240.jpg

Mark G, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 15:09 (thirteen years ago)

GIS for "Keep Calm and Curry On" pretty disappointing.

rustic italian flatbread, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 15:10 (thirteen years ago)

There are Keep Tidy And Carry On or Keep Calm And Tidy Up signs on all the meeting room doors on one floor of my office. Makes me want to strew the artfully-arranged books everywhere.

Mohombi Khush Hua (ShariVari), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 15:11 (thirteen years ago)

http://www.thecityreview.com/lonwar3.gif

mark s, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 15:14 (thirteen years ago)

ws nazi spy

strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 15:15 (thirteen years ago)

never even been able to figure out that pun

antiautodefenestrationism (ledge), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 15:16 (thirteen years ago)

http://www.maam.org/wwii/ww2_images/poster_2.jpg

h anley

mark s, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 15:17 (thirteen years ago)

you never not even HER

triple black belt in ILX-fu (snoball), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 15:49 (thirteen years ago)

Wait, reading between the lines of ENBB's posts, this stuff is ubiquitous in the US too?

I am very, very tired of seeing this stuff, but the first time I saw one of the posters it did raise about 0.001% of a "lol ironic hell-in-a-handbasket/stiff-upper-lip WWII kitsch" smile, and I thought that association was the only reason anyone might find any redeeming features in it. The idea that people might be buying it without that is weird to me.

how do i shot slime mould voltron form (a passing spacecadet), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:11 (thirteen years ago)

Eh, maybe there are buying it because of that and it just sort of passed me buy? All I know is that there is tons of this (and various variations on the theme - Keep Calm and Carry Yarn, Keep Calm and Love Hedgehogs*) on Etsy. Here, have a look:

http://www.etsy.com/search/handmade?search_submit=&ref=auto&q=keep+calm+and+carry+on&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US

* OMG WTF IS THIS? I like a nice little hhog as much as the next person but good Lord.

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:18 (thirteen years ago)

don't worry be happy

conrad, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:22 (thirteen years ago)

In thinking about it, I guess I did know but had just forgotten the origin. Anyway, hedgehogs people, hedgehogs.

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:23 (thirteen years ago)

Hm, most of those sellers are in the US. I guess this is a worldwide thing. I suppose there's nothing specifically British about the joke, especially since the original poster never ran, but I'm still a bit surprised.

Also, many of those are pretty ugly and/or wtf, as you'd expect from Etsy, and yet none of them are as ugly as the stuff sold by the guy trying to copyright it.

how do i shot slime mould voltron form (a passing spacecadet), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:25 (thirteen years ago)

look it's not a *joke* okay? and part of the joke is that it *is* a peculiarly british sentiment i.e. stiff upper lip and getting on with things while the bombs rain down

conrad, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:27 (thirteen years ago)

So it's not a joke, and the joke has parts?

Mark G, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:29 (thirteen years ago)

i'm not quite old enough to remember the war (that war) but my mum and dad were schoolskids, and afaict the "keep calm and carry on" posters were MUCH less part of shared memory than the "careless talk costs lives" cartoons, maybe partly bcz the cartoons have a sense of fun in the CTCL which appealed to them (also they were a series)

my mum also talked about radio malt as a favorite memory (she was 4 in 1939 and basically always said "The war was great!")

mark s, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:29 (thirteen years ago)

I find that there is nothing calm about my hedgehog love.

What does one wear to a summery execution? Linen? (Michael White), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:31 (thirteen years ago)

ew

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:31 (thirteen years ago)

KCACO posters were never put up unlike the CTCL ones

Once Were Moderators (DG), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:33 (thirteen years ago)

I have long had a jokey affectation for saying 'Steady on' in a kind of early carreer Hugh Laurie voice to friends who are excited, drunk, or about to drop something or trip. KCACO is related to this but I don't think it's as much of a joke in a country that has not only lots of anglophiles but a certain idolatry for Churchill

What does one wear to a summery execution? Linen? (Michael White), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:34 (thirteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l_3-23zAWM

TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:35 (thirteen years ago)

the design is no joke but its use now is a joke what's so difficult to understand

conrad, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:36 (thirteen years ago)

Also, fwiw, in addition to all the bond posters and recruiting posters and victory garden and scrap collection posters, the US was full of loose lips sink ships style posters during WWII, too.

What does one wear to a summery execution? Linen? (Michael White), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:37 (thirteen years ago)

obvs at some point i shd actually RTFA -- KCACO turned up on the back of "the little book of calm" boom, no? so the part of the "joke" was a sort of anachronistic affirmation of a minor current fashion, from a stylistically and/or culturally unexpected quarter and indeed historical time

xp yes, half the pix i posted i discovered by GIS-ing "loose lips sink ships"

CALM DOWN DEARS

mark s, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:39 (thirteen years ago)

the first time i saw the "keep mum, she's not so dumb" i honestly was baffled, like first of all, my mum's not dumb and no i wasn't planning on getting rid of her either

TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:43 (thirteen years ago)

and third she's hott amirite

mark s, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:43 (thirteen years ago)

is "keep mum" brit-only slang?

mark s, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:45 (thirteen years ago)

haha yeah that was the other thing, "why is mum so hot?"

no i think americans say "keep mum" too, i'm just slow on the uptake.

TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:47 (thirteen years ago)

x-post - I don't think so, no. It's not particularly common though.

Keep schtum. Well that might not be either but I have never heard it outside of England.

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:48 (thirteen years ago)

Oh I meant that keep schtum is brit-only, btw.

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:48 (thirteen years ago)

haha schtum FROM THE GERMAN

http://stephengreensted.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/careless-talk-costs-lives.jpg

mark s, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:50 (thirteen years ago)

I've never even heard it in German weirdly enough. I think it's Yiddish originally.

Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:51 (thirteen years ago)

Mum's the word

Comes from mummer, btw.

What does one wear to a summery execution? Linen? (Michael White), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 16:57 (thirteen years ago)

got caught up in a BNP rally once and a few of them were wearing t-shirts with this on. For some time i assumed anyone I saw wearing t-shirts with this on was far right, until the profile became so vague and generally applicable that it was clear it had gone beyond that. Still has the whiff of association though and I'm not sure that the source of its revival can't be located there.

Fizzles the Chimp (GamalielRatsey), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 17:16 (thirteen years ago)

look it's not a *joke* okay? and part of the joke is that it *is* a peculiarly british sentiment i.e. stiff upper lip and getting on with things while the bombs rain down

― conrad, Tuesday, October 11, 2011 12:27 PM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark

I realize that the original poster was not a joke, but it's just astounding to me that this thing would be memeing about for 10-odd years and it would not have - for at least some segment of the population - taken on the jokey connotation I've been reading into it.

Also, regarding the US vs. UK prevalence of this, I've only seen it before on ilxor.

rustic italian flatbread, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 17:23 (thirteen years ago)

So, thee jigsaw finally comes together. Excellent work, Corporal Ravensburger.

― Lars and the Lulu Girl (NickB), Tuesday, October 11, 2011 11:35 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

a+

max, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 17:23 (thirteen years ago)

i like the keep calm and carry on poster, its gorgeously designed, i appreciate the sentiment too, i feel like maybe some people in this thread should "keep calm" about the posters ubiquity

max, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 17:24 (thirteen years ago)

So, thee jigsaw finally comes together

Is this a reference to the clothing store?

What does one wear to a summery execution? Linen? (Michael White), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 17:25 (thirteen years ago)

http://www.newtsgames.com/images/feature_variant/5/manufacturer_feature_image_26.jpg

max, Tuesday, 11 October 2011 17:26 (thirteen years ago)

My gf shops at Jigsaw occasionally and I've seen the KCACO poster there.

What does one wear to a summery execution? Linen? (Michael White), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 17:28 (thirteen years ago)

honestly surprised there isn't a

KEEP ON

TRUCKIN'

refit yet.

banana mogul (goole), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 17:31 (thirteen years ago)

"DO, please, continue trucking. Pip, pip. Cheerio!"

What does one wear to a summery execution? Linen? (Michael White), Tuesday, 11 October 2011 17:58 (thirteen years ago)

five months pass...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FrHkKXFRbCI

"marvellously inoffensive" (Eazy), Monday, 12 March 2012 11:09 (thirteen years ago)

errrrr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrHkKXFRbCI

"marvellously inoffensive" (Eazy), Monday, 12 March 2012 11:13 (thirteen years ago)

one month passes...

I hate this fucking thing, and I am glad that I can count on ILX to have already pulverized it.

Scott, bass player for Tenth Avenue North (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 8 May 2012 18:16 (thirteen years ago)

I saw a dude in a KEEP CALM AND CHIVE ON shirt on the weekend and I wanted very much to punch him

Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 8 May 2012 18:54 (thirteen years ago)

Is it wrong that I'm wearing this right now?

Leslie Mann: Boner Machine (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 8 May 2012 19:01 (thirteen years ago)

four weeks pass...

...shill for Warner Bros TV

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 5 June 2012 19:36 (thirteen years ago)

Keep Calm and Cancel Your Cable Subscription

Dog shave the Queen / 'Cos tourists owe money!!! (snoball), Tuesday, 5 June 2012 19:42 (thirteen years ago)

Keep Calm and Go Fuck Yourself

Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 5 June 2012 19:52 (thirteen years ago)

Keep Calm and Take Speed

kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Tuesday, 5 June 2012 19:57 (thirteen years ago)

Keep Calm and No One Watches Your Show

Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 5 June 2012 20:00 (thirteen years ago)

Keep Calm and Why Don't You Just Switch Off Your Television Set And Go Out And Do Something Less Boring Instead?

Dog shave the Queen / 'Cos tourists owe money!!! (snoball), Tuesday, 5 June 2012 20:04 (thirteen years ago)

Keep Calm And Remember When Martha Plimpton Was Awesome

Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 5 June 2012 20:04 (thirteen years ago)

five months pass...

Oh ffs, enough already.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41mjnwhvFbL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

http://www.music-news.com/showcompetition.asp?H=Win-1-of-3-Keep-Calm-and-Stay-Cosy-CDs&nCompetitionID=2704

fun loving and xtremely tolrant (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 13 November 2012 21:42 (twelve years ago)

keep calm and FUCK RIGHT OFF

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 13 November 2012 21:50 (twelve years ago)

three months pass...

as if they couldn't get any fucking worse

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/mar/02/amazon-withdraws-rape-slogan-shirt

prolego, Sunday, 3 March 2013 13:12 (twelve years ago)


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