Am I going to dignify that with a response?
Some people take themselves far too seriously. Others, not enough. But occasionally on Answers I find a unique combination of a tongue-in-cheek question followed by a sober, thoughtful response, and it never fails to make me smile.
In one case, Answers user Sir Marmalade Beauville-Lobe IV (a serious name if ever there was one) asks, “How much would it cost to install a tank of sharks underneath a meeting room?“
The straightforward tone of this “utterly ludicrous question” prompted a number of earnest replies. Then again, maybe some Answerers have experience in such matters. This community is, after all, exceptionally large and diverse.
Of all the responses, Gruntled Employee’s helpful reply definitely deserves its Best Answer rating. Without so much as batting a virtual eye, he provides a breakdown of the cost of building the tank, as well as the ongoing expense of maintaining the sharks. (Now that I have this information, I want to build one of my own. Seriously.)
Have you found anything recently on Answers that surprised you or made you laugh?
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I personally am a fan of Sir Marmalade Beauville-Lobe IV. He makes me smile.
the same guy asking the same question at least 9x in a row…
people continuted to answer it as if it were the first time he asked, even though it was pointed out…..
it seemed OCD, that he would continue to ask this same question repeatedly.
In other words, this is another lame excuse to explain why you don’t enforce the guidelines consistently.
What I find amusing is when I post a legitimate question and it gets deleted for not being a question by some idiot who is targeting me.
And by “amusing” I mean “annoying as hell”.
You’ll get “now is he serious?” questions in Religion & Spirituality every day. I like to answer them as if they are serious, partly for the sarcastic humor of it, and partly because even if the questioner was joking, someone else reading the answer might not be. I don’t think there is such a thing as a religious belief that is so far off the wall that no one, absolutely no one, takes seriously. And if there is (may her holy hooves never be shod), many people get their kicks out of pretending to take them seriously.
Have you seen the LOLCat version of the Bible?
Frankly I’m a bit disappointed, I thought the plan was to have a mechanical trap door of some sort on the floor of the meeting room. I think we’ve defeated the purpose of having the shark tank to begin with.
Speaking of taking yourself too seriously . Be careful of remarks you make concerning politics and elections . The people there seem to have lost all sense of humor and reality . They not only take everything to heart , they also feel insulted if you disagree with them and WILL report you . I’m getting far too many violations answering political questions.
Time to go back to something simple like the “marriage and divorce section.
Sometimes in the Politics and Government question, someone will ask a compound question, such as “why is Obama a terrible candidate?” or “is Bush happy now that he ruined the economy?” I try to answer to the extent I can, unraveling the assumptions behind the question. Sometimes the juxtaposition between the anrgy tone of their question and my matter-of-fact reply amuses me a little.
PS Sometimes answering a totally off-the-wall, rhetorical question in a straighforward manner gives me a chuckle also.
I can’t think of an example at the moment, though.
But it is they who are violating the terms of service (if anyone is), not me. Their silly question makes my rational answer humorous.
I might have to start asking humorously intended ludicrous questions now. I loved reading that question. Thanks for posting.
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that’s fine
how do i find him?
Just go to Religion and Spirituality, that place is full of ‘em.
Hardly anyone takes that section seriously.
I am far too serious about everything. Maybe I take things to heart. I like to help if I can, but I don’t always.A good laugh a day would do wonders for everybody.
I hope this was a tongue-in-cheek blog? This guy has been asking the same question already several times. OK, as far as questions go, it’s a much better one than “How much is 1+1 ?” that I’ve seen several times as well.
I LOVE SIR MARMALADE!!! too bad u guys suspended him.
Har-har. No wonder a Yahoo troll would find THAT entertaining and funny.
Most stuff that expresses any attitude or opinion gets deleted by Yahoo moderators who don’t care about what they are deleting and why – as soon as enough stuck-up conservatives (who seem to form some 98% of users here) report they are offended by anything that does not either a) promote guns and white racism, or b) ridicule anyone who is not a stuck-up white racist conservative, the obedient moderators hit “delete.”
I am not surprised that the idea of sharks and murder remained posted, though – perfectly in line with the mentality that does not want death sentence for child rape, wants more freedom for owning guns… or with the “humor” of Yahoo moderators, so embarrassingly dorky, stupid and meaningless.
Fortunately, outside of Yahoo’s reach, there are serious places to ask and answer real, meaningful questions.
Can’t wait for Microsoft to buy off Yahoo and fire the whole stinking bunch of stoned dorks and social rejects, then the name might finally stand for a serious business, after all.
Sir Lobe was only a Level 2, and his account was suspended! Why do the good always die so young?
If you don’t take such questions seriously, then any answer you gave would be a violation. Those are the rules are they not, Yahoo Answers Team?
such entertainment, which you appear to enjoy, as do many others, often draws a violation notice… the system is BROKEN!
Wow, talk about a double standard. When a tongue-in-cheek question, such as the one you blogged, is asked in Religion and Spirituality, the asker is issued a violation notice, docked 10 points, and eventually suspended. It doesn’t matter that the asker may be completely serious (and many of them actually are). If the question doesn’t exactly follow the guidelines….as the Red Queen would say, “Off with their heads!”
How about a little consistency, Yahoo? Either all the satirical questions are violations, or none of them are.
Ah, the irony of highlighting a post of the recently deleted.
Not sure what to make of that. It’s okay to answer an obviously “rhetorical” question but not okay to ask one?
You need to spend time in cycling. We have a number of answerers who are able to give accurate, yet dryly hysterical answers to the most inane questions.
Isn’t this precisely the type of questions that are forbidden, since they are chatty in nature ?
I agree.
A most interesting blog and comments.
Sadly, in the U.S. at present there appears to be some sort of rule that you must not speak ill of an incumbent politician or you are the enemy.
In Canada, the opposite is true. In our city in this morning’s paper the headline news was a request to throw the mayor out of office.
The same paper listed the inefficiences of the local hospital CEO.
We think dissent is healthy and differences of opinion a road to improvement.
Iappreciate any question, as long as it is authentic. I have answered some questions only to find out it is some geek playing clever electronic tricks that take you someplace you would really eather not be.
WOW . . . the comments here are more amusing than the blog, most of them didn’t even GET it! ROFLMAO!
People don’t like my Q’s. Here’s the latest one?
Do USpoliticians realize that if transport fuels gets to 5$/gal, it would be like dropping a nuke on a UScity?
In General – Politics & Government – Asked by heeltap – 0 answers – 3 minutes ago – Open
Do mainstream journalists realize that if fuels goes to 5$/gal, it would be like dropping a nuke on a US city?
In Media & Journalism – Asked by heeltap – 0 answers – 6 minutes ago – Open
Sir Marmalade Beauville-Lobe IV (along with several ALIASES) lol…is one of my contacts or at least was…I haven’t heard from him in a while…Unfortunately! I love his Dry Sense of Humor…some of us get him and some don’t…but he takes it all in stride!!! MISS YOU SIR MARMALADE OR SIR ANTHONY…WHOMEVER YOU ARE THIS WEEK!!!lol~~KUUIPO MICHELLE~~
This one time someone asked that “If Jimmy cracked corn, who cares?” or something like that. So I answered with a breakdown of the corn farming flow chart, ending with the corn on the asker’s table. I got Best for a thoughtful answer to a normally silly question.
I’m glad to see that our Yamster does have a sense of humor and can see the benefit in humor on Yahoo Answers. Far too often, anything slightly humorous is deleted. Why not allow people to answer fun question, especially if they really are not harmful?
Mar, please quit lying. I am a Conservative Christian and many of my questions in the religion section (as well as answers ) have been deleted by liberal, atheist trolls for no good reason. To say many answers get unfairly reported because yahoo answers is ruled by 98% Conservatives is not true.
Oh and by the way, most Conservatives are not racist so let’s quit the false name calling!
One big reason I spend so much time on Answers is that I have a sharp wit (and maybe I think I’m an SNL reject), but I have
so much fun with words, and I LOVE to tease people, but they think I’m serious. Once I’m ON A ROLL, I say things that are so funny I sit here and laugh myself out of my chair.
Is that sick? or what? Maybe I should just
get a life!!!
I saw the best question: “If, theoretically, a woodchuck were physically capable of chucking wood, and assuming it was an average sized woodchuck, what quantity of wood could said woodchuck, in fact, chuck?”
Too bad the guy is now suspended, just proves to show you how strict the Y!A has become, no fun whats so ever
My personal favorites always maintain that playful air of gravity, while working in as many puns as possible.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Av2qCUBB5oJcjUtbhz6eIfIAAAAA;_ylv=3?qid=20080515103900AAbiV4O
I’m glad you featured this in the blog. Are you aware that this fun “utterly ludicrous” type of question is sadly the sort of thing that gets reported all the time by overzealous trigger-happy reporter types? If Yahoo indeed appreciates this sort of entertainment– as SO MANY of us users on this end of the screen do– then you need to start denying or overturning abuse reports on this sort of thing. If the Q is fun and harmless, leave it be!
p.s. Case in point: that asker’s account has been suspended!
Hehe, one person asked how much it costs to get blood and candle wax stains out of his carpet
I’ve noticed a lot of questions on here, and I ask myself “Is this for real?” But then I step back and remember what I was always taught, “There are no stupid questions.” I always try to answer all questions to the best of my ability, and if I feel the need to make any comments on the questioner, I will add them after I answer the question.
The only thing that makes me laugh on Yahoo! Answers is how incredibly stupid most of those kids are.
Well, you guys ran Eye of Sauron out of time and he was absolutely hilarious.
Oh, but we must be careful not to anger the religious and spirituality section’s guardians of morality mustn’t we?
That is, “out of town”!
Oops
Am I going to dignify that with a response? Yep, Yahoo! Answers could use more dignity.
Have you found anything recently on Answers that surprised you or made you laugh? Everyday, but then, I have a very twisted sense of humor.
yea some of the stuff i have read does seem a liitle off but hey it’s funny i realy like this i have only been doing this for a short time but i come on everyday know just to read and maybe answer someones quenstion even if they are a little off the wall sometime even asked a few off the wall qustions myself
hj
I__l0ve__y0u
Funny answers are always good…even if the question means to offend a certain group of people. Good post!
Yes. Some make me laugh. Others make me wince. And some fall into the “Are you KIDDING?” category.
Yahoo answers folks with a sense of humour, yea right.
(And hell yea the system is broken! Or should I say, doubleplusbad. Thanks for the blog though, just what I needed.)
Thats the whole beauty of Yahoo answers is the community from which the answers come from. Each answer is different…whether serious to funny. This arena is such an entertaining factor for me…keeps me awake all night as I sit at work with nothing more to do than monitor news channels for a 12 hour shift.
“stuck-up conservatives promote guns and white racism, or ridicule anyone who is not a stuck-up white racist conservative–perfectly in line with the mentality that does not want death sentence for child rape, wants more freedom for owning guns”
OMG, could a person be any more out of control? If this is liberalism, I’m proud to be conservative.
One thing I love in Answers is that I encounter different kinds and types of people. Funny people, serious people, naive people, wise people, etc.I’ve learned so many things here. Simple things, complex things. Even unheard off questions crop up here on Answers. Even my writing skills, English usage, grammar and spelling improved here. Thumbs up to Yahoo! Answers…….
Well for each ludicrous question not meant to be taken seriously, there are some who actually have a problem that seems bizarre.
I think that the answerers did not care if it was strange or not, they simply meant to help.
But it was pretty funny…
Personally, I have only ever seen one genuinely stupid question: “Where do I find a leash for my pet fish?”
If I can’t give an honest answer, or a particularly inventive one to a light-hearted question, I just leave it alone. In fact, most of my favorite questions are goofy ones from the “Mythology and Folklore” section.
Obviously you don’t frequent the R&S section, there are several humorous questions posted every single day…
HUH? you mean to tell me that a question like that was NOT reported as a violation and removed? Okay so there seems to be some kind of favortism around here for what questions can and cannot stay on the board. NO, not the rules and guidelines. Personal Prefences.
Hey, I love having the best of both worlds.
I like the serious and the silly on YA.
What can I’ sam? Can’t think of a thing. I am slowly, surly losing my mind .
ahahahahahahahahhahaaha
I am advocate of respectful free-speech and humor and sarcasm are a part of it–but I do my best to keep it centered on the ideas and opinions(a forbidden concept denigrated as rants by censors and certain kinds of people who dwell at YA never having asked any Q’s themselves bec it costs 5 game points. LOL).
LOL THIS IS SO FUNNY!! :
I clicked on the answer, then clicked on Sir Marmalade’s profile and… deleted.
SHOCKING.
haha you guys always crack me up.
Oh, a ton. But they always crack me up. One of my friends asks “For how much would you jump in a pool of…” several things. Polls and Surveys section cracks me up!
YOU DELETED SIR MARMALADE!!!!
THIS IS WHY I AM USING WINDOWS LIVE INSTEAD OF YAHOO.
OH AND THIS IS MY WINDOWS LIVE BTW,
steven3096@live.com <<<< ADD PLEASE
Still my favorite question/answer session of all time…
Totally. The other day a girl asked if whoever made the womens’ outfits for the avatars was a lesbian, because only a butch could like them.
I damn well near choked laughing.
||” Have you found anything recently on Answers that surprised you or made you laugh? “||
Yes. I’ve seen lots of rip-roaringly hilarious questions & answers. But I’m not going to mention any of them for fear they’ll get deleted and the authors will suffer the same fate as Sir Marmalade… unless you guarantee them some protection… I’m talking better protection than you’ve afforded Sir Marmalade.
After answering several serious, “knowledge-worthy” questions, it’s great to unwind and have some fun. Please put “FUN” back in YA.