Is calling someone a fun sponge just dismissing a different opinion?

[MeMeMeMeOw]

I have seen the phrase "fun sponge" a lot on social media, usually when someone says they don't like something, they are called this. I think that people saying it think they are right. Social media is nuts at times.

I've never heard the expression. Sounds like just another version of " party pooper", and the " you must be fun at parties" or "lighten up" which I get thrown at me on MN.

It's just another way of trying to shut people up when they express an opinion that is valid but which some people just don't want to hear.

No, it doesn’t sound like dismissing an opinion. It sounds like disliking a persons personality.

I prefer ‘mood hoover’ as a term for sucking the fun out of things

It can be - it depends how it is being used. Whichever way it is used it is being rude.

it could be a number of things. It could be used to describe a negative person who puts a dampener on others who are enjoying themselves. Or it could be used to put someone down when they raise valid concerns about whether the fun in question is actually hurtful to someone

"I see you've spilt some joy over there, let me vacuum it up for you!" 😂

I guess it depends what it is they don't like?

Some opinions on SM are stupid if not down right dangerous and should be dismissed.

SM teenager mobbing for example, no one is a fun sponge for suggesting that's stupid.

Absolutely. I was called a fun sponge on a local chat group once because I suggested parents letting their kids run up and down the path outside my house screaming for half an hour when I (and many of my neighbours) work from home, work shifts and sleep in the day, have babies who need naps, dogs that go ballistic etc. I also objected to someone deciding the piece of grass across from my house was a football pitch and installed goals. I had some problems with this A) this area is where I saw girls (mainly) mucking about with mates, doing gymnastics or dance stuff and now it was co-opted by boys (mainly) for football. B) there is a muga pitch two streets over for playing football C) the estate factor’s maintenance guys found it difficult to cut the grass in the area D) it meant footballs were constantly coming into our front garden, hitting our cars etc.

But, I was a fun sponge for not wanting children to play out on a lovely day. Never mind that I have absolutely no issue with kids playing in the small park, (also across from my house,) or with the girls doing their thing in the grass area, or that the number of kids who have knocked on my door because they have a problem, or who I’ve gone out to when they’ve fallen etc, is absolutely no issue for me. Love seeing and hearing kids playing, don’t love anti social behaviour and that makes me a fun sponge.

When someone uses one of these expressions you should come right back at them with the counter that they are just attempting to shut you down because there is a difference if opinions. If you use assertive techniques you can put it over calmly but strongly that your opinion is just as important as theirs, so maybe we should take a vote and let the group decide.

I can remember one occasion where I was accused in a group of "whinging" and I replied "No, Im using assertive self disclosure to show you how I feel. This is important to me and therefore it is important"

You can use tone of voice (without shouting) to get your opinion across.

So if I don't like dogs I'm a fun sponge? I think there must be more nuance to how its used

I can imagine it being said if someone is unnecessarily over cautious or complaining about loud music or something. But not so much if someone just says "No thanks. I don't really fancy paddleboarding" or whatever

Possibly as I’d say it’s all subjective- the kids might think of me as being a fun sponge if I try to stop them doing something they can get hurt doing but I might be keeping them alive!!!

A fun sponge is someone who actively tries to stop other people having fun.

So my brother who used to have a dog who actively disliked any game he wasn't a part of.

Give the kids a piggy back. Bark in annoyance
Play catch without hi. Bark in annoyance
The whole group laughs at something. Bark in annoyance

We called him "The fun sponge"

Surely if you squeeze a 'fun sponge', then all the fun flows out and everybody around gets 'splashed with fun'?

So it must be a good thing to be oozing with fun. Now a 'fun mop' may be a completely different matter...

I always think of "fun sponge" as meaning the kind of person who looks for things to be miserable about, however minor. The kind of person who if they had a holiday in a five-star resort in the Caribbean would spend the whole time complaining because on the first day their breakfast croissant was a bit dry and would be completely unable to enjoy themself or let anyone they were with enjoy themselves.

I used the phrase 'battery sapper' for negative people who put a dampener on others. Wouldn't say it to someone's face though 😆