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AIBU?

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Original poster

To be deleted for calling someone a muppet?

118 replies

ConstanceMoan · 26/03/2015 07:41

Seriously?

Would you take offence at being described as a muppet? Would it bother you so much that you'd go to the trouble of reporting it? If you were a MN mod would you delete it?

This isn't really a TAAT before anyone gets their knickers in a twist but, really, on a site where MNetters regularly call other women names I would never use such as

C*nts
Bitches
Wank stains
Old bags/hags

To name but a few, is muppet really a delectable offense? And who in the name of Justine actually reports this stuff...

OP posts:
Janethegirl · 26/03/2015 07:43

I wouldn't report anyone for calling me a muppet, muppet is a very tame insult, almost affectionate Smile

londonrach · 26/03/2015 07:44

I love kermit the frog! (Completely misses point).

EbwyIsUpTheDuff · 26/03/2015 07:45

I call my kids "Muppet" when they're being daft... So I obviously don't think it's automatically offensive

RufusTheReindeer · 26/03/2015 07:45

Nope, I like muppet and use it a lot

Maybe you should have clarified which muppet you meant

Maybe that makes a difference, Kermit is cool

Not so much Beaker...he's all "me, me, me!"

Grin
Nevercallmehun · 26/03/2015 07:45

But calling a poster a Muppet is a personal attack and against talk guidelines. You can swear on mumsnet as long as it isn't directed at someone specific on here. You can say that was wankish behaviour or call Jeremy Clarkson a c#nt as far as I understand it.

CrispyFern · 26/03/2015 07:46

You have got to say "that might be construed, by some, as the actions of a person who resembles a muppet, on occasion", then it's allowed.

Nevercallmehun · 26/03/2015 07:46

I agree Muppet is tame though but context is everything.

londonrach · 26/03/2015 07:47

Agree re beaker rufus. He has issues!

londonrach · 26/03/2015 07:47

And dont get me on miss piggy

Aridane · 26/03/2015 07:47

oh dear, - I use muppet quite often at work - hope I don't get deleted from the workforce!

sebsmummy1 · 26/03/2015 07:48

I like Muppet as an insult. It's cute.

JuliaDream · 26/03/2015 07:49

PA are deleted. Thems the roolz.

MinceSpy · 26/03/2015 07:49

Miss Piggy is my female porcine hero. What a woman (misses the point)

AuntieStella · 26/03/2015 07:50

I need more coffee.

If this is not a TAAT, does that mean it never happened ?

But, you need to remember that the whole of EU/British equalities law and anti-bullying policy in general is based on what the person on the receiving end thinks (and that can include bystanders who complain on behalf of the victim).

So one person's scale of insults is always wholly irrelevant to an incident involving others.

'Muppet' is not one of the words that must never be used. But it could be part of a really unpleasant personal attack.

Or it could be mild term of affection.

Context is all.

LuisSuarezTeeth · 26/03/2015 07:52

It constitutes a personal attack I imagine? Ask MNHQ.

ChopperGordino · 26/03/2015 07:53

It could depend on the context in which you called someone a muppet (at a stretch)

MN doesn't have mods, so if someone called someone a cunt but it wasn't reported, it would stay.

JuliaDream · 26/03/2015 07:53

I expect you were not deleted for using the word muppet but for using it to PA someone.

CalmItKermit · 26/03/2015 07:53

I am a Muppet Grin

ilovesooty · 26/03/2015 07:56

If it formed part of a personal attack you're liable to be deleted. I saw the post and put into context I think it did, though it wasn't one I'd personally have bothered reporting.

Contraryish · 26/03/2015 07:56

Our dog is called Muppet. He gets called a muppet a lot. But he is one.

TheFlyingFauxPas · 26/03/2015 07:57

I'd take it as a compliment. Muppet should NOT be used as a derisory term.

Ejzuudjej · 26/03/2015 07:57

Ridiculous.

A few years back, you could say someone was behaving like a muppet and you wouldn't get in trouble. As long as you didn't directly say "you are a muppet" you were fine.
But that all seems to have changed as I was recently deleted for saying someone was behaving like a twat. She so was though.

EmpressOfJurisfiction · 26/03/2015 07:58

'Your post makes you sound like a muppet' (or an arse, or a twat, or whatever) is fine. Cos Justine said so.

Hellolemonade · 26/03/2015 08:21

Was it you? I don't remember the thread at all but remember your post very clearly. I didn't report it but just thought it was out of order, the tone was nasty.

DrSethHazlittMD · 26/03/2015 08:24

I'm fairly certain I've seen postings which have ended in "do fuck off, there's a dear" which haven't been deleted or reported.

I'm not sure I really see a difference between "You're a muppet" and "You're behaving like a muppet". It's splitting hairs, because the reason you call them a muppet is because they are behaving like one!

I also don't see why it's OK to call someone off board who has no chance to defend themselves or refute the suggestion that they are a cunt but not OK to do it to someone on board who does have that chance. Both are still "attacks".

But that's MN for you.