To be deleted for calling someone a muppet?

[ConstanceMoan]

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...

Should be banned not on the grounds that it is an insult, but on the ground that it makes you sound like a wannabe cockney hardman from a Danny Dyer film

'Your a facking muppet mate, jog on' etc. etc.

:) at 'mupine behaviour'
I had a Muppet cat too. Here she is.
She was a total muppet. Hence the name.

I got deleted a while back for saying someone sounded idiotic. I'm not sure Why that was a pa.

Agree Composhat.

( & I'm finding it hard to believe that real people actually use the word muppet? )

Indeed I am from London and feel that deletion for calling someone a muppet is disrespecting my culture.

I was deleted for apparently implying that a poster was a sock puppet. I didn't even know what a sock puppet was until I looked it up.

You'd want to be a ridiculously delicate flower to be offended by being called a muppet. Such a dayglo, soft and velvety 'insult'.

How do you know you were deleted for the term muppet and not for the term loons?

Not that either would bother me one bit, but I can see that loon might be offensive to someone connected to mental health issues.

It's all about you are a v I find that view to be

calling people muppets and loons is a personal attack and mnhq have that rule, so fair enough.

calling people names because they have a different opinion to you is not on, no matter what words you use. It is attacking them. You don't have to use obscenities for something to be a personal attack. you just need to be attacking the person rather than debating the issue.

I can't quite see why my posting on the thread is worthy of particular acknowledgment.

not just real muppets but sooty

Am I a pretend muppet?

I think personal insults are unacceptable on online fora although would just ignore someone calling me a muppet. Criticise the argument/ point of view not the person.
If your only argument is a personal insult then it's not much of an argument.

Sometime people are clearly being muppets.

I wouldn't call someone I didn't know any names, because you don't know what they might find offensive. Why resort to name-calling?

You'd want to be a ridiculously delicate flower to be offended by being called a muppet. Such a dayglo, soft and velvety 'insult'

exactly!

I'd be really cross if you called me a muppet

coz I'm a fraggle...

However - can you seriously see mnhq setting down a list of names we could call each other and names we couldn't?

Can you imagine the carnage?

Far better to say no namecalling at all. If you call someone a name directing it at them personally rather than keeping your response to the subject, then it's a personal attack and will, if reported, be deleted.

Cos it's not just about the names is it? It's the intent. To be rude, cutting or dismissive, or to belittle or silence. Instead of just debating an issue and exchanging views on it.

You're taking MN just a bit too seriously, Fenella.

Anyway, I've had a nice reply from MNHQ saying although my 'post was mild' it was reported as a PA. I wonder how many reports they get per day?

I am from London and feel that deletion for calling someone a muppet is disrespecting my culture.

Agree Ubik.

I have met Danny Dyer. 'ave it. Yoo facking caaahnntt.'

Me? nah. On a personal level I couldn't care less what you all call each other.

I am trying to explain my understanding of why mnhq have the policy they have. Which is what I thought you were talking about.

Weren't you?

Also, don't some people from Jockland [ducks] use cunt as a term of affection?

It can be used as a personal insult against someone with psychiatric issues.

As someone said earlier, context is all - the same word can come across completely differently depending on the overall tone of the post.

If the surrounding words were contemptuous, I can definitely imagine "muppet" coming across as an (intended) insult, meaning the person is brainless and stupid. If the rest of the post was lighthearted and pleasant, then "muppet" could be innocuous and even affectionate. (the way some people are describing using it with their children.

It wasn't necessarily the person you called a muppet who reported you. It could have been someone else who felt it was a personal attack.

Is fora the plural of forum?