Jumping the Shark

[latexman]

Maybe something like this has been discussed already. I don't think it has in the context below. If it has, please let me know.

Sometimes a thread seems to take a life of it's own, and turns into the weeds (off-topic or in the lunatic fringe of being on topic).

No offense to the moderators. I moderate on a couple websites, and I know it can be like herding cats sometimes.

But, on ER and elsewhere I sometimes get amused as I read/am keeping up on an active thread by guessing which post "jumps the shark" and sets things in motion into the weeds. I find it quite entertaining and get a good chuckle sometimes. I've probably been guilty of it a time or seven!

Anyone else do this?

 

[Kings over Queens]

Always. Its part of the amusement.

I stay on topic or at least inside the lines here because of the tone and temperature of the site. Lets face it, its pretty matter of fact and "grown up." Kinda like a library.

The other site where I spend most of my time is appreciably different, and some threads are just designed to go off the rails.

 

[aja8888]

Maybe something like this has been discussed already. I don't think it has in the context below. If it has, please let me know.

Sometimes a thread seems to take a life of it's own, and turns into the weeds (off-topic or in the lunatic fringe of being on topic).

No offense to the moderators. I moderate on a couple websites, and I know it can be like herding cats sometimes.

But, on ER and elsewhere I sometimes get amused as I read/am keeping up on an active thread by guessing which post "jumps the shark" and sets things in motion into the weeds. I find it quite entertaining and get a good chuckle sometimes. I've probably been guilty of it a time or seven!

Anyone else do this?

I'm proud of my ability to move a thread off course in a stealthy fashion.

 

[frayne]

Is jumping the shark the equivalent of going off on a tangent? My BIL once had a pet shark or was it a sea bass? I can't remember but both were good eating. What's else is everyone's favorite sea food?

 

[latexman]

^^^^^
Yeah, just like that.

 

[Car-Guy]

Anyway, getting back to Football. Blah, blah, blah.

 

[Qs Laptop]

But, on ER and elsewhere I sometimes get amused as I read/am keeping up on an active thread by guessing which post "jumps the shark" and sets things in motion into the weeds. I find it quite entertaining and get a good chuckle sometimes. I've probably been guilty of it a time or seven!

Anyone else do this?

I am amused by how many people answer questions with stuff unrelated to the OP's question.

Example:

Q: "Should I buy CD's beyond a 3 year term?"

A: "I'd put my money in a bond fund."
A: "You're better off buying TIPS bonds from TreasuryDirect.com"
etc. etc.

 

[W2R]

Speaking of jumping the shark, I love Google images!

 

[USGrant1962]

There are a few regular Fonzis around here that regularly derail threads.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Fonzie himself was unfortunately "derailed" the other day:

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2023/09/06/bronze-fonz-statue-vandalized-with-black-substance-cleanup-underway/70775192007/

 

[audreyh1]

Speaking of jumping the shark, I love Google images!

The original

 

[Montecfo]

Hijacking a thread and Jumping the Shark are two different things. Accordingly the first post in thread was off topic.

Now, can we get back to hijacking the thread that is supposed to be about thread hijacks?

 

[COcheesehead]

Hijacking a thread and Jumping the Shark are two different things. Accordingly the first post in thread was off topic.

Now, can we get back to hijacking the thread that is supposed to be about thread hijacks?

Yea, jumping the shark means something has run its course, it’s over, done. Hijacking a thread I think is what the OP meant.

 

[Sojourner]

The original

Hahahahah, wow... what a blast from the past! I was a kid in the 70s who grew up watching Happy Days, and even I, at that age, remember thinking how silly and ill-conceived this episode was.

 

[latexman]

Hijacking a thread and Jumping the Shark are two different things. Accordingly the first post in thread was off topic.

Now, can we get back to hijacking the thread that is supposed to be about thread hijacks?

Yea, jumping the shark means something has run its course, it’s over, done. Hijacking a thread I think is what the OP meant.

Let me explain. Jumping the shark is an act of desparation, like the poster that puts their spin on a thread to take it into the weeds, possibly intentionally.

 

[Telly]

Let's talk about... Kayaks!

(a thread derailler to dissuade He-whose-name-shall-not-be-mentioned from commenting further) Hmmm, I wonder what he's been up to these years of silence...

No! NO I don't! Joke! It was a joke! Honest! I don't wanna know! Kayaks Kayaks!

 

[Amethyst]

I think of it as when someone, you know, drops the mic.

Says the one thing that nobody else dared to say, yet it's not anything that would wake up the Pig, so they can't be chastised for you know, pooping the party.

And after that, there's just...nothing more to be said.

Yea, jumping the shark means something has run its course, it’s over, done. Hijacking a thread I think is what the OP meant.

 

[ncbill]

"...Like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe.

So, I decided to go to Morganville (which is what they called Shelbyville in those days), so I tied an onion to my belt (which was the style at the time).

Now, to take the ferry costs a nickel and in those days nickels had pictures of bumblebees on ‘em. 'Give me 5 bees for a quarter', you’d say.

Now where were we?

Oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion on my belt (which was the style at the time).

They didn’t have white onions, because of the war, the only thing you could get was those big yellow ones."

 

[Gremlin]

The battle over what, exactly, this thread is supposed to be about is hilarious.