Hihohe posted:

It still blows my mind man.
How many people are out there using viking as a descriptor regularly in thier daily vocabulary.

They have to be studied.

Hihohe posted:

It still blows my mind man.
How many people are out there using viking as a descriptor regularly in thier daily vocabulary.

They have to be studied.

HappyCapybaraFamily posted:

It is tough. You just have to try harder.

I hate Viking posts, you see
It's not a drat analogy
Ralph is speaking of his own reality

Oh my god! Am I wrong?
So thinks Mike all along
You've finally made a Viking
(Yes, we've finally made a Viking)
Yes, you've finally made a Viking out of sleep

I hate you, Simpsons meme thread!

PittTheElder posted:

I can only assume 100% of them were raised in Minnesota and Wisconsin or some poo poo.

CPColin posted:

At least one, duh: Ralph Wiggum

Arbite posted:

https://i.imgur.com/hLOstao.mp4

Wayne Knight posted:

More molememes please

ultrafilter posted:

Found on Simpsons Bortposting:

Hihohe posted:

It still blows my mind man.
How many people are out there using viking as a descriptor regularly in thier daily vocabulary.

They have to be studied.

Arbite posted:

Uh-huh, and what does the canon (Quebecois) dub say?

codo27 posted:

codo27 posted:

Uncle Wemus posted:

Heavy_D posted:

Heavy_D posted:

loquacius posted:

posters 20 years ago: I don't get it, they put Aragorn's head in a Simpsons scene? Where's Insanity Wolf and Bad Luck Brian?

Heavy_D posted:

loquacius posted:

Arbite posted:

https://i.imgur.com/hLOstao.mp4

HappyCapybaraFamily posted:

It is tough. You just have to try harder.

I hate Viking posts, you see
It's not a drat analogy
Ralph is speaking of his own reality

Oh my god! Am I wrong?
So thinks Mike all along
You've finally made a Viking
(Yes, we've finally made a Viking)
Yes, you've finally made a Viking out of sleep

I hate you, Simpsons meme thread!

Blurred posted:

The French dub literalises the metaphorical interpretation that Ralph is strong at sleeping, also using "ou" ("where") in place of "quand" ("when") in line with the English original:

Oh chic, dormir! C'est là où je suis le plus fort!

Blurred posted:

The confusion is understandable, because the line in the show mirrors a conventional syntactic structure which is used to convey one's relationship to an abstract discipline in other contexts. If I say, "Oh boy, philosophy! That's where I'm a champion!", or "Oh boy, break dancing! That's where I'm a beast!", it's clear that the anaphoric phrase "that's where" denotes a general field of activity rather than some concrete activity, and that the direct object of the main clause is to be understood metaphorically rather than as a direct identity claim. Transposing this structure onto Ralph Wiggum's utterance generates the same set of expectations (i.e. that "sleep" is a general field of activity, and that "viking" is a metaphor). While the process by which novel metaphors are understood in practice would require a separate post all of its own, they typically depend on the audience recognising the most salient elements of the concept evoked by the vehicle of the metaphor (i.e. "viking") and how they might aptly be applied the tenor of the metaphor (i.e. the discipline of "sleep"). If one understands that the properties of, say, strength and power are highly salient to the concept of "viking", then one interprets the metaphor as suggesting that Ralph is strong and powerful at sleeping; i.e., he is very good at it. The fact that "viking" is not a conventional metaphor doesn't prevent such a metaphorical implicature from falling out of the utterance as it is produced in the context of the show.

The problem here is that the main clause appears to imply an identity claim when taken literally (i.e. "I'm a viking" suggests on a literal reading that Ralph is actually viking) which viewers recognise as nonsensical in context (i.e. it is clear to the viewer that Ralph is not, in fact, a viking) which presses them almost automatically into metaphorical interpretation to make sense of the claim (i.e. Ralph is strong and powerful at sleeping). This could have been avoided if the writers had included a modal operator ("Oh boy, sleep! That's where I can be a viking!") or a causitive form (Oh boy, sleep! That's where I get to be a viking!") so as to make it clear that "being a viking" is an affordance generated by the process of sleep, rather than a metaphorical identity claim.

Of course, it could be argued that Ralph, in the context of the show, is not sophisticated enough to semantically distinguish these different structures (i.e. perhaps he really does believe himself to become a viking during the act of sleep, which is why he phrases it this way) but I still believe that there is a way that the writers could have avoided the ambiguity of the original line, while remaining true to the fundamental naivete of Ralph's character. Namely, they could have had him say, "Oh boy, sleep! That's when I am a viking!". The use of the pronoun "when" in this context makes it clear that Ralph's being a viking is contingent upon some concrete, temporal process (as opposed to the more abstract reading of "sleep" evoked by the original line) which makes it easier for the viewers to recognise that Ralph believes himself to become a viking while sleeping (i.e. because that is what he dreams about) instead of being a viking at sleeping (which the original structure, on a plausible reading, appears to imply). Boy I sure hope someone was fired for that blunder.

Trabant posted:

(love it, even though I'm a Ralph metaphorist)

Blurred posted:

The confusion is understandable, because the line in the show mirrors a conventional syntactic structure which is used to convey one's relationship to an abstract discipline in other contexts. If I say, "Oh boy, philosophy! That's where I'm a champion!", or "Oh boy, break dancing! That's where I'm a beast!", it's clear that the anaphoric phrase "that's where" denotes a general field of activity rather than some concrete activity, and that the direct object of the main clause is to be understood metaphorically rather than as a direct identity claim. Transposing this structure onto Ralph Wiggum's utterance generates the same set of expectations (i.e. that "sleep" is a general field of activity, and that "viking" is a metaphor). While the process by which novel metaphors are understood in practice would require a separate post all of its own, they typically depend on the audience recognising the most salient elements of the concept evoked by the vehicle of the metaphor (i.e. "viking") and how they might aptly be applied the tenor of the metaphor (i.e. the discipline of "sleep"). If one understands that the properties of, say, strength and power are highly salient to the concept of "viking", then one interprets the metaphor as suggesting that Ralph is strong and powerful at sleeping; i.e., he is very good at it. The fact that "viking" is not a conventional metaphor doesn't prevent such a metaphorical implicature from falling out of the utterance as it is produced in the context of the show.

The problem here is that the main clause appears to imply an identity claim when taken literally (i.e. "I'm a viking" suggests on a literal reading that Ralph is actually viking) which viewers recognise as nonsensical in context (i.e. it is clear to the viewer that Ralph is not, in fact, a viking) which presses them almost automatically into metaphorical interpretation to make sense of the claim (i.e. Ralph is strong and powerful at sleeping). This could have been avoided if the writers had included a modal operator ("Oh boy, sleep! That's where I can be a viking!") or a causitive form (Oh boy, sleep! That's where I get to be a viking!") so as to make it clear that "being a viking" is an affordance generated by the process of sleep, rather than a metaphorical identity claim.

Of course, it could be argued that Ralph, in the context of the show, is not sophisticated enough to semantically distinguish these different structures (i.e. perhaps he really does believe himself to become a viking during the act of sleep, which is why he phrases it this way) but I still believe that there is a way that the writers could have avoided the ambiguity of the original line, while remaining true to the fundamental naivete of Ralph's character. Namely, they could have had him say, "Oh boy, sleep! That's when I am a viking!". The use of the pronoun "when" in this context makes it clear that Ralph's being a viking is contingent upon some concrete, temporal process (as opposed to the more abstract reading of "sleep" evoked by the original line) which makes it easier for the viewers to recognise that Ralph believes himself to become a viking while sleeping (i.e. because that is what he dreams about) instead of being a viking at sleeping (which the original structure, on a plausible reading, appears to imply). Boy I sure hope someone was fired for that blunder.

Mr. Fix It posted:

i now understand why people war over trivial religious differences. death to the heretical ralph metaphorists

kdrudy posted:

Get Drew Barrymore's brother to read this for an hour and a half and I'll listen, but I ain't reading that.

JuiceOne posted:

https://twitter.com/JuiceSimpsons/status/1548028789157900292

Blurred posted:

The confusion is understandable, because the line in the show mirrors a conventional syntactic structure which is used to convey one's relationship to an abstract discipline in other contexts. If I say, "Oh boy, philosophy! That's where I'm a champion!", or "Oh boy, break dancing! That's where I'm a beast!", it's clear that the anaphoric phrase "that's where" denotes a general field of activity rather than some concrete activity, and that the direct object of the main clause is to be understood metaphorically rather than as a direct identity claim. Transposing this structure onto Ralph Wiggum's utterance generates the same set of expectations (i.e. that "sleep" is a general field of activity, and that "viking" is a metaphor). While the process by which novel metaphors are understood in practice would require a separate post all of its own, they typically depend on the audience recognising the most salient elements of the concept evoked by the vehicle of the metaphor (i.e. "viking") and how they might aptly be applied the tenor of the metaphor (i.e. the discipline of "sleep"). If one understands that the properties of, say, strength and power are highly salient to the concept of "viking", then one interprets the metaphor as suggesting that Ralph is strong and powerful at sleeping; i.e., he is very good at it. The fact that "viking" is not a conventional metaphor doesn't prevent such a metaphorical implicature from falling out of the utterance as it is produced in the context of the show.

The problem here is that the main clause appears to imply an identity claim when taken literally (i.e. "I'm a viking" suggests on a literal reading that Ralph is actually viking) which viewers recognise as nonsensical in context (i.e. it is clear to the viewer that Ralph is not, in fact, a viking) which presses them almost automatically into metaphorical interpretation to make sense of the claim (i.e. Ralph is strong and powerful at sleeping). This could have been avoided if the writers had included a modal operator ("Oh boy, sleep! That's where I can be a viking!") or a causitive form (Oh boy, sleep! That's where I get to be a viking!") so as to make it clear that "being a viking" is an affordance generated by the process of sleep, rather than a metaphorical identity claim.

Of course, it could be argued that Ralph, in the context of the show, is not sophisticated enough to semantically distinguish these different structures (i.e. perhaps he really does believe himself to become a viking during the act of sleep, which is why he phrases it this way) but I still believe that there is a way that the writers could have avoided the ambiguity of the original line, while remaining true to the fundamental naivete of Ralph's character. Namely, they could have had him say, "Oh boy, sleep! That's when I am a viking!". The use of the pronoun "when" in this context makes it clear that Ralph's being a viking is contingent upon some concrete, temporal process (as opposed to the more abstract reading of "sleep" evoked by the original line) which makes it easier for the viewers to recognise that Ralph believes himself to become a viking while sleeping (i.e. because that is what he dreams about) instead of being a viking at sleeping (which the original structure, on a plausible reading, appears to imply). Boy I sure hope someone was fired for that blunder.