59
votes
Accepted
Why are nice picture/gif/video about foo called "foo-porn"?
A definition of porn could be gratuitous images/moving images of naked people and sex acts intended to excite and arouse. The use of foo-porn implies the use of this definition, but replacing "naked ...
- 4,679
27
votes
Why are nice picture/gif/video about foo called "foo-porn"?
Its a humorous extension of its original meaning. "Porn" in its original meaning of sex-porn (for want of a better term) means images that people like to look at because they create pleasant sexual ...
- 624
23
votes
Accepted
How does a "parent" generate a "sister"?
It doesn't.
You've made an error in your classification.
ELU is not a parent site to ELL. ELU and ELL are each other's sister sites. They are on even levels of the SE architecture.
The main parent ...
- 25.4k
10
votes
Why are nice picture/gif/video about foo called "foo-porn"?
I (speculate) that it has something to do with it being a Supernormal Stimulus.
A picture of people can be made more and more pornographic by makeup and poses and clothing which accentuates the ...
7
votes
Accepted
Would you or do you happen to
There exists a strange convention in English of less direct constructions (often using the conditional) being considered more polite. One common example is the phrase would like:
Would you like ...
- 980
7
votes
How does a "parent" generate a "sister"?
What I say below is my opinion based on some experience and some reading and I have no citation to back me up.
First of all, I would like to point out that in biology, the chromosome which is going ...
- 183
6
votes
What is the meaning of "tight" as in "This website is tight"?
As a couple of commenters noted, "tight" does not have a clearly defined, widely recognized meaning in this context.
That said, as a software developer, we use the word "tight" to refer to a software ...
- 68.6k
6
votes
What do internet-constructions like "Me seeing real couples" mean?
In the absence of any further context, this style is often accompanied by an image that reflects how the writer feels in a particular situation.
I would interpret "Me seeing real couples" as ...
- 782
4
votes
What do internet-constructions like "Me seeing real couples" mean?
Adding to @Leachoid's answer, we often see this kind of style used in memes. In memes, you do have a slight limit in terms of space, so—like in headlines—we delete words that are extraneous or ...
- 1,073
4
votes
Why are nice picture/gif/video about foo called "foo-porn"?
-porn has come to mean a perfect, idealized version of the item discussed.
The first I ran into this suffix use was food-porn. It was used for the cooking shows and magazines that showed a perfect ...
4
votes
Why are nice picture/gif/video about foo called "foo-porn"?
"X-porn" means people are fetishizing X. Here's another example: Back when Cheers was on TV, people used to describe it as "time porn" -- the people on the show had huge gobs of leisure time, which ...
- 456
3
votes
Accepted
What do "At the top" and "With the letter U" mean in this reddit poll?
In a list of countries that are otherwise sorted alphabetically. Should United States be sorted the same as other countries, or should it go at the top of the list. This question would be asking ...
- 228k
2
votes
Accepted
What does "wading" mean in the context of technology?
"Being Involved in Events is Being in Water" is one of the "master metaphors" used in language (including English). See the Master Metaphor List, page 41. The metaphor of a human entering a body of ...
- 803
2
votes
Why are nice picture/gif/video about foo called "foo-porn"?
According to the FAQ of /r/EarthPorn, the term originates with Anthony Bourdain, who has hosted various culinary TV programs.
The comment referred to in the FAQ entry states he
coined the term "...
- 127
1
vote
"Bop the fizz" - what's the meaning?
That was me! They are semi-random placeholder words for arbitrary actions. it is also a vague reference to the games bop-it and Fizz Buzz
It is not an existing saying that is used anywhere on earth ...
- 1,888
1
vote
Accepted
Whether "illiteracy" is rude or impoliteness internet user name?
It expresses too radical self-criticism, since it literally means inability to read or write. You could use instead a more optimistic name of that kind, like 'newbie'.
- 2,490
1
vote
Admins, staff, and ? users of a website
I offer Zone Admin and Zone Staff, to mirror the site-wide nomenclature while indicating that these roles are restricted to (a) certain local zone(s).
- 4,150
1
vote
Is there a word/slang for 'keyboarder' - irresponsible internet critics
I know you said "beyond common trolls", but I really feel that "troll" is the best perjorative term here. It's at least the most ubiquitous, and though "troll" is a much more informal word than ...
- 2,054
1
vote
How is "pwned" pronounced, and what does it mean?
it was a hacker culture term years before gamers got hold of it. i heard it back in the late 80s / early 90s. pwn is a typo because on standard english keyboards the o and the p are right next to each ...
- 11
1
vote
How is "pwned" pronounced, and what does it mean?
Something no ones mentioned is that the p may not be a typo even if it is next to the O on the keyboard. Within the letter P you have the vertical line of an "I" joined with an "O". I'm guessing the ...
- 111
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible