#tadpool

Happy birthday to @owlipoppen/ @froglot! Their art is so cute and they have always inspired me to be unique with my warrior cat designs! I drew their new fursona, Owli, and their warrior cat oc, Tadpool! I hope you like it!

Banhammer by Rob Wynne TTTO: “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel

You could make a cat GIF putting down somebody’s race You could post the president smiling Hitler mustache on his face

All you do is post it We’ll remove it from the feed

You could be a big dick, yeah Ranting up and down, all around the pool You could be a bumbling jerk, bumbling But that violates the rule!

I’m gonna swing…my banhammer I will erase your fame Oh, let me swing the banhammer This will be my admin posting

If you want to spam us Then we will send you on your way Don’t you try to spam us Cause you know that just doesn’t play

I’m gonna swing…my banhammer I will erase your fame Oh, let me swing the banhammer This will be my admin posting I’m your banhammer Let there be no doubt about it

Ban…..ban….banhammer

I kicked the asshole (I kicked the asshole) Banned his nick (Banned his nick) This is the Tadpool (This is the Tadpool) So don’t be a dick (So please don’t be a dick) If your posts are nice (posts are nice) We will like it twice (like it twice) Post it nice, (post it nice) I will comment twice

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I sure like you Only you Gonna post the good stuff Post, post all the good stuff yeah I’ve been finding the funny I’ve been finding the funny Going read that good stuff, post for you Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you I’ve been finding the funny I’ve been finding the funny It’s what we’re doing, doing All day and night

The Tacos of Shame by Rob Wynne TTTO: “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” (16th century English carol)

I wish I’d not had those tacos I wish I’d not had those tacos I wish I’d not had those tacos I think I might die

Alone In my car at the Office Bazaar I ate…

So, for many months I have not listened to TMS in any capacity, which is why you haven't seen a word defense.  But now, I'm back, and I know have access to the Oxford English Dictionary and all sorts of other academicky stuff thanks to my upcoming study at the University of Wisconsin.

So, in any case, helmed ... what to say ... Since I have no idea what the emailer was meant by this word*, I will just take Brian's guess that it refers to the meaning "to direct (a film)".  The aforementioned OED dates this very specific usage to 1930, so it's relatively new, but not that new.  It's not hard to imagine this leap being made, given that a director could be said to steer the direction of a film just as a helmsman steers the direction of a ship.

And what's more, this is really just a particular extension of a much older use of helm.  OED defines this older meaning as "To guide with or as with a helm, Chiefly fig.", with it's earliest citation (dating to 1607) being "Fate helmeth all."  Now, I know that that may be a poetic, metaphorical use, but language is built on metaphors.

In short, we're talking about an early 20th century extension of a nearly four-hundred-year old figurative meaning.  I don't think this one is going away.

EXTRA NOTE:  OK, since it came up on the show, I figured I would just have to defend the Klingon language just a bit.  Some of you may know that in addition to being TMS's linguistic defender (well, I wasn't for a bit) -- I also host a podcast about constructed languages (and, of course, create languages myself as a hobby).  Many sci-fi properties do, indeed, throw random apostrophes into names for no reason other than decoration, but Klingon, being designed by a linguist, uses it for a purpose -- it represents a glottal stop (pronounced by momentarily closing off your larynx), which is a very common convention in romanization.  I have my issues with Klingon (or tlIngan), but it is a fairly well fleshed-out language.  For a little more of my impressions of Klingon, listen to Conlangery #16 -- you can skip the whole discussion of tense if you like.

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