Sleep is where Ralph is a Viking

June 10, 2007 7:06 AM

"Oh, boy, sleep! That's where I'm a viking!" From the Simpsons episode "Lisa the Vegetarian," one small Ralph Wiggum line that's sparked some big debate on the internet. Does Ralph use "Viking" to mean "One who excels"? Or does Ralph dream of being a Scandinavian warrior? Not content to keep it online, people are calling radio shows (June 5th's episode, around the 49 minute mark) to gain support for their opinion. Perhaps only the show's writer, David Cohen, can settle this.
posted by Greg Nog (467 comments total)

One who excels? How often is that usage even, er, used?
posted by delmoi at 7:13 AM on June 10, 2007

I think I've been misinterpreted that joke for my whole life. Here was my interpretation: I assumed that "viking" was a figure of speech I'd never heard, that was synonymous with "pioneer" or "groundbreaker". So I always thought the joke was that Ralph was basically saying "Sleep is an area in which I excel". I never thought much of the joke, mostly because (I thought) it was based on a figure of speech I wasn't familiar with.

But I was just thinking about this joke, and I realized he probably meant that he has dreams about being a viking (in a literal sense), and he can't wait to go to sleep so he can be a viking again. That's way funnier. I am retarded.

"I am retarded": yea verily.
posted by psmealey at 7:13 AM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

Worst. Meme. Ever.
posted by ColdChef at 7:15 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

My feelings on this controversy can best be summarized by this poster:

"If the people in this thread are being serious, then the internet needs to get blown up or something."
posted by psmealey at 7:17 AM on June 10, 2007 [13 favorites]

This debate might be on more solid ground if Ralph had claimed to be a shark. It would still be stupid, but it there would at least be some reasonable foundation for speculation.

"Hey, that new guy's really a shark! He's going to source our success all the way to a modern proactive solution plateau!"

Right -- that's something we might hear in an office. But this next phrase...?

"Wow, I think we can all agree that our new vice-president, Mark, is truly a paradigm-shifting viking."

THAT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE. (Why would a Wookiee live on Endor?)

If this IS a new and exciting piece of idiot-slang in English, why don't the cool kids say it yet? Who's repressing the viking revolution?

We need answers, damn it.
posted by CheeseburgerBrown at 7:19 AM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

I thought the joke was that "Viking" was a Wiggum family word meaning "high achiever".
posted by stammer at 7:19 AM on June 10, 2007

Perhaps only the show's writer, David Cohen, can settle this.

Or can he?
posted by gubo at 7:20 AM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

Incomplete:Part

Best of Ralph Wiggum: Part 1 | Part 2
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 7:25 AM on June 10, 2007 [3 favorites]

answer: the latter. in his dreams he is a viking. move along.
posted by Busithoth at 7:28 AM on June 10, 2007 [3 favorites]

Plate of vikings.
posted by cortex at 7:31 AM on June 10, 2007 [5 favorites]

I believe that David Cohen has already stated that it was widely misinterpreted as being about "sleep", when it was actually a sly jab at government censorship.
posted by RavinDave at 7:31 AM on June 10, 2007 [6 favorites]

I choo-choo-choose to believe that anyone who overanalyzes this joke is a moron.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:34 AM on June 10, 2007 [8 favorites]

I suppose it's yet another instance of Simpsons fiends trying to find an excuse to hark back to the golden years.
posted by Neilopolis at 7:41 AM on June 10, 2007

If pillaging is your game, and you earn the sobriquet Ravenfeeder, you can legitimately be said to be at the top of your profession.
posted by Abiezer at 7:43 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'd always assumed that in his dreams he was Randy Moss.
posted by Flashman at 7:44 AM on June 10, 2007 [3 favorites]

Dude. Ralph dreams of being a viking. That's it. Who the hell uses "viking" to mean "high achiever"? If Ralph had said, "Yay, sleep! I'm a viking of sleep" -- then okay, sure. I don't know that this would have been that funny (it might have if he'd followed it up with a mean look and a "grrrr!", then put his head down and immediately started snoring), but that's not what happened. As it stands, I don't see much room for misinterpretation. Anyway, we know Ralph has an active and somewhat disturbing fantasy life (witness the Harvey-esque leprechaun that encourages him to start fires), so this is hardly out of character. I mean, come ON.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 7:45 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

how can there be only two entries for the nerdfight tag? did the internet get blowed up?
posted by bodega at 7:47 AM on June 10, 2007

I'm pretty sure this may qualify as stonerfight, actually.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 7:48 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Huh. I always thought the line was funny precisely because of this ambiguity.
posted by fleetmouse at 7:48 AM on June 10, 2007

Wow, this is strange. Because just the other day, I realized that when Ralph utters his famous line in "Lisa's Rival", he isn't actually using "smells" as an adjective, but as a participle. He means to be saying that his cat's breath contains the olfactory capabilities similar to those of catfood.

Totally changed the way I watch the show. These writers are geniuses.
posted by felix betachat at 7:54 AM on June 10, 2007 [7 favorites]

For Ralph to refer to himself as a "high achiever" would imply some self awareness that, in general, he's a low achiever. But that's totally contrary to what makes Ralph such a funny and sympathetic character.

Me fail English? That's unpossible.
posted by Nelson at 7:54 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Wow. Just wow.
posted by birdherder at 7:55 AM on June 10, 2007

Oh Boy, Mefi! That's where I'm a viking.
posted by jonmc at 7:58 AM on June 10, 2007 [12 favorites]

I'm pretty sure this may qualify as stonerfight, actually.

No, that would be stonerdoze. They don't fight much.

"Oh, boy, stoned! That's where I'm a viking!"
posted by y2karl at 8:03 AM on June 10, 2007 [3 favorites]

How is someone who dreams of being a viking funny? Someone who a) excels only a sleep (which he proves, as he falls asleep instantly) and b) thinks "I'm a viking!" is a way of expressing that excellence, now that's funny.
posted by dobbs at 8:03 AM on June 10, 2007 [5 favorites]

For Ralph to refer to himself as a "high achiever" would imply some self awareness that, in general, he's a low achiever. But that's totally contrary to what makes Ralph such a funny and sympathetic character.

But when he delivers this line, he's just been embarrassed by his failure to avoid eating a worm during class. Now he's given the opportunity to perform a task appropriate to his skillset.
posted by stammer at 8:04 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

It's a fascinating debate. I mean, witness the annoyance in the small set of replies here so far--for some reason the idea that one would interpret it as "high achiever" just really gets under some people's skin.

Anway, I assume "X, that's where I'm a viking" will become a new snowclone.
posted by statolith at 8:07 AM on June 10, 2007

"A big debate" about a throwaway line in a Simpsons episode from almost 12 years ago? Ummm ..... okayyyyy .....

I'm with Neilopolis. It could also be a way to attempt to drum up interest in the upcoming Simpsons movie, maybe?
posted by blucevalo at 8:10 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

The best part are the comments that indicate Ralph would have said it a different way if he had meant (either option), without taking into account Ralph's poor diction. Ralph is the poster boy for Occam's Razor.
posted by user92371 at 8:13 AM on June 10, 2007

i eated the purple berry. it tastes like... burning.
posted by exlotuseater at 8:14 AM on June 10, 2007

stammer nails it.

Anyone who thinks it's a literal translation (that he BECOMES a viking in his dreams) is really just not thinking too hard.
posted by grum@work at 8:17 AM on June 10, 2007

'So, you...like to...overthink...stuff?'
posted by hojoki at 8:20 AM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

Oh boy, MetaFilter! Where everyone is a plate of beans!
posted by sidereal at 8:20 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Good gravy. I think I remember this argument being hashed out on Usenet.

Like, TEN YEARS AGO.
posted by evilcolonel at 8:21 AM on June 10, 2007

I'm a viking, so I am really getting a kick out of most of these replies.
posted by RavinDave at 8:23 AM on June 10, 2007

Homer goes on a psychedelic shamanic vision quest
posted by jouke at 8:26 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

This is the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard. I can't begin to make the first step in the logic whereby this is not a boy saying he dreams about being a Viking. I just looked up Viking in the Oxford English Dictionary to check I'm not missing some vital part of human experience. (I'm not. It still just means a Viking.)
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:26 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

QED
posted by statolith at 8:30 AM on June 10, 2007

This is utter bullshit. This is the type of bullshit conversation that ends friendships, because one friend realizes the other friend is just a mouth-breather.
posted by autodidact at 8:30 AM on June 10, 2007 [5 favorites]

I can reluctantly see the ambiguity. It wouldn't have existed in the case of either, say -

"Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a cowboy!"
or -

"Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm an astronaut!"

But the ambiguity arguably implied by "vkiking" would be tipped the other way, if it had instead been something like -

"Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a champion!"

I can't believe I just spent so much time thinking about this.
posted by yhbc at 8:37 AM on June 10, 2007

Ralph is a Unitard.
posted by blaneyphoto at 8:42 AM on June 10, 2007

I'm pretty sure most members of metafilter are vikings.
posted by srboisvert at 8:43 AM on June 10, 2007

Bookmark this thread, guys. This is how we figure out who the pod people are.
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:45 AM on June 10, 2007 [15 favorites]

It's a fascinating debate. I mean, witness the annoyance in the small set of replies here so far--for some reason the idea that one would interpret it as "high achiever" just really gets under some people's skin.

I noticed that, too, statolith. Here are some of the really interesting things I've learned about all this:

A) About 60% of all people seem to think Ralph dreams of being a Viking. Roughly 40% think he's using "Viking" to mean champion.

B) Those who side with the dreams explanation seem a lot more willing to say "No, this is the ONLY WAY it makes sense." The people who side with the champion explanation seem more willing to conclude that either is valid, but one is preferred.

C) No one's really overthinking this (except me, I guess, since I just posted it to the blue); almost everyone I've asked -- regardless of which interpretation they side with -- offered their interpretation immediately, based entirely on a gut reaction.

D) For what it's worth, the translators of the show side with the "champion" explanation in the foreign-language dubs on the DVDs: link to the forum where I first got involved in all this hullaballoo.
posted by Greg Nog at 8:49 AM on June 10, 2007

VK TEST PROTOCOL (contd.)
If subject answers B, "He is a metaphorical Viking", recalibrate and proceed to question 3.
Q3. Describe in single words only the good things that come into your mind about [pause] your mother.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:50 AM on June 10, 2007 [8 favorites]

If the writers really meant for Ralph to dream of himself as a viking, don't you think they would have finished the joke by having Ralph actually dream of himself as a viking?

Can you imagine the visual gag they could have had with that? And you think they deliberately passed that up?
posted by grum@work at 8:51 AM on June 10, 2007

This is retarded. Here I go...

It's absolutely him saying that he dreams of being a Viking. If I cock my head and squint really hard, then I can kind of see where the other interpretation would come from, and yeah, it's kind of funny, largely because I picture Clancy using it as a term of encouragement for young Ralph.

However, it's much, MUCH funnier to me to have kid-who-can't-help-but-eat-his-worm, pathetic, real-life Ralph contrasted with the vicious barbarian he apparently - and apparently exclusively - is in dreamland. The fact that he knows this, that his imagination is specific enough for this dream and yet constrained enough to allow no others, and that he just jumps right into his fantasy life with glee after what should've been a mortifyingly embarrassing episode, makes it all the funnier.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:52 AM on June 10, 2007 [13 favorites]

How odd to see our half-baked assertions, distilled during overanalyzing late-night debates, discussed by other people. These other people seem not to understand the irony in being shocked that these trivial assertions were debated while taking the whole debate much more seriously than we ever did. You engaged in this debate because it was a fun distraction for you and your friends, like a jigsaw puzzle or a thought experiment. Why do these other people care? It's bewildering.

Just a data point from something in my past.
posted by zennie at 8:53 AM on June 10, 2007

So much funnier if the joke is that Ralph is a literal viking in his dreams.

Two key points against the other interpretation:
1) It's not funny.
2) The work "viking" doesn't mean that.
posted by supercres at 8:56 AM on June 10, 2007 [11 favorites]

navelgazer: Exactly.
posted by supercres at 8:58 AM on June 10, 2007

If the writers really meant for Ralph to dream of himself as a viking, don't you think they would have finished the joke by having Ralph actually dream of himself as a viking?

You can't make an animated show if you took every opportunity to include a sight gag. Not even if you're making Family Guy. The show was about Lisa's conversion to vegetarianism, not Ralph. It was a throw-away, two second line.

Here's a question for you people who think "Viking" meant "champion". Can you find a single reference to using the word "Viking" to mean someone who excels anywhere in literature? Anything at all?

It's not a question of "underthinking" it's a question of "uninformed thinking". The people who say they're using the word viking to mean someone who excels are just not that familiar enough with the word to really decide what was meant. The person who started this whole thing said so himself.

I assumed that "viking" was a figure of speech I'd never heard, that was synonymous with "pioneer" or "groundbreaker". So I always thought the joke was that Ralph was basically saying "Sleep is an area in which I excel". I never thought much of the joke, mostly because (I thought) it was based on a figure of speech I wasn't familiar with.

They weren't familiar with the word and so they got it wrong (which they admitted)
posted by delmoi at 9:01 AM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

COULD OVERTHINK A JAPE ON SCREENS
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:05 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

delmoi, were there any previous references -- anywhere in literature -- to "Eat My Shorts" as an expression of dismissal, before the Simpsons writers coined that usage?
posted by Greg Nog at 9:07 AM on June 10, 2007

This is retarded. Here I go...

You, sir, have quite cogently summarized the first 45 years of my life.
posted by sidereal at 9:10 AM on June 10, 2007 [4 favorites]

Greg Nog, I just want to say, the artwork in your comics is really good. But you still need to go to bed now and have a little nap for a while. Everyone needs a little nap now and then.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:13 AM on June 10, 2007

how can there be only two entries for the nerdfight tag?

Because nobody has posted the excellent 'Predator ship' board-fight yet. (Slightly more self-aware as it's mostly one guy and a bunch of people provoking, but hilarious nonetheless)
posted by statolith at 9:20 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Here's my take on this important issue:

It is pretty obviously Ralph saying, "Sleep is where I dream of being a Viking." Does anyone think Ralph has the intelligence to be capable of using the work 'viking' as a metaphor for 'one who excels'? Has anyone ever used that slang? Would Ralph be capable of inventing it? Was there ever any point in the show when another person used 'viking' in that way?

However, I do like to think about the possibility that he was saying, "I'm such a viking at sleep," because it is possibly the stupidest slang ever. The thought of people going around saying, "I'm a real viking of _____" or "I'm such a viking when it comes to _____" makes me laugh very hard, simply because it sounds so stupid.
posted by papakwanz at 9:23 AM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

Both are right, because... a wizard did it.

A Wizard Did It.
posted by Benjy at 9:24 AM on June 10, 2007

I've always heard it as the metaphorical viking - in sleep I am the strongest, I conquer. In sleep I am the best.

The "nobody uses viking to mean champion" argument doesn't hold water any more than the "cromulent isn't really a word so that joke isn't funny" argument. English is a flexible, nimble, shifting-pathogen language and is more than able to absorb that slight stretch of a figure of speech -- even if the writers just made it up. Or, more likely, even if the writers just made Ralph or Clancy make it up.
posted by dirtdirt at 9:24 AM on June 10, 2007 [4 favorites]

For Ralph to refer to himself as a "high achiever" would imply some self awareness that, in general, he's a low achiever. But that's totally contrary to what makes Ralph such a funny and sympathetic character.

Me fail English? That's unpossible.
posted by Nelson at 9:54 AM on June 10

eponysterical?
posted by ninjew at 9:28 AM on June 10, 2007

doesn't hold water any more than the "cromulent isn't really a word so that joke isn't funny" argument

Wow, way to miss that one. The joke is that "cromulent" isn't really a word. Why would anyone say that makes it not funny, when that's the joke?
posted by papakwanz at 9:29 AM on June 10, 2007

I'm such a nerd I can't let this go. It's clearly "in my dreams, I'm a Viking warrior". Just listen to the intonation in the horrible cam copy on YouTube (00:21 to 00:35). The down tone in the closing syllable of viking makes it clear he's talking about the role, the act of being a fearsome Norse warrior. If he meant it metaphorically to refer to the present situation it would have been a flat tone.
posted by Nelson at 9:29 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

And the joke here is that Ralph is using a similarly concocted piece of speech.
posted by dirtdirt at 9:30 AM on June 10, 2007

NO

NO NO NO

FFS PEOPLE
posted by thirteenkiller at 9:30 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

dirtdirt: and ralph is smart enough to make that conceptual leap? Ralph can make the connection between: "Viking: a race of Scandinavian barbarians and conquers" to "I am a viking of X, meaning that I am just as powerful in doing X as the Vikings were at conquering"?
posted by papakwanz at 9:32 AM on June 10, 2007

This is retarded. Here I go...

You, sir, have quite cogently summarized the first 45 years of my life.

It was actually just the first 20 years. It just felt like 45 because you're slow.
posted by srboisvert at 9:35 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

And Ralph is not just making up a word, as was the joke in the "cromulent" bit. Then he would have said, "Oh boy, sleep! That's where I'm a flinkyflank!"

If the "Viking of Sleep" people are right, Ralph, well-known to be a unitard, was making a fairly complex metaphorical leap, which he simply is not capable of doing.
posted by papakwanz at 9:36 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

English is a flexible, nimble, shifting-pathogen language and is more than able to absorb that slight stretch of a figure of speech

Yes, exactly - which is why people are arguing about this in the first place - we're used to this goddamn inexterminable cockroach of a language having umpteen layers of literal and figurative meaning.

God, I love the Frankenstein's monster that is English. Sewn together out of dead languages and living ones that it kills and uses for spare parts. If the human race were exterminated, English would find a new host or wait for one to evolve. English does not sleep. It waits.
posted by fleetmouse at 9:36 AM on June 10, 2007 [42 favorites]

Oh, what am I doing?

I had always thought of it as being both. In Ralph's dreams, he is a viking. This doesn't at all rule out the second interpretation, where he is excited about sleep because his dream self is superior to his waking one—in his dreams he is a viking, as opposed to real life, where he can't even manage to not eat a worm for two seconds. The "Oh boy" supports this, I think. "Oh boy, off to dreamland, where my lack of smarts, social skills, or self-control are helps and not hindrances to my pillaging, worm-eating ways." Why does he like being a viking? Because vikings are beyond him in a way that he finds desirable. If I dreamed about being a viking on a regular basis I would probably get nervous about my unconscious, not exclaim with joy at bedtime.

Short version: He doesn't have to have explicitly intended to say "Sleep, where I am a champion" for that meaning to be implicit in what he's said.
posted by felix grundy at 9:37 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Here's my sandbox. I'm not allowed to go in the deep end. That's where I saw the leprechaun. He told me to burn things.

Plateofbeans Analysis:

Where "sandbox" is a thinly-veiled metaphor for the Nietzschean abyss, and "leprechaun" is the manifestation of our darkest repressed antisocial desires. Ralph is a terribly disturbed individual with sociopathic and psychopathic tendencies that must be sublimated in order to maintain psychological coherence.

WRONG. IT'S A REGULAR SANDBOX AND A FANTASY LEPRECHAUN BECAUSE RALPH FANTASIZES A LOT. Okay?!
posted by exlotuseater at 9:38 AM on June 10, 2007

felix grundy, I choo-choo-choose you.
posted by papakwanz at 9:42 AM on June 10, 2007

Oh, puh-lease This is RALPHIE WIGGUM we're talking about. When he says, "viking", it means he said "viking". Whether he actually meant "viking" or not is irrelevant. He could dream he was Abraham Lincoln on a Penny Farthing bicycle and still say he was a viking - for reasons that should be clear to anyone who's seen enough Simpsons episodes. Of course, "viking" could refer to Ralphie shoving crayons up his nose again, licking paint off the walls, or swallowing the funny little clouds flying off the back of his daddy's car - the effect would be the same.

Now that the joke's been explained at considerable length, let's start singing "Springtime for Hitler".
posted by Smart Dalek at 9:42 AM on June 10, 2007

come on, everybody, if we can just thrash this out another couple of hundred threads, we'll beat the whole PH jail thread.

and for the record, I'm not angry at people who interpret it differently. I love multiple interpretations, it's just so random and academic, the energy spent on it seems lost in the aether.

shouldn't the rule typically be "what's funnier?"
dual interpretations can add humor, (not just frustration) so win-win for the writer, who's moved on long ago to more important matters.

Like 'bananas or berries in my cheerios?'
posted by Busithoth at 9:43 AM on June 10, 2007

I've made these arguments on one of the other linked boards, but here is why I believe the writers meant Ralph to mean "when it comes to sleep, I am unmatched!"

First of all, translated versions in French, German, Porteguese, Czech and Dutch all support this interpretation. For example, the Dutch translation is "Slapen, daar ben ik goed in" or "Sleep, that is something I'm good at." Sure, translations are sometimes wonky, but every single translation supports the same interpretation.

Next, the line makes more sense in context, as a Mefite above has explained. Ralph has failed at worm-cutting, but then Ms. Hoover tells him to sleep and he perks up because, unlike worm-cutting, sleep is where he's a Viking. I even hear the emphasis on "I'm" in the line. ("That is where, I, unlike others, am a Viking.") The line could be a humourous nonsequitur about dreaming, but the champion interpretation makes more sense to me in context.

As for no one using the word "Viking" to mean "champion" , I would point out that people did start using use the term in this sense after the episode. But back to the point -- we would understand Ralph if he said "When it comes to sleep, I'm a god." We would even understand him if he coined a phrase like "When it comes to sleep, I'm a pipehitting gangster." In other words, when it comes to sleep, you don't mess with him. So there's no problem with using new terms to convey a meaning.

The writers could made the joke by saying "Sleep, that's where I'm a champion" but it's much funnier to exaggerate Ralph's prowess and use an absurd unexpected comparison, hence, "Sleep, that's where I'm a Viking."

Some people feel it would be out of character for Ralph to use a clever turn of phrase, but he has gone out of character before to earn a laugh or serve the purposes of the story, such as when he giving a stirring performance as the dying George Washington.

Finally, for all the eye-rollers, the reason this some of us (on both sides) find this debate interesting is that for over a decade, thousands of other people have interpreted a memorable scene in a way that never occurred to us. We're in two separate worlds!

Besides, not everything we do has to cure cancer.
posted by Yogurt at 9:45 AM on June 10, 2007 [9 favorites]

delmoi, were there any previous references -- anywhere in literature -- to "Eat My Shorts" as an expression of dismissal, before the Simpsons writers coined that usage?

My apologies if I missed the sarcasm. Eat My Shorts, as said by Judd Nelson, delivering lines written by John Hughes
posted by 23skidoo at 9:48 AM on June 10, 2007 [3 favorites]

I doubt that anyone thought "viking" meant "one who excels" when the episode first aired. (Though some people here will probably claim they did.)

A lot of geeks went around saying that line a lot, and it started getting applied to various things. I had a roommate who said it for just about anything. "Oh boy, a job interview! That's where I'm a viking!" Now when people see that episode they get all confused, having heard references to the joke far more times than the actual joke.
posted by agropyron at 9:48 AM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

And the joke here is that Ralph is using a similarly concocted piece of speech.

But that's totally inconsistent with Ralph's main linguistic role in the show, which is as flawed echo of common usage. He's not known for his apt coinages, he's know for his mangling of existing idioms and cliches and such.

For Ralph to use "viking" in a novel sense, he'd pretty much be obliged to mis-use it in said novel sense. Ralph using a subtle but not mockery-worthy innovation of language in a throwaway line like that makes no sense.

Had he been set up for it: say, had we had an earlier scene of the Chief explaining that Wiggumses aren't the goat-hearders of Springfield's Iceland, they're the vikings or some such, then, sure, we could brook a motivation to write an odd usage into Ralph's line, but even then we'd expect said usage to be more humorously flawed. Not apt but broken: so travels Ralph Wiggum through the minefield of common speech.
posted by cortex at 9:49 AM on June 10, 2007 [4 favorites]

Obviously, Mr. Cohen (or possibly one of the other Simpsons writers throwing out ideas in a collaborative session, since no single person ever writes an entire episode despite Hollywood crediting requirements) came up with the line that could mean different things to different people in order to make it appeal to the largest potential audience possible. The use of jokes with flexible interpretation is what sets the true genius of The Simpsons apart from the lesser attempts at humor of Family Guy, South Park, etc. and what will allow the show to run forever without ever becoming cromulent.
posted by wendell at 9:50 AM on June 10, 2007

The writers could made the joke by saying "Sleep, that's where I'm a champion" but it's much funnier to exaggerate Ralph's prowess and use an absurd unexpected comparison, hence, "Sleep, that's where I'm a Viking."

It also suggests the image of his supportive parents using the phrase to cheer him up and give him a sense of confidence in his sleep skills.
posted by stammer at 9:50 AM on June 10, 2007

English is a flexible, nimble, shifting-pathogen language and is more than able to absorb that slight stretch of a figure of speech -- even if the writers just made it up.


There's glory for you.
posted by Tullius at 9:50 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Chalk me up as one of the pod people; before Ralph utters the line, Ms. Hoover tells him to "... just try to sleep while the other children are learning," in a resigned way that indicates that this is a frequent occurrence. Ralph's validation of his frequent inaction and passivity by comparing himself to fierce aggressive Vikings is what makes me laugh, and "the conceptual leap" isn't all that farfetched, given Ralph's propensity for bizarre non-sequiturs and Chief Wiggum's habit of coddling and praising his son's unorthodox behavior.

So, in summation, I'll laugh for whatever reason I damn well cho-cho-choose.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:53 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

(Setting aside entirely the simple fucking sense that if your joke is esoteric, you don't fuck it up by making the straight line funny too.)
posted by cortex at 9:53 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Some will consider this overly blunt, but it has to be said.

If you think it's a metaphorical Viking, you have what people call "autism". It's nothing to be scared or ashamed of. Some people call autism a disease, just because you are different to some other people. But I think it just means you are special and you can make a special contribution. Your medical practitioner will tell you more!

Remember, everybody is different. It doesn't mean you're not a Viking!
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:54 AM on June 10, 2007 [3 favorites]

THE ANSWER
posted by brain_drain at 9:57 AM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

Imho, imdb links are as tacky as Amazon links or Wikipedia links--they are the first resort of the lazy. Doubly so in this case as Amazon owns the Internet Movie Database.

Always there is a more useful and interesting link than the first hit on Google if one bothers to scroll down:

Lisa The Vegetarian

David Cohen

Ralph Wiggum Soundboard
posted by y2karl at 10:01 AM on June 10, 2007

If you think the interpretation is anything but "that's where I'm a Viking [warrior]" you are fucking austistic.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 10:01 AM on June 10, 2007

Perhaps in sleep, he is an expensive kitchen appliance.

That's only other "viking" I know of other than the sailing, pillaging, burning, poetry-reciting, being-eaten-by-Grendel kind.
posted by Foosnark at 10:04 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

If ever a thread screamed out for negative favourites, boy this is it
posted by bonaldi at 10:04 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Whoa, EMRJKC'94, I promise I did not read your post before making mine.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 10:04 AM on June 10, 2007

The more reasons you give to try and explain the "metaphorical viking", the more you remind me of that Intelligent Design dude sitting next to Kirk Cameron describing why God had to have invented bananas.

Also, autism.
posted by 23skidoo at 10:05 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Anyone know where I can find some support for my recently diagnosed autism?
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 10:08 AM on June 10, 2007

Viking was originally a verb: Norsemen who went ‘a-viking’ took part on raiding expeditions. Clearly Ralph was alluding to this practice when he said that's where I’m a-viking…
posted by misteraitch at 10:09 AM on June 10, 2007 [3 favorites]

You know who else harboured fantasies of associations with Norse heritage?
posted by Abiezer at 10:11 AM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

Viking ranges are very fine appliances... you might even say they excel at being ranges.
posted by cosmonaught at 10:14 AM on June 10, 2007

That line has always confused me, but for a different reason: Does Ralph actually understand what a viking is? Does this bumbling kid secretly dream of raiding, looting, burning, killing and raping? Is there a lot more going on in his head than he's letting on?

Or is he just confused in his understanding of what a viking is? If so, what *does* he think a viking is?

Either way, it's funny. But I don't see anything to support the belief that viking definitely equals champ.
posted by A dead Quaker at 10:15 AM on June 10, 2007

If you think the interpretation is anything but "that's where I'm a Viking [warrior]" you are fucking austistic.

Time to put Wapner on the barbie. Definitely put Wapner on the barbie. I'm a fuckin' excellent driver, mate.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:15 AM on June 10, 2007

From the Viking website:
"Viking has become synonymous with the epicurean lifestyle."

"Now we’re applying Viking perfection to new categories like cookware, cutlery, and small appliances."

Has any body even considered this interpretation?
posted by cosmonaught at 10:18 AM on June 10, 2007

Scandinavian warrior
posted by mrgrimm at 10:18 AM on June 10, 2007

DING DING DING

Most people heard reference to the joke before they ever saw this episode (in syndication, many years after it first aired).

Just like people thought that Bob Dylan ripped off The Animals with House of the Rising Sun ... there are dozens of examples of this in pop culture.
posted by synaesthetichaze at 10:25 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

I suppose a work can fairly be said to have achieved canonical status when legions of overeducated and understimulated people begin debating its subtlest linguistic nuances. Congratulations Matt Groening, you've joined the ranks of Lao Tzu, Moses, Paul, Mohammed, Dante, Goethe and Shakespeare.

It's a shame you showed up just as the party was ending.
posted by felix betachat at 10:31 AM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

It seems obvious to me that a Viking is a conqueror. And so I always assumed Ralph to be using it metaphorically.
posted by tomboko at 10:36 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Those who side with the dreams explanation seem a lot more willing to say "No, this is the ONLY WAY it makes sense."

Yes, exactly, because we find it astounding that anyone familiar with the character and the show could possibly read more into it than him simply saying "sometimes I dream of being an action hero/warrior". You have a brain defect if you think Ralph has even the slightest ability to knowingly make subtle wordplay.
posted by Rhomboid at 10:39 AM on June 10, 2007

Oh ho, wow. 102 comments in less than four hours! Making people bicker, that's where I'M a Viking!

And 23skidoo, thanks; my question was serious, and yeah, I forgot all about Eat My Shorts predating the Simpsons.
posted by Greg Nog at 10:42 AM on June 10, 2007

At what point in this controversy do the boys at MythBusters step in to show everyone how it's done?
posted by ZachsMind at 10:46 AM on June 10, 2007

But back to the point -- we would understand Ralph if he said "When it comes to sleep, I'm a god." We would even understand him if he coined a phrase like "When it comes to sleep, I'm a pipehitting gangster."

But he didn't say "when it comes to sleep, I'm a Viking" He said "Sleep, that's where I'm a Viking". If he had said "Sleep, that's where I'm a god" it would seem to mean he dreams of being a god, although the 'other' interpretation would be more plausible because god is used in that way, while Viking is not.

The "nobody uses viking to mean champion" argument doesn't hold water any more than the "cromulent isn't really a word so that joke isn't funny" argument.

The whole point of the cromulent joke was that it was inserted into a statement about language. It wouldn't have been much of a joke if Homer had simply said, totally out of the blue in one episode that "Shelbyville has perfectly trasiblus water" or something like that. Totally random words in totally random places isn't funny. It's funny when it's in the context of language itself
posted by delmoi at 10:49 AM on June 10, 2007

sleep != dream
posted by RavinDave at 10:52 AM on June 10, 2007

I've always assumed that "viking" was some bizarre form of generic praise in the Wiggum family, but I, for one, welcome the new real-viking interpretation. It's funnier.

I think the reason I never saw it before has something to do with my interpretation of "where." I interpreted "where" as something like "the field in which," while it was supposed to be a literal "where." I guess I don't tend to think of sleep as being a place (semantically), so that possibility flew right over my head.
posted by obvious at 10:52 AM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

But it isn't totally random. Even if no-one ever used the word viking to mean 'champion' surely it isn't that far of a leap to see it used that way? It's not a nonsense word, it's not a made-up word. It's a character who is quite a bit off using a specific word in a way that is quite a bit off, but still make sense. This unorthodox usage ends up being sort of poetic. And funny.
posted by dirtdirt at 10:59 AM on June 10, 2007

I think the reason I never saw it before has something to do with my interpretation of "where." I interpreted "where" as something like "the field in which," while it was supposed to be a literal "where." I guess I don't tend to think of sleep as being a place (semantically), so that possibility flew right over my head. Posted by: obvious.

Eponysterical!
posted by Navelgazer at 11:00 AM on June 10, 2007

In the Swedish translation of this episode, Ralph says "sleep, that's where I'm the manager of a Saab dealership."
posted by zippy at 11:09 AM on June 10, 2007 [5 favorites]

I side with the metaphorical vikings over the dream vikings. The idea of it as a figure of speech is funnier than as Ralph's recurring dream.
posted by cusack at 11:10 AM on June 10, 2007

That's a good point Navelgazer... wouldn't have have said "That's WHEN I'm a viking!" had he been referring to his dreams/sleep?
posted by cusack at 11:12 AM on June 10, 2007

"Then, the doctor told me that BOTH my eyes were
lazy! And that's why it was the best summer ever!"
posted by ZachsMind at 11:20 AM on June 10, 2007

I'm a Viking even when I'm awake. LONGBOATS AHOY!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 11:24 AM on June 10, 2007

I can't believe that there's any argument at all.

A viking is

any of the Scandinavian pirates who plundered the coasts of Europe from the 8th to 10th centuries.

That's what he's dreaming of. Duh.

There's no argument.

The word viking only means this.
posted by MythMaker at 11:24 AM on June 10, 2007

You're all a bunch of unitards.
posted by dirigibleman at 11:26 AM on June 10, 2007

This is almost a no-brainer to me.

How could little Ralph Wiggum have the mental agility to use the word "Viking" as a symbol for "excellence"?

Most Republicans can’t even do that.
posted by rougy at 11:27 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Knock knock
Who's there?
Interrupting viking cow.
Interrupting viking cow wh--
MOOOOO!

Now that's funny. 'Cos the cow excels at interrupting, you know? Or maybe because it's actually interrupting.

Rude fucking viking cow, either way.
posted by YamwotIam at 11:27 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

If it's true that all the other translations say "Sleep, I'm good at that!", it's almost certain to be because of a script change that failed to get into the closed captions. Otherwise, why wouldn't they just translate Viking literally? A non-existant turn of phrase in English will work just as well or badly when translated literally in other languages.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:29 AM on June 10, 2007

Yes, exactly, because we find it astounding that anyone familiar with the character and the show could possibly read more into it than him simply saying "sometimes I dream of being an action hero/warrior". You have a brain defect if you think Ralph has even the slightest ability to knowingly make subtle wordplay.

I find it amazing that this discussion is causing so much antagonism, and also strange that all of it is coming from the "It can only mean Ralph dream of being a Viking" side - as if they're somehow defending themselves from personal attack. Can anyone clarify why you (or they) are getting so hot under the collar about it?

So, while we're sniping, I find it strange that someone's thinking can be so one-dimensional they can only see the joke in one light. My brain immediately jumped to the "I'm a champion" interpretation because it would be like Ralph to get meanings subtly twisted about in that way; but I can easily see it in the other way as well. For what it's worth, I can totally see Constable Wiggum calling Ralph "my little Viking" when Ralph has mastered something, and Ralph picking up on that meaning of the word. I also don't think it's necessary for Ralph to actually be cognizant of the double meaning for the joke to work.

Dude, I'm fucking autistic.
posted by frobozz at 11:29 AM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

"When I grow up, I want to be a principle... or a caterpillar!"

Does this mean Ralph has no understanding of careers and thinks he can become a literal caterpillar, or does he believe someday he shall, like a caterpillar, go through a metamorphosis and become something beautiful? Only hundreds of screaming nerds can find out for sure.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 11:36 AM on June 10, 2007 [3 favorites]

How could little Ralph Wiggum have the mental agility to use the word "Viking"

I don't think you need an in-world explanation, although people have offered them above ("maybe his father said it" etc).

The real reason is that the writers thought it was funny to use this over-the-top term, so they let Ralph use a big word -- just like when he suddenly has the mental ability to recall the Canadian national anthem during the model U.N.

Could some of the "it's obvious he's dreaming of a being a Viking" people explain how almost every single translator of the show came up with the other supposedly-obscure interpretation? (Some are still ambigious.)

Alao, would a Spanish speaker care to add to the list of translated lines? You can see the episode in Spanish by Googling lisa vegeatariana mediafire or checking the North American DVD, I believe. I believe it's around the 6.5 minute mark or so.

On preview: Otherwise, why wouldn't they just translate Viking literally? The German is apparently: "Oh man Schlafen, in der Beziehung bin ich ein Vikinger"
posted by Yogurt at 11:39 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Can anyone clarify why you (or they) are getting so hot under the collar about it?

Because the alternate interpretation is just too absurd to be tolerated. This isn't like hot vs mild salsa or should Paris Hilton be on Metafilter, where there are conceivably reasonable explanations on both sides of the issue. It's like you people are saying the world is flat. I try to be open to new ideas and respectful of other people's opinions, but sometimes I just gotta draw a line and stand up for reason.
posted by thirteenkiller at 11:39 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

It's ambiguous, open to more than one interpretation. Nice. Way to go, Simpsons writers -- you did something not merely entertaining or funny or snarky, but actually artful.
posted by treepour at 11:44 AM on June 10, 2007

I am also amused by exlotuseater's comment above, where he attempts to make fun of overanalysis, but his "under-analyzed" version is wrong. Ralph's not fantasizing about a Leprechaun. He's hallucinating a Leprechaun. A Leprechaun who is indeed a "manifestation of our darkest repressed antisocial desires." When the Simpsons are happily celebrating Ralph's triumph, the Leprechaun tells Ralph, "BURN THEM ALL." That ain't just a harmless child's fantasy.
posted by Greg Nog at 11:51 AM on June 10, 2007

Ralph being excited by being able to sleep because he dreams of being a Viking (and considers it a *place*, hence an almost literal "where") is funnier than him using Viking as a metaphor for being good at something. And far, far more in tune with who Ralph is.

Going by all those who feel otherwise, and the translations which seem to go along with them, I'll just put forward the theory that the aliens clearly take over multilingual people first, to assist their further spread into the general population.
posted by Freaky at 11:53 AM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Viking, bloody hell. I'd much rather be Klingon than a Viking.
posted by pax digita at 12:02 PM on June 10, 2007

He's not dreaming of being a Scandinavian warrior, he's dreaming of being a Scandinavian and of living in a social democracy, and the creators are thereby sticking it to Fox, showing how even Ralph is capable of understanding how the political system they are proponing is inferior to that of northern Europe.
posted by klue at 12:04 PM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

I figure he means excellence. When the writer is thinking about a joke to put into an episode, right there he was thinking along the lines of showing how Ralph is happy that he's at least good at sleeping. But saying "that's where I'm a champion" isn't funny enough for the Simpsons. That would be an ok joke for a lesser cartoon. If you watch simpsons you'll notice that they will always work on such a plain joke to twist it a bit. 'Viking' is just that twist. Ralph isn't being unusually smart - he still doesn't know what a Viking is, that's precisely why he's using a word that's not really appropriate. He has some vague idea what it might mean and he's using it to mean he's good at it, he'd say 'champion' but he can't string half a dozen words together without at least one of them being more or less off. The joke is that Viking doesn't really mean that, but you can still understand what he's trying to say. He doesn't mean he's a real viking because he doesn't know what the hell a viking is. What's a battle? It's funny that the same reasoning is used to prove he can't use 'Viking' metaphorically.. That's almost too absurd.. Anyway. I'd say it's 80% viking-as-excellence and 20% possibility of real viking. Both are possible but second is too far-fetched.. it /would/ be funnier if it wasn't so far-fetched though. Like say if there was some reference in another episode that would support it.
posted by rainy at 12:08 PM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

Now that that's solved, tell me, what does Bart mean when he says, "don't have a cow, man?". Is he suggesting that:

• it is unwise to make a sexual conquest of a cow?
  
• it would be similarly unwise to make a sexual conquest of the fictitious chimera, the cow-man?
  
• no one, save a farmer, should own a cow?
  
• he recommends that one should not give birth to a cow?

The last it the most implausible, as a cartoon human could not give birth to a fully grown heifer. This would also not make any sense. Wouldn't it make more sense to give birth to a calf?
posted by psmealey at 12:10 PM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

Because the alternate interpretation is just too absurd to be tolerated.

See, this is what's absurd to me. You actually want to completely disallow (not tolerate) alternate interpretation (despite the fact that a significant percentage of people seem to understand the alternate interpretation). The reaction is simply way too overblown for the situation, in my opinion, and is fascinating in some way that I, myself, don't understand at all.

Also, a huge part of my interpretation came from context - the words written down simply mean, "I am a Viking in my sleep." But the scene - the buildup to the line, and especially the actor's reading of it - all indicate that Ralph is a champion sleeper. If I wasn't sure whether or not 'Viking' was used as some sort of slang for 'champion' in English, I would take this scene to indicate that it was - which may be where the translations of champion come from. Perhaps the actor doing Ralph was brain damaged and read the line in the 'champion' sense contrary to the writers' intentions?

It's not, "what does 'Viking' mean in the dictionary?" It's "what is the whole set-up of the scene saying?"
posted by frobozz at 12:13 PM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

"When I grow up, I want to be a principle... or a caterpillar!"

Does this mean Ralph has no understanding of careers and thinks he can become a literal caterpillar, or does he believe someday he shall, like a caterpillar, go through a metamorphosis and become something beautiful? Only hundreds of screaming nerds can find out for sure.

Talk about the elephant in the room! Fuck the caterpillar — what kind of kid wants to be a principle? And does he want to become, literally, a principle, to make his escape from the cruel world of physicality in a puff of abstraction? Or does he only seek to become a personification, an avatar of some higher concept? And which principle, exactly? Cold, senseless evil? Bernoulli's?
posted by enn at 12:19 PM on June 10, 2007

My favorite instance of dubbing to make fit for commercial television broadcast is in the movie Quick Change, when the protagonists are being robbed or carjacked or something, and Geena Davis's line is changed from "this is fucking ridiculous" to "this is VIKING ridiculous".
posted by squarehead at 12:20 PM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Um...to continue with the Viking=conqueror metaphor, a friend of mine just reminded me:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, episode 76, The Yoko Factor:

Xander: "All I can--" (paces to the other side of the crypt) Can you believe this!? Like I'm some sort of useless lunk. It happens I'm good at a lot of things. I help out with all kinds of . . . stuff. I have skills . . . and . . . stratagems. I'm very . . . (looks to Anya) Help me out.

Anya: (nonchalant) He's a Viking in the sack.

Somehow, I don't think she means "fond of horned helmets and performing the blood eagle".
posted by Katemonkey at 12:22 PM on June 10, 2007 [4 favorites]

He's an x in the sack is a standard turn of phrase.

I get the feeling this thread is going to be cited in someone's multimedia manifesto.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:28 PM on June 10, 2007

(I don't know why I keep coming back to this thread. As I said, inexplicably fascinating.)

Even if the writers and everyone involved meant that Ralph was dreaming of being a Viking, doesn't it give you (the non-champion people) any satisfaction out of letting your brain hear it the other way? Doesn't the charming stupidity of Ralph meaning, enthusiastically and proudly, "That's where I'm a champion!" and saying Viking, get to you? I can't imagine going around and missing out on subtle absurdities like this - it's one of the small pleasures of my day to hear things in strange ways, other than how the speaker meant them, and play with them in the back of my mind.
posted by frobozz at 12:28 PM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Has Ralph said anything even slightly metaphoric in any episode? Ever?
posted by luriete at 12:36 PM on June 10, 2007

[Weighing in on the most important matter in this most important discussion . . . ]

delmoi, were there any previous references -- anywhere in literature -- to "Eat My Shorts" as an expression of dismissal, before the Simpsons writers coined that usage?

I realize this isn't exactly literature, but in high school we used it in this sense about every other sentence throughout the entire school day. This would have been in the late 70s.

However if its "literature" you want we have these fine examples

• Eat my shorts v. Drop dead, go jump in the lake (The Official Preppy Handbook, Lisa Birnback, 1980)
  
• 'eat my shorts' means drop dead, go jump in the lake (The State of the Language, Phillip Howard, 1985)
  
• Eat my shorts tampon breath- I really saw something! (1986)
  
• Eat my Shorts! an exclamation of defiance or contempt, popular among male high school students (The Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, Tony Thorne, 1990)

Last but not least, you won't want to miss Rick Dees' 1984 hit, Eat My Shorts.
posted by flug at 12:37 PM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

No. Ralph doing something stupid then admitting he's only really good at being unconscious is not funny.
posted by thirteenkiller at 12:38 PM on June 10, 2007

(I don't know why I keep coming back to this thread. As I said, inexplicably fascinating.)

I keep coming back to it too, but not because I find it fascinating. It's more like that scratch in the roof of your mouth that would heal if you could stop tongueing it, but you can't. With apologies to Chuck Palahniuk
posted by psmealey at 12:41 PM on June 10, 2007

He doesn't mean he's a real viking because he doesn't know what the hell a viking is.

But Ralph's plausible misconceptions about what a Real Viking is in no way casts doubt on his ability and willingness to happily imagine himself to be a (poorly conceived) Real Viking. He has seen a Bugs Bunny send-up of Wagnerian opera, perhaps, or encountered Vikings on television. I imagine his notion of a viking would involved a weapon and a spiky helmet and lots of hollering.

Seems a lot more in character than him dreaming about himself sitting around being competent.
posted by cortex at 12:41 PM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Sadly, I participated inn this debate elsewhere. Yes, I know. This is what I said:

It could be both, you know. Not so much "I'm a Viking at sleeping" as some have posited, but more along the lines of "When I'm awake, I'm Ralph, with all the Ralphness that entails, but in my dreams, I am powerful - I could be a Viking, or Superman, or a knight, or an unbent wookie." That way, the statement retains Ralph's literal minded naiivete, while giving us a glimpse into his inner life. It sounds uncharacteristically wise, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

More arguing ensued here.

The absurdity inherent in B (the literal interpretation) is more consistent both with the character and with the humor of the show. The reason this debate exists, and the reason it could be both, is that it comes off as being not only absurd, but unintentionally poetic. Ralph's character, though, isn't even remotely capable of the sort of thought process wherein he would use "viking" in a purely metaphorical way. If the writers were going to work in a dramatic departure from Ralph's character for comic effect, it would have to be a much larger part of the plot to work. Remember, Ralph frequently expresses himself in non-sequitors. In this case, it just so happens that it comes out as a deeper longing - to be good at something, to be powerful, smart, and dammit, to have another worm to eat.
posted by louche mustachio at 12:41 PM on June 10, 2007

What fresh hell is this?
posted by [expletive deleted] at 12:42 PM on June 10, 2007 [3 favorites]

oh. my. god. this just broke my brain.

I didn't realize it was even POSSIBLE to get this many people to all stage this sort of discussion without breaking character and giving it away. It's like some sort of flashmob.

THAT IS WHAT THIS IS GODDAMMIT. DO NOT TELL ME OTHERWISE.

The other possibility is is too horrific to contemplate.
posted by Stunt at 12:51 PM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

Hello, Stunt

This is real

This is what humanity has become

Look upon us and weep in terror
posted by Greg Nog at 12:55 PM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

I imagine his notion of a viking would involved a weapon and a spiky helmet and lots of hollering.

Seems a lot more in character than him dreaming about himself sitting around being competent.

Possible, but something feels a bit off. Seems to me, still, it's out of character for Ralph to get some idea of what a viking is, and then dream about being one, and then tell the world coherently about it. If he saw something similar to a humorous view of vikigs as rendered by Bugs Bunny, then the joke wouldn't make much sense because it depends on him dreaming himself to be a ferocious and efficient conqueror. Nah, then you'd need him to see some historical war epic or a PBS feature and figure out that's vikings and that they rock and then dream about them. Possible, but out of character for him.

He isn't dreaming of himself being competent, he's having a kneejerk reaction along the lines of "oh great they finally asked me for something I can really do well and when I tell them so they'll at last praise me!"

It's a little silly to argue so much about a joke that wasn't so great anyway, with either interpretation.
posted by rainy at 12:59 PM on June 10, 2007

what does Bart mean when he says, "don't have a cow, man?"

He's suggesting the following:

(1) There is such a creature or occupation as "cow-man." This might be a more mature cowboy, or might be something like a minotaur; Bart isn't specific on this matter.

(2) One should neither have sexual congress with, nor consume as food, a cow-man.

The puzzling thing is why he would offer this admonition. Perhaps he once witnessed Homer consuming a cow-man, and found it distressing, or saw that it caused Homer distress. Perhaps the denizens of Springfield are renowned for their love, either gustatory or sexual, for cow-men, and he's urging them to mend their ways.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:00 PM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

OK, perhaps we can solve this.

If you think Ralph meant a literal Viking, but that the writers may have intended to evoke the idea that Ralph likes being powerful instead of pathetic, then you're OK. You're probably right. Some of you may have phrased it in a overblown pseudointellectual manner, but you're alright.

It is only if you think Ralph does not dream about being a literal Viking that you make the baby Jesus cry.

Please feel free to clarify your position so that the coming civil war can be averted.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:02 PM on June 10, 2007

Can anyone clarify why you (or they) are getting so hot under the collar about it?

1. Because it takes so much work to interpret the word "viking" as a metaphor for achievement, rather than meaning "viking".

2. Because Ralph looking forward to being a metaphor for achievement is much, much less funny than him anticipating being an actual viking.

3. Therefore, all of the mental convolutions needed to interpret the word "viking" as meaning something other than "viking" are solely in the service of making a previously funny joke not funny.

The joke is an innocent. The joke is a civilian. Please don't waterboard the joke.
posted by lemuria at 1:05 PM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

4. It's Sunday.
posted by cortex at 1:08 PM on June 10, 2007

This is fascinating because it's a matter of how much weight you give to context and how much to the dictionary definition of a word. Now that I thought of it, I always tend to give much more weight to context. I bet I'm easy to trick into thinking a made-up word is real, or that a word has a meaning it doesn't because I'd just assume it means what the context says it means. Rather than say go from word's definition and change the context drastically to fit that.
posted by rainy at 1:08 PM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Dear AskMe,

I need to begin a regimen of ritual sacrifices that will end with the world being purged in blood. I have procured a goat. Any tips on sacrificing medium-sized animals in a one-bedroom apartment? Stains, noise management, disposal, etc. This is going to be a regular thing for the next thirteen months so I really need to get a routine down. Thanks for any input.
posted by furiousthought at 1:09 PM on June 10, 2007

The context does not lend itself to your interpretation, rainy. Sorry.
posted by thirteenkiller at 1:09 PM on June 10, 2007

Put me down as another vote for it meaning he is a literal, actual viking warrior. I'm quite interested in my reaction to the opposing view, though - for some reason I find it quite difficult to believe that anyone genuinely believes the other interpretation, and that they're just playing some sort of bizarre devil's advocate to help fuel an inexplicably raging fire.

For some reason, people finding things funny which I do not find funny makes me angry in a way few other things do. Like, say Larry The Cable Guy - totally aggravating to watch. Not just because to me, he's not funny, but because so many other people seem to be going crazy for it. It's intolerance, plain and simple, but hard to avoid.

And for me, the "Ralph meant champion, using viking in a slightly unorthodox fashion" just is. not. funny. Ralph using "where" about sleep/dreaming as if it were an alternate reality on equal footing with his "real life" is, and him being a rampaging, bloodthirsty warrior in his fantasies even more so.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:10 PM on June 10, 2007

How could little Ralph Wiggum have the mental agility to use the word "Viking" as a symbol for "excellence"?

Though I generally like the Simpson's, and find at least some of the material VERY clever and funny, this illustrates a big problem I have with it too: Not very smart characters say really clever things all the time. Contrast this to Beavis and Butthead, where the boys never deviate from always "dumb".
posted by Tube at 1:10 PM on June 10, 2007

Lemuria: Okay, there's little point in debating which interpretation is funnier, but I'll note that the humour behind the "where I'm a champion" interpretation is that Ralph thinks he's the best at an activity in which no one actually competes. That's the joke.

It's made funnier by the unexpected and over-the-top use of the word Viking to illustrate just how unstoppable at sleep he is.

The literal interpretation of his line seems unimaginative and dull to me.

But I stand by the translations as being the real piece of evidence here. People smart enough to speak two languages all agree with me. :)
posted by Yogurt at 1:10 PM on June 10, 2007 [4 favorites]

what does Bart mean when he says, "don't have a cow, man?"

I've read the phrase 'someone's having kittens' (or some variation) meaning, 'someone's having a fit,' in literature going back to at least the 1920s or 30s - I believe in one of Dorothy Sayer's mystery novels, and I'm pretty sure somewhere else as well. I wonder how the kittens morphed into a cow.

Ralph doing something stupid then admitting he's only really good at being unconscious is not funny.

See, just reading your explanation of it in the sentence above made me start laughing all over again. In school, people used to tell me that laughing at too many things made me an uncool dork. They were probably right, but it's much more fun this way.


Because it takes so much work to interpret the word "viking" as a metaphor for achievement, rather than meaning "viking".

It doesn't take any work for me - it's how I interpreted the scene originally. I had to think for a second before I realized, Oh, they could have just been meaning Ralph dreams of being a Viking. As I said, context, context, context. If some people can get a kick out of it both ways, why get upset about it?
posted by frobozz at 1:16 PM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

OK, I think all hope is lost. Hopefully Cthulhu can fit me in sometime tonight.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:16 PM on June 10, 2007

I find it interesting that this thread is well on its way to 200 comments, despite the fact that, allegedly, no-one gives a shit about The Simpsons anymore.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:18 PM on June 10, 2007

All I know is FOX cancelled Strange Luck after a dozen or so episodes. Same with Firefly, VR-5, Tru Calling, Millenium, Freaky Links, and countless others. Yet, The Simpsons apparently has not been cancelled, and never will be.

I stopped watching The Simpsons soon after Maggie shot Mr. Burns. Or was it when I found out Nancy Cartwright has become a scientologist? I recall that discovery causing me to throw up in my mouth a little. Ever since then I look upon the whole of Simpson-ness with disdain and a feeling not unlike when you eat too much halloween candy as a kid, and you realize you're probably too old to go trick or treating again next year anyway.

Either there is no god, or there is a god, and he hates me.
posted by ZachsMind at 1:19 PM on June 10, 2007 [3 favorites]

It's not, "what does 'Viking' mean in the dictionary?"

that is an utter infarrowengius argument ... it is the sort of ponteen filabilaber i would expect from a bollandious emberitian like you
posted by pyramid termite at 1:22 PM on June 10, 2007 [3 favorites]

Definitely funnier as a metaphor.
posted by stammer at 1:24 PM on June 10, 2007 [1 favorite]