15

At the end of 2015, there was a welcome spurt of frivolity on ELU Meta. I refer to Shall we just toss the Winter Hats into the bin? and Please air your grievances here.

I thought maybe this outburst of rampant off-topic-ness was a one time affair, regretted and deplored by the poohbahs of the site, but in 2013 there was "Oh The Horror" Hat Club 2013.

Is this behavior biennial and not due to flower again until 2017?

9 Answers 9

Reset to default
11

Bloody well hope so, 2016 has not been the cheeriest of years. Bring on the frolic and frivolity ☺ ☻ ♥ ♦ ♣ ♠ ○ ◘ • (I only discovered yesterday how to do 'em on the keyboard) ♂▬!,7BMXc

enter image description here

Possibly, the world's worst Christmassy hat ever.

Merry Christmas EL&Uers

6
  • 4
    Inspiration for next year's hat selection. I want one!
    – ab2
    Dec 25, 2016 at 11:27
  • Hmm, multiple decorations. It'd be nice to be able to decorate one's avatar with more than just one hat when they're available. Also, a little belated, but ... Merry Christmas!
    – Lawrence
    Dec 27, 2016 at 9:06
  • @Lawrence And a Merry one to you too.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Dec 27, 2016 at 9:11
  • 3
    @Lawrence: there's absolutely nothing belated about wishing someone Merry Christmas on the third day thereof. (My pet peeves about this season: 1. it's called a Christmas tree, not an Advent tree; if you're throwing it out on the 26th, you're Doing It Wrong(TM), and 2. You know those 12 days of Christmas you like singing about? The 12th day is a week into January. If you're turning off your Christmas lights before the new year, you're Doing It Wrong(TM).)
    – Marthaª
    Dec 27, 2016 at 15:02
  • Merry Christmas, @Marthaª! :)
    – Lawrence
    Dec 27, 2016 at 22:26
  • @Lawrence: See Only wear one hat at a time?
    – Scott - Слава Україні
    Dec 29, 2016 at 8:57
5

On the subject of hat-engendered frivolity, I offer you the papakhi, which I have just learned is "a male wool hat worn throughout the Caucasus."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hat_styles

Oh, and I just got a Yoda hat for "use the site's search functionality on 3 consecutive UTC days". May the force functionality be with me.

2
  • Also frivolous is the fascinator, pictured in your link. But the dagger the man wearing the papakhi is holding looks serious
    – ab2
    Dec 25, 2016 at 11:51
  • Welcome is your edit!
    – ab2
    Jan 5, 2017 at 1:32
4

Don't get me wrong, I like hats. But what is more fundamental than a hat? What underlies, supports and surrounds a hat? Hair. And if you don't think hair can outdo a hat, see Extreme Hairstyles

4

To be completely boring and actually (part) answer your question: The 2015 Meta frivolity was caused by people trying to gain hats which required specific actions on Meta.

As there were no meta-based hats this year (that I can think of), people didn't flock to Meta.

Thank you for rectifying that with this question. :D

1
  • Let's hope that the milliners rectify that omission in 2017.
    – ab2
    Jan 6, 2017 at 21:43
2

Here's some more deserving frivolity...

Who wore it best?

enter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description here

No.1 Andrew Leach♦ No.2 David Richerby No.3 RedGrittyBrick and No.4 tchrist♦

1
  • 1
    Andrew Leach centered the beard best, and tchrist looks the most Leonardo-esque.
    – ab2
    Jan 6, 2017 at 21:37
2

Who wore it best? #4 (last day of Winter Bash 2016)

enter image description hereenter image description here enter image description here enter image description here

No.1 Andrew; No.2 StoneyB; No.3 snailplane ♦ (ELL) No.4 Catija

1
  • It's a tough choice between the pentapus and the snail.....
    – ab2
    Jan 8, 2017 at 5:31
2

Who wore it best? #3

enter image description hereenter image description here enter image description here enter image description here

No.1 Mick; No.2 bleh; No. 3 Andy F; No.4 WS2

1
  • All of them have a lot of je ne said quoi, but bleh has the most chutzpah.
    – ab2
    Jan 8, 2017 at 5:21
1

Who wore it best? #2

enter image description here enter image description here

enter image description here enter image description here

No.1 Hank; No.2 Balpha; No.3 MetaEd♦; No. 4 Catija

2
  • 1
    How can one pick the most beautiful of these beauties?
    – ab2
    Jan 5, 2017 at 23:50
  • 1
    I think they look simply ravishing.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Jan 5, 2017 at 23:56
-5

Frivolity? Please. This is a site for "linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts." (Emphasis mine.) And if you don't believe me, you can seek confirmation from those in the first two categories.

If any of them ever show up.

12
  • 6
    Do you think users like John Lawler, Greg Lee and BillJ are not linguists? I think they are, and I'm happy we have them here. It's very likely I'm missing your rhetorical point when I point this out, but if I am then probably others are too.
    – herisson
    Dec 24, 2016 at 21:54
  • 1
    @sumelic As with all purported credentials here, I am an agnostic on principle. You, of course, are free to proceed on your own assumptions, but rest assured that if you're happy, then I'm happy. Here's a clue as to my point (which I wouldn't dignify with the word rhetorical): in the title of the question, look for a word that is repeated three times further on.
    – deadrat
    Dec 24, 2016 at 22:08
  • 1
    Anything that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood.
    – ab2
    Dec 24, 2016 at 23:58
  • 1
    @ab2 And half the time, willfully so. Alas, this is the human condition, and one to which I am not immune. I choose not to thereby fetter myself.
    – deadrat
    Dec 25, 2016 at 0:46
  • 1
    @deadrat I am also trying to work out the purpose or intent in your answer. I tried following-up on your clue, in the title of the question, look for a word that is repeated three times further on, and I couldn't find such a word. Here're the counts of all the words in the title, including that first titular instance, so far as I can tell: there:3, to:3, this:3, is:2, frivolity:2, be:1, no:1, end-of-year:1, year:1. There is no word which has a count of 4 (once in the title and 3 more times thereafter), and the ones with 3 are not illuminating...
    – Dan Bron
    Dec 25, 2016 at 17:03
  • 1
    @DanBron Just in case your comment isn't a piece of ironic commentary. -- Title: end-of-year frivolity, Question: spurt of frivolity, Answer (@-Mari-LouA): frolic and frivolity, Answer(mine): Frivolity? Think you can take it from there?
    – deadrat
    Dec 25, 2016 at 19:17
  • 1
    Ah, you catenated all the answers with question, that seems frivolous ;)
    – Dan Bron
    Dec 25, 2016 at 19:21
  • @DanBron You got it! It only seems frivolous.
    – deadrat
    Dec 25, 2016 at 19:28
  • 4
    @ab2: "Anything that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood."  What do you mean by that?   :-)   ⁠
    – Scott - Слава Україні
    Dec 29, 2016 at 8:59
  • @Scott It is one of the many ways of expressing Murphy's Law.
    – ab2
    Dec 29, 2016 at 11:11
  • 3
    @ab2 I was being ironic.
    – Scott - Слава Україні
    Dec 29, 2016 at 17:54
  • 4
    @Scott I slap my forehead in dismay! Congratulations, you have won the subtlety hat.
    – ab2
    Dec 29, 2016 at 20:43

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .