Althouse: "Folks at the Wisconsin Tourism Federation couldn't possibly have seen how the Internet would change the lingo when it was established in 1979...."

September 30, 2009

"Folks at the Wisconsin Tourism Federation couldn't possibly have seen how the Internet would change the lingo when it was established in 1979...."

WTF? Stop laughing at Wisconsin!

44 comments:

Triangle Man said...: Stop laughing at Wisconsin!

Or continue. Whatever makes you happy and want to spend money here.; 9/30/09, 3:42 PM
miller said...: Actually that sounds like a great way to capitalize on a meme.

They should run ads (tongue in cheek, of course) proclaiming the glories of Wisconsin. I'm sure there are some, besides cheese.; 9/30/09, 3:44 PM
kristinintexas said...: They should have gone with the Federation for Tourism in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin FTW!; 9/30/09, 3:46 PM
MadisonMan said...: I wonder if there are other 3-letter acronyms that mean such different things with a rearrangement of the letters. Or is WTF/FTW unique?; 9/30/09, 3:49 PM
Kev said...: (the other kev)

The Lexington Museum of American Opera approves.; 9/30/09, 3:50 PM
Treacle said...: my sympathies; 9/30/09, 3:51 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: It’s like the radio add “loose weight with the aid of AIDS”.. a weight loss pill that was on the market, early 80’s, before the naming of AIDS as we know it today.; 9/30/09, 4:01 PM
SteveR said...: I feel the same way about my degree from the Sam Houston Institute of Technology.; 9/30/09, 4:10 PM
Anonymous said...: I remember the great Instapundit himself commiserating with the Moro Island Liberation Front for their poor choice of labelling.; 9/30/09, 4:13 PM
DADvocate said...: The folks atPen Island think it's funny too.; 9/30/09, 4:37 PM
Anonymous said...: I had a friend growing up (born in 1980)whose initials were LSD. Apparently, her mother thought that it was a drug of the past, and didn't think that it would be remembered.

WV: pholo- the generic version of one of those collared shirts with the pony on it.; 9/30/09, 4:43 PM
Unknown said...: lyssalovelyredhead said...

I had a friend growing up (born in 1980)whose initials were LSD.

You mean Lorenz Saint DuBois, who played the title in 'Springtime for Hitler'? :); 9/30/09, 4:58 PM
Titus said...: I am married Mary.

He is totally hot. An Indian with a British accent with really big arms-a trifecta of fabulousness.

He is uncut and I am ok with that. He is also a vegetarian. I am all about couscous and fava beans and Kashi meals now.

I am the man, natch.

He met the parents last week and we went on a trip to Denver which is a very cute city.

There are some cultural obstacles though. He thought it was incredibly mean that I had the rare clumbers fixed-he didn't get it that dogs are supposed to be fixed in the U.S. Isn't that cute?

We are totally into Damian Rice.; 9/30/09, 5:01 PM
Titus said...: The Blower's Daughter by Damien Rice-brill.

Also, brill the French movie with Natalie Portman-that's our movie.; 9/30/09, 5:06 PM
Synova said...: Instead of a straight forward acronym they could go Navy style and start calling it WisTourFed.; 9/30/09, 5:13 PM
traditionalguy said...: WTF. Titus is back with one name and he has a bride to keep him in line. It's Celebration time.; 9/30/09, 5:34 PM
David said...: Damn, Titus, that was fast. Did you meet him on a blog?; 9/30/09, 5:38 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Congratulations Titus.; 9/30/09, 5:44 PM
David said...: Ok I'm a rube.

Politely, if you can, what's FTW an acronym for?; 9/30/09, 6:01 PM
Eric said...: For The Win, as in "Smith hits a line drive for the win".; 9/30/09, 6:16 PM
Will said...: David, it's very polite as a matter of fact:
For The Win.; 9/30/09, 6:16 PM
The Scythian said...: David,

It stands for "For The Win".; 9/30/09, 6:16 PM
The Scythian said...: And, frequently, "FTW" is used ironically, David. Like, "Such-and-such a troll hijacks the thread FTW!"; 9/30/09, 6:18 PM
ricpic said...: OT - Dennis Hopper just suffered a massive heart attack. Condition critical.; 9/30/09, 6:28 PM
Gahrie said...: Just for the record...Ayds was a dietic candy, (little cubes of chocolate, etc) not a pill. And it was spelled with a "y" and not an "a".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayds

I distinctly remember my mother buying it, and thinking in the early 80's that this was definitely not a company to buy stock in.; 9/30/09, 6:30 PM
dick said...: Actually Ayds goes back a lot further than the 80's. They were selling it when I was a kid in the 50's.; 9/30/09, 6:34 PM
Issob Morocco said...: edutcher-The Producers was the film and yes Lorenz Saint Dubois, played by Dick Shawn, his audition song "Love Power".

BTW, didn't the WTF come up with the famous "Escape To Wisconsin" bumper stickers, still seen on 1980's Subaru's which other state denizens, creatively reworked to say "Escape From Wisconsin"?

Perhaps "CC" could stand form Cheese Curds?; 9/30/09, 6:37 PM
ricpic said...: Oops. Now I read he was taken into the hospital with flu-like symptoms. My bad. Sorry.; 9/30/09, 6:40 PM
Penny said...: But WTF, it's funny!

Plus, well you learn something new every day. I thought FTW was a stand in for f*ck the wad.

Oh my. It's SO hard to keep up these days.; 9/30/09, 7:03 PM
Penny said...: Speaking of hard. Welcome back, Titus! And congrats on your new wife!

Does he know about us yet?

Oh probably not, but it wouldn't be right not to even ask.; 9/30/09, 7:09 PM
AllenS said...: Well, yes, other people remember it also. Reminder: read upthreads before commenting.; 9/30/09, 7:10 PM
Methadras said...: WTF = What Titus Fucks
TWF = Titus Win Feces
FTW = Fecal Titus Weds; 9/30/09, 7:26 PM
Gahrie said...: Actually Ayds goes back a lot further than the 80's. They were selling it when I was a kid in the 50's.

True...but it wasn't until the early 80's that people started to talk about a new, fatal std called AIDS......; 9/30/09, 7:40 PM
Penny said...: "Well, yes, other people remember it also. Reminder: read upthreads before commenting."

I laughed at this, AllenS, but not in an impolite way. I agree with your conclusion for short threads like this, so I guess we learn.

Now with those threads hitting nearly a hundred before you even logged on? Not so sure?

I've been trying to read the LONG ones before I comment, and by the time I get to the end, the commenter "enthusiasm" over the topic appears thin at best, and my own enthusiasm for the topic has been worn down by a whole helluva lot of reading. I am weighing what makes the best sense...; 9/30/09, 7:55 PM
Penny said...: Oh, and back to Ayds, the dietary candy. I remember them well from the late sixties, early seventies. It was popular for two reasons. One, it was a diet aid that wasn't a form of meth, for cripes sake! And two, it was sweetish and chocolatey, and before that, those words never met the lips of a serious dieter.

Back in the day, women were no different than today. Always looking for an easy way to lose weight, and they found it in the form of a little blue and white pill, more familiarly called robin's eggs, prescribed by their family doctor for more PEP. I was a teen, but well aware that half the women in my little town were literally addicted to these PEP pills. The doc was eventually "investigated" because the teens and twenties got to reselling these little pills, but not for weight loss...for a nice meth high. The doc was prosecuted, and his punishment was retirement.

AYDS to the rescue! All those housewives addicted to meth actually believed the whole shebang was all about weight loss, so they bought Ayds like we buy vitamins today.

They never did get the same "kick", and their twitching? Well, eventually, it stopped.

But the taste for "sweets" among dieters never stopped. You gotta love American ingenuity. Today, these artificial sweeteners just keep getting better and better, and thank god, because more and more and more of us are wanting to lose some weight...; 9/30/09, 8:32 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Titus copycats Althouse... details at 11 ;); 9/30/09, 8:45 PM
KCFleming said...: Ride the Ducks on the new Wisconsin serial killer-cannibal tour.

Then west to Minnesota, land of the pro wrestling Governor and the ACORN comedian Senator. Finish the tour in Iowa, where towns like What Cheer define irony or beg for a question mark.

The Midwest: terrifyingly dull, murderously silly, and where all our failures are above average.; 9/30/09, 8:49 PM
Henry said...: I WTF? Wisconsin

It worked for New York.

Now that I've typed that I have figured out that the Wisconsin Tourism Federation is WTF! and WTF? is WTF?.; 9/30/09, 8:59 PM
Penny said...: "The Midwest: terrifyingly dull, murderously silly, and where all our failures are above average."

I've heard that too, Pogo. It must be true.; 9/30/09, 10:04 PM
dcm said...: 'tis not titus. not funny. at all.; 9/30/09, 10:35 PM
dcm said...: actually quite lame.; 9/30/09, 10:36 PM
Anonymous said...: When I lived in Berkeley the small nearby town of Kensington had a Unitarian Church. It used to be known as the First Unitarian Church of Kensington. FUC... Well, you get the idea.; 9/30/09, 11:38 PM
Joe M. said...: I didn't know that the internet was established in 1979!; 10/1/09, 8:50 AM
Sprezzatura said...: Wisconsin is invading my life, in the most subtle, but still noticeable, way.

A week and change ago I was flying back from Turkey and the NY to left coast leg of the trip served Wisconsin cheese (not a surprise) and Wisconsin beer (which was awful). And, since getting to the left coast I've met and hung out w/ three former Wisconsin folks (who all said that they loved Wisconsin, but apparently not enough to stay there). Then I read about this WTF stuff. And, of course, Althouse is pushing the WTF story as well as her lawyer colleague's appointment.

Maybe Wisconsin will be the new cool place, like Seattle has been. A new sitcom based in Wisconsin will be required. And, being known for more than cheese (and awful beer) wouldn't hurt.; 10/1/09, 1:23 PM