Uncyclopedia:Whacking with a wet trout

Whack!

The above is an UnTrout (Oncorhynchus macrouncyclopediensis), used to make subtle adjustments to the clue levels of experienced Uncyclopedians.

To whack a user with a wet trout, simply place {{trout}} on their talk page.

• For not-so-subtle adjustments, try a {{whale}}.
• For a group of users, try {{multitrout}}.
• For if Jack Phoenix decides to delete the main page again, or ExtremelyFunny decides to exist, try {{jimbo whale}}
• Any Uncyclopedian who wants to advertise an openness to being trout-slapped can add {{User trout}} to their user page.

History

The following is not intended to be reliable encyclopedic information, although it is as accurate an explanation as we could find.

Trout slapping originated in 1995 with internet relay chat (IRC). While in an IRC chat room, the IRC client mIRC would allow users to enter the command:

• /slap Sam

which would make the chat client send an action command to the channel to announce something along the lines of:

• Steve slaps Sam around a bit with a large trout

The trout as the standard weapon-of-choice for slapping users in IRC can probably be attributed to the surreal humor that computer programmers are known to appreciate. There is additionally an old saying that some personal experience is "better than a slap in the face with a wet fish."

In any event, this phenomenon proved to be inordinately popular, and so the "trout-slap" became a kind of Internet meme of the generation, though at that point only cyber-geeks were aware of such things. Trout-slaps have endured in the hearts and minds of those individuals to the present day, and since those were the people to form Wikipedia's early user-base, the trout made its way into regular use there—with the notable and possibly mistaken change in wording to "whack", which was here from the beginning, and went unnoticed long enough to become commonplace.

And then we decided to steal this joke for no good reason!

Today, getting whacked with a wet trout can be compared to when your mother said she was "hitting you over the head with a wet noodle", and it makes about as much sense. When someone does something inadvisable that they had the experience and intelligence to avoid, you may likely see the suggestion that they are "trouted"—or "trouts all around", as it has recently become more stylish to blame all parties in a dispute instead of one.

Versions

• {{Trout}} – The original trout.
• {{User trout}} – A message indicating a user is open to being slapped with a trout, should they need it.
• {{Chips}} - If the slapped user also did something good.
• {{Multitrout}} - If many users need to be slapped.
• {{Whale}} – For larger jobs.
• {{OverdoneTrout}} – A response to use against Uncyclopedians who tend to overuse the {{trout}} template.
• {{MultiWhale}} - For dire situations, in case many users need a whale-slap.
• {{whalemeat}} – If the UnWhale is overzealously used too often.