this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2025
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Microblog Memes

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A place to share screenshots of Microblog posts, whether from Mastodon, tumblr, ~~Twitter~~ X, KBin, Threads or elsewhere.

Created as an evolution of White People Twitter and other tweet-capture subreddits.

RULES:

  1. Your post must be a screen capture of a microblog-type post that includes the UI of the site it came from, preferably also including the avatar and username of the original poster. Including relevant comments made to the original post is encouraged.
  2. Your post, included comments, or your title/comment should include some kind of commentary or remark on the subject of the screen capture. Your title must include at least one word relevant to your post.
  3. You are encouraged to provide a link back to the source of your screen capture in the body of your post.
  4. Current politics and news are allowed, but discouraged. There MUST be some kind of human commentary/reaction included (either by the original poster or you). Just news articles or headlines will be deleted.
  5. Doctored posts/images and AI are allowed, but discouraged. You MUST indicate this in your post (even if you didn't originally know). If an image is found to be fabricated or edited in any way and it is not properly labeled, it will be deleted.
  6. Absolutely no NSFL content.
  7. Be nice. Don't take anything personally. Take political debates to the appropriate communities. Take personal disagreements & arguments to private messages.
  8. No advertising, brand promotion, or guerrilla marketing.

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Laura Ashe ‪@lauraashe.bsky.social‬

It's told by Thomas More at the end of his History of Richard III (c.1525): a fable that the lion announces execution of all horned beasts, and another with a lump on its forehead flees the forest: "Why fleest thou? That's no horn on thy head" "Aye, but what if he call it a horn, where am I then?"

It's true. I checked here.

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[–] General_Effort@lemmy.world 46 points 1 year ago

There is a 1987 paper tracking the joke through history: A Romanian Political Joke in 12th Century Iranian Sources by Mahmoud Omidsalar (Hat tip)

This is the 12th century version (Hat tip):

A fox was running, grieving for his life.

Another fox saw him in such a state

And asked: "Please tell me, brother, what is wrong?"

He said: "The king is hunting donkeys here!"

"But you are not a donkey - so why fear?"

He answered: "That is right; but, oh!, these men;

They do not know and they cannot discern.

They think that fox and donkey are the same!"

https://archive.org/details/AnvarisDivanAPocketBookforAkbar/page/n119/mode/2up

Allegedly, expressions along the lines of "to prove you are not a camel" are common in Poland and Russia for tedious bureaucratic demands.