I have heard the argument raised that planking is supposed to imitate the horrid conditions slaves faced on their Atlantic voyage. I 100% agree with Drolefille on this. There is no way People from Australia and NZ would have even thought about that. I think it's a silly fad that will pass in a few years.

They can see photos just like I can. I'm not saying they did think of that, I just don't see why they wouldn't and couldn't.

******

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...cI_jr8lqtinFQQ
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...M90RAMwV-CvC9w
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...WyRCVCww6x5HkA

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...STz_KvrplWFHUw

It's very much a fad. It's easy to after-the-fact find images that look similar to what happened on some slave ships...or anything else that planking looks similar to. These people were probably just thinking "oh how cool to be still on a ladder/in some water/on each other's backs...don't move...." Yet, since there are millions of brains and we don't all think alike, it is possible...yet unprovable...for some people to intentionally imitate photos of slave ships. I'm neither selling nor buying that just yet.

Speaking of (tongue in cheek) after-the-fact:

http://curiouspresbyterian.wordpress...ical-practice/

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lo...cirdo1_500.gif

This is relevant to the conversation. :D

If the fad was never named planking would this thread or debate even exist? If the Ozzies named this fad "boarding" instead of "planking" would people still try to make the slavery connection?

Yes.

There is always a group.

That's why I don't go to picnics.

Lol.

Oh yay! The fun rhetorical question game.

Would people still feel some kind of way about the word "niggardly" if it didn't remind them of another word?

How come no one says "it's only a game" when their team is winning?

Whatever happened to Preparations A through G?

Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things?

Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites?

I'm glad I got those off of my chest. With that said, would that statement be received differently if someone were to say "I have to get something off of my breasts?"

You finished?

Seems to me that people have an issue/making connections with the slave trade because of the game being called planking. I do think that if this was known worldwide as only "The Laying Down Game" people wouldn't make the connection, or it would be a much smaller group of people who would. And on the opposite side, I'm sure if this fad was started in South Carolina instead of overseas everybody and their mother would think that they were mocking the slave trade practice. I knew about the planking fad but this thread is the first time I've heard someone make a connection to slavery. I, like most people, don't think it is connected.

Never.

How does the guy who drives the snowplow get to work in the mornings?

If nothing ever sticks to teflon, how do they make teflon stick to the pan?

Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?

Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical questions?

What about picnic?

What does picnic have to do with this?

Guys, planking is so last month. This is what's hot.

http://leisuredive.com/

Gal, thanks for sharing this with us. I foresee a lot of idiots being hurt doing this new fad.

(Is this real? Some of those photos were hilarious. Some of them looked photoshopped and some of them looked real.)

The site claims all of the dives are real in the 'About' section of the site.