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I've got an answer to my comment at Stack Overflow, and I don't get what it means.

I've googled and looked over several dictionaries with no help. Seems like it is some specific slang/phrasal verb, which I cannot find.

zerkms: @OMG Ponies: I have an idea of writing small .net application that formats any sql query accodring to the rules you've thinked of/invented (to get a practice in lexers/parsers). What do you think of this? ;-)

OMG Ponies: @zerkms: Urge to kill... rising... :p

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Claudiu's answer is good. The original source of the quote posted by OMG Ponies is actually from The Simpsons. It's from Treehouse of Horror V; one of the Halloween episodes specifically. In this episode, Homer's "urge to kill"—i.e. his violent tendencies—are tapered by the Television working and/or showing a TV show that makes him want to kill (the episode was a spoof on the Steven King book/film The Shining, in which the character Jack tries to murder his family). It is, of course, a very tongue in cheek saying. It essentially means that one is extremely bothered and/or annoyed by something, so much so that it makes you want to "kill" something. The author of the post definitely means you no harm. :)

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    Oh, great answer. Cannot even imagine such a small phrase can has so "rich" roots.
    – zerkms
    Commented Nov 13, 2010 at 3:04
  • i think you mean the opposite of "tapered"? "tapered" means diminished/made smaller.
    – Claudiu
    Commented Nov 13, 2010 at 13:40
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    @Claudiu: If the television works, his urge to kill falls. If it works but he hates the show, his urge to kill rises. I think the word is probably "tempered". Personally, I'd've gone for "mitigate" and "exacerbate", because I don't get the opportunity to use those enough.
    – Jon Purdy
    Commented Nov 14, 2010 at 18:48
  • Right so it would be "His urge to kill is tapered by the television working and showing a good show," not "by the TV working and showing a show that makes him want to kill." I think the sentence is just trying to say too much at once. What would work there is maybe "controlled" or "regulated by", since it changes his mood either up or down. And yeah you could say "His urge to kill is either mitigated or exacerbated by whether the TV is working.."?
    – Claudiu
    Commented Nov 14, 2010 at 19:20
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    I agree! Feel free to edit my answer to make it more clear. Stack Exchange style ;)
    – typeoneerror
    Commented Nov 15, 2010 at 1:04
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An urge is a desire to do something. To kill is to take somebody's life away. So to have an urge to kill means to have a strong desire to take someone's life away =).

Ah yes I didn't finish. It of course is ironical! The gist is that the idea seems so terrible to OMG Ponies that it inspires a blood-thirsty death rage in him. Given the demeanour of someone whose handle represents child-like amazement with miniature horses, I'd say that you're safe.

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  • in that context, according to the smile in the end and italic (which means irony too) - can I treat that phrase is ironical? please say "yes" ;-)
    – zerkms
    Commented Nov 13, 2010 at 2:33
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    @zerkms: yep i finished my answer. the smiley is ironic - ":p" means to stick your tongue out. the italics is just emphasis, though, not necessarily irony. e.g. if you say "I really want to hurt you", you're not saying that you don't want to hurt someone. Au contraire, you actually do, a lot.
    – Claudiu
    Commented Nov 13, 2010 at 2:46
  • Oh, "gist is that the idea seems so terrible" :-(
    – zerkms
    Commented Nov 13, 2010 at 2:52

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