I know I'm new here, but surely, if you feel you must indulge in such off-topic banter, ought it not at the very least be in "Wordplay and Fun" or, better yet, in private exchanges?

You must be pretty new to still think that. You see, any word uttered on this board is fair game for an off-shoot thread. Any thread has the possibility of spawning new life in a subject completely unrelated. It's a little like the parallel dimension theory. One event can spew history in a drastically different direction.