# Are there things that have been discussed to death that we should not debate anymore? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 6, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649 "2025-01-06T18:26:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/82 "2025-01-09T19:07:33Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > And a couple of slices of tomato, surely? If I’d had a tomato, a slice or two would have been on the sandwich. I had no tomato, so I had to do without. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/83 "2025-01-09T19:48:55Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > I agree. Except for borscht. > > How I loathe borscht. I would guess that you’ve never had **good** borscht. Good, authentic borscht is not easy to make. It requires a skill possessed only by Russian or Ukrainian _babas_ and is part of their genetic makeup. It cannot be taught. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/84 "2025-01-09T19:53:05Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I would guess that you’ve never had **good** borscht That’s because there is no such thing. For over two decades I lived in a neighborhood filled with ex Soviets. The only grocery store in walking distance was a Russian market. They made their own whitefish salad every day. I know slavic/Russian food. Borscht is an abomination. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/85 "2025-01-09T20:03:02Z")
Never had any good borscht. Went to a Jewish wedding in Rio De Janeiro once where they put out a giant bowl of borscht. I was the only one that seemed to know what it was. I tasted it along with others, nobody liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/86 "2025-01-09T20:14:44Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > When does human life begin. > > Similarly, “does god exist” One of these has a definite answer, the other does not. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/87 "2025-01-09T20:16:56Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > I would guess that you’ve never had **good** borscht > > That’s because there is no such thing. For over two decades I lived in a neighborhood filled with ex Soviets. The only grocery store in walking distance was a Russian market. They made their own whitefish salad every day. I know slavic/Russian food. Ah, but was it home made by a Slavic _baba_? The fact that Russians made it means nothing – Russians are just as capable of making mass-produced crap as anyone else. One sign that borscht might be authentic is that it has pork rib or beef bones in it with lots of the succulent bone-adjacent meat still attached, with which it was simmered for hours. A proper borscht is a very hearty soup that can be a meal in itself. However, some people just don’t like anything made with beets, and they can be excused, but it’s their loss. My older brother loves cooking as a hobby and is an accomplished amateur chef. It was always his frustration that he could never reproduce the authentic homemade stuff as produced by an actual _baba_ following only her instincts and with no recipe at all. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/88 "2025-01-09T20:30:00Z")
Hot dogs themselves are wrong. There, fixed it. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/89 "2025-01-09T20:33:49Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > A proper borscht is a very hearty soup that can be a meal in itself. This. My paternal ancestors spent over a century in the Ukraine before emigrating to America in the 1870s. My grandma made an excellent borscht, and other women of her generation did as well. Sadly, the recipe/skillset required is slowly being lost, as the borscht I’ve had at the ethnic dinners recently isn’t nearly as good as Grandma’s. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/90 "2025-01-09T20:36:52Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > My paternal ancestors spent over a century in the Ukraine before emigrating to America in the 1870s. My grandma made an excellent borscht, and other women of her generation did as well. Yes, those would be the classic _baba_s of which I speak! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/91 "2025-01-09T20:53:50Z")
Perhaps some topics should be opened only with mod participation. The mod assisting in creating an OP that avoids obvious side tracks. In example Reichsbahn and IBM participation in the Holocaust is a worthy discussion in the context of corporate responsibility and has current parallels in US/Gaza and US/mass shootings. The argument that the Reichsbahn was just selling product to the government by moving blocks of 20, fifty occupant passenger cars from point A to point B is not denial or antisemitic. However, a productive discussion of the topic would require skilled moderation so the mod should participate in it’s design and agree to moderate prior to launch. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/92 "2025-01-10T02:23:53Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > If I’d had a tomato, a slice or two would have been on the sandwich. I had no tomato, so I had to do without. _When we had no Crawdads, we ate sand._ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/93 "2025-01-10T02:31:40Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Hot dogs themselves are wrong. There, fixed it. If hot dogs are wrong, and mustard on a hot dog is wrong, then — did you just prove that two wrongs _do_ make a right? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/94 "2025-01-10T02:52:30Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > > [@RTFirefly](#): > > > > If I’d had a tomato, a slice or two would have been on the sandwich. I had no tomato, so I had to do without. > > _When we had no Crawdads, we ate sand._ I don’t know the reference, but it’s genius. Bravo! ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/95 "2025-01-10T03:24:41Z")
_“Not unless round is funny_ ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/96 "2025-01-10T03:28:24Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Obviously. Those rules come from the Bible and are beyond question. I must be an atheist then because two of the three are baloney. I leave it as an exercise which of them is not. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/97 "2025-01-10T04:13:45Z")
**Raising Arizona** ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/98 "2025-01-10T04:16:25Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > When we had no Crawdads, we ate sand. Because there are no crawdads in Yorkshire. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/99 "2025-01-10T06:08:11Z")
If you think borscht is pickled beets in beet juice, you don’t really know what you’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/100 "2025-01-10T06:25:18Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > - The only acceptable mustard is Dijon, with the sole exception set out in Rule #2. > - Plain yellow mustard is required for hot dogs, and for hot dogs only, and it must be applied from a squeeze bottle in the form of swirls atop the frankfurter after all the other ingredients have been added. > - Ketchup on a hot dog is an abomination. It is an affront to nature and to the Lord our God. I have no issues with these, but I have had some horseradish mustard, and on some things- it’s pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649/101 "2025-01-10T11:54:48Z")
Things that are wrong: hotdogs, dyed mustard goo, ketchup (except on fried potatoes), pickle relish, and that squishy non-bread they make hot dog buns out of. Things that are right: polish sausage, dijon mustard, sourdough whole wheat bread, fresh sauerkraut. You’re welcome. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-things-that-have-been-discussed-to-death-that-we-should-not-debate-anymore/1012649.md?page=6)