# Dilbert- no, not that one **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilbert-no-not-that-one/779957 "2017-02-16T02:21:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilbert-no-not-that-one/779957/1 "2017-02-16T02:21:08Z")
I’m referring to [Dilbert Groundloop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilbert_Groundloop), a WW2 character who was the epitome of everything a pilot shouldn’t do. Here’s a training film based on the character: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNOKAd560wc) ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilbert-no-not-that-one/779957/2 "2017-02-16T02:37:46Z")
Great find! I really enjoy old training videos like this. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilbert-no-not-that-one/779957/3 "2017-02-16T14:33:23Z")
Probably connected to the “Dilbert dunker,” a pilot escape trainer, which I found referenced in a 1960s novel about the aircraft industry. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilbert-no-not-that-one/779957/4 "2017-02-16T14:34:18Z")
When Scott Adams first drew the character on his poster board at work, he held a “Name The Nerd” contest. Several co-workers wrote suggestions, but Adams didn’t think they seemed right. Then someone wrote “Dilbert,” and Adams declared :It wasn’t like Dilbert was getting a name, it’s like we were finding out what his name was. Later, it turned out the co-worker’s father had been in the Navy during WW2 and probably had heard of Dilbert Groundloop. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilbert-no-not-that-one/779957/5 "2017-02-16T15:53:39Z")
Along the same lines, I saw [these](https://goo.gl/photos/FPo5QD7eAHpPnbZW9)WWII era posters at the Warhawk Air Museum\* in Nampa, ID. They put a different spin on it…if you don’t pay attention, the enemy will cheer at the resulting accidents. \*a great museum–not a lot of aircraft, but a huge collection of ephemera donated by local servicemen and their families. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilbert-no-not-that-one/779957/6 "2019-06-07T22:34:50Z")
I’ve been watching YouTube videos of old Private Snafu army films. Yesterday I ran across “Booby Traps”, and was surprised to hear a familiar piano tune: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/uPvn9rGYx6g/hqdefault.jpg "Private SNAFU - Booby Traps (1944) - World War II Cartoon") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPvn9rGYx6g) ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilbert-no-not-that-one/779957/7 "2019-06-08T00:20:03Z")
The RAF had a similar way of teaching important flight safety lessons, Pilot Officer Prune: [![](https://live.staticflickr.com/3255/3231943810_62a0c62c47_b.jpg) ](https://live.staticflickr.com/3255/3231943810_62a0c62c47_b.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilbert-no-not-that-one/779957/8 "2019-06-11T14:18:02Z")
While this obviously post-dates the WWII films, there was a scene in Bloom County in which a cockroach insults Opus with the term “Dilbert”, and it definitely pre-dates the debut of Scott Adams’s character. The name was clearly in circulation. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilbert-no-not-that-one/779957/9 "2019-06-11T14:30:52Z")
“Don’t do what Donny Don’t does” ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilbert-no-not-that-one/779957/10 "2019-06-11T14:58:30Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > While this obviously post-dates the WWII films, there was a scene in Bloom County in which a cockroach insults Opus with the term “Dilbert”, and it definitely pre-dates the debut of Scott Adams’s character. The name was clearly in circulation. At a pizza place I worked in college (mid-80s) a bunch of us dressed up for Halloween. One guy came dressed as a nerd and he had a name tag that said “Dilbert”. This was a few years before the comic strip. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2025, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilbert-no-not-that-one/779957/11 "2025-04-26T16:46:30Z")
Replacement for extinct link: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-N3S_DR2D4Q/maxresdefault.jpg "Don't Kill Your Friends (1943)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N3S_DR2D4Q) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilbert-no-not-that-one/779957/12 "2025-04-26T17:27:12Z")
Now this is a safety video. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ja7ap6AEuYU/hqdefault.jpg "Klaus the forklift driver") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja7ap6AEuYU)