# Dilbert's necktie **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 19, 2000, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilberts-necktie/33701 "2000-09-19T07:00:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MagicalSilverKey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilberts-necktie/33701/1 "2000-09-19T07:00:53Z")
Is there a _ **reason** _ Dilbert’s tie is always curled outward/upward or is it just a sight gag to perpetuate the oddball atmosphere of the strip/character? ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilberts-necktie/33701/2 "2000-09-19T07:13:11Z")
Well I don’t have either of the books at the moment to find you an exact quote but IIRC in either _The Dilbert Principal_ or _The Dilbert Future_ Scott Adams says that it was to show whether he had sex or not. If the tie is flat, which I don’t think it has been yet, it means that Dilbert has just had sex. I’m sure somebody will be along with a quote from which-ever book it was. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilberts-necktie/33701/3 "2000-09-19T07:15:09Z")
From the [Dilbert FAQ](http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/aboutdz/html/faq_site.html#Questions): Why does Dilbert’s tie flip up? The answer is either A) It’s a metaphor for his inability to control his environment or B) He’s just glad to see you. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilberts-necktie/33701/4 "2000-09-19T07:23:46Z")
Hhhmmm. I’m sure I read that. Does anybody have the books to hand? I wonder now did I just dream that 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilberts-necktie/33701/5 "2000-09-19T07:52:18Z")
There was an article in the news _mumble_ years ago about the necktie. Apparently, there was one strip while he was dating Lisa when his tie was flaccid. Has anyone seen it? Adams was quoted in the article as saying that he had written a series of strips about a female employee with a habit of sleeping with all her co-workers. He said that near the end of the series, Dilbert’s tie would be down and it would be ‘obvious’ that he had slept with her. The series never ran. –sublight. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilberts-necktie/33701/6 "2000-09-19T14:38:42Z")
Yup, I’ve got the book where his tie goes flat. And yes, the implications are that our little Dilbert has gotten lucky. And he’s a Unitarian. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Malik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@Joe\_Malik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Malik)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilberts-necktie/33701/7 "2000-09-19T20:31:24Z")
From [DNRC Newsletter #1](http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/dnrc/newsletter/html/newsletter01.html) (May 1994): (Note to moderators: Scott Adams publishes The DNRC newsletter in the public domain. Its contents may be quoted or copied freely with proper attribution). > [@](#): > > **Is Dilbert a Virgin?** > Sadly, yes. I tried to solve that problem once but my editor decided the funny papers weren’t ready. I drew a series of strips where Dilbert had a female co-worker who was a nymphomaniac. She confessed to Dilbert that she had “torrid romances with half of the men in the department in the past year” and asked if Dilbert thought she should seek counseling. Dilbert’s reply was “Oh, I’d give it another year.” In the strips that followed, it was clear that a happy Dilbert had become her most recent conquest. > I always wished that series had made it through the editorial net. But Dilbert gets another shot at it this summer when he meets a woman named Liz. Liz will either take Dilbert’s innocence or be killed by a meteor. I haven’t penned the ending yet. I’m going to monitor my e-mail and see how the sentiment flows after Liz gets introduced. There will be a two month lag while I decide her fate. > > Any opinions? > > (If Dilbert gets lucky, I’ll draw the strip one day this summer with his necktie hanging flat. That’s how you’ll know.) From [DNRC Newsletter #2](http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/dnrc/newsletter/html/newsletter02.html) (Sept 1994): > [@](#): > > **Dilbert’s Necktie** > Okay, okay. What’s the deal with Dilbert’s necktie? > As most of you know, in the first Dilbert Newsletter I said when Dilbert’s perky tie went limp it would be a sign that Dilbert got lucky. On August 9th the tie headed South. > > But there were some ambiguities: Liz said she wouldn’t get physical before marriage; then Dilbert attributed his relaxed condition to becoming a Unitarian. Many readers were confused. [(more…)](http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/dnrc/newsletter/html/newsletter02.html) ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilberts-necktie/33701/8 "2000-09-19T23:55:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joe Malik \* > \*\*From [DNRC Newsletter #1](http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/dnrc/newsletter/html/newsletter01.html) (May 1994): > > (Note to moderators: Scott Adams publishes The DNRC newsletter in the public domain. Its contents may be quoted or copied freely with proper attribution). > \*\* That is not how I read the site to which you linked. I got the following from the [rules and notices page](http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/sitemap/legal/index.html): > [@](#): > > 1. Ownership and Reproduction of UFS Materials. The contents of this web site (the “UFS Materials”) may not be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed, in whole or in part, for any purpose other than individual viewing of this web site, without the express prior written consent of UFS. Modification of the UFS Materials or use of the UFS Materials for any purpose will constitute a violation of the copyrights and other rights of UFS. For purposes of this Agreement, the use of any UFS Materials on any other web site or networked computer environment is prohibited. That said, I think your excerpt falls squarely within the fair use guidelines, so I see no need to redact it. I just thought you’d want to know for future reference. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Malik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@Joe\_Malik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Malik)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilberts-necktie/33701/9 "2000-09-21T04:16:45Z")
> [@](#): > > [note: IRL name removed by request], > > It’s (the DNRC newsletter) free to distribute as a whole, because the commercial content goes with it. It’s not permissible to extract elements and distribute those bits on their own. > > Thanks for asking. > > Scott Adams [Edited by manhattan on 09-21-2000 at 09:17 AM] ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Malik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@Joe\_Malik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Malik)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dilberts-necktie/33701/10 "2000-09-21T04:21:13Z")
Oops: Mods, will you edit my previous post to remove my name?