# I give. "Turtles all the way down". Dilbert just used it. Where's it from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584 "2011-02-07T22:47:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/41 "2011-02-09T12:43:57Z")
Fucking death rays, how do they work? ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/42 "2011-02-09T13:53:58Z")
Turtles all the way down, with lasers on their frickin heads!!! ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/43 "2011-02-09T15:34:12Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > Turtles all the way down, with lasers on their frickin heads!!! [facebook] Like [/facebook] ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/44 "2011-02-09T21:52:47Z")
Huh. So, the basic idea of Earth-\>Elephant-\>Tortoise-\>? shows up in [“An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”](http://books.google.com/books?id=vjYIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA193&dq=tortoise+elephant+support&hl=en&ei=HQVTTcqLBIW4tweC3siACg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=tortoise%20elephant%20support&f=false) by John Locke in 1690. Locke ends his version with the Indian cosmologist being forced to admit that he doesn’t know what the tortoise stands on. In his 1769 pamphlet [“Observations on the State of the Nation”,](http://books.google.com/books?id=j_cvAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA149&dq=elephant+tortoise+%22and+so+on%22&hl=en&ei=IAhTTYnQBI-EtgfssI3XCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwADge#v=onepage&q=elephant%20tortoise%20%22and%20so%20on%22&f=false)Edmund Burke describes someone’s financial plan as “like the Indian philosophy; his earth is poised on the horns of a bull, his bull stands on an elephant, his elephant is supported by a tortoise; and so on for ever.” So, the idea of using the myth to illustrate infinte regress has been around in English for a long time. But, the joke ending in “…all the way down!” seems to first appear in Google’s record about 1838 (at least as of now). ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/45 "2011-02-10T01:16:48Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > With a 1920’s style death-ray. The Internet: _It’s memes all the way down._ ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/46 "2011-02-10T01:47:58Z")
My God, it’s full of memes! ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/47 "2011-02-10T03:15:12Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > My God, it’s full of memes! As long as they don’t clog the tubes. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/48 "2011-02-10T14:54:50Z")
At the very end of the infinite stack of turtles (yeah, I know. So sue me.), is a snowboard being towed behind a Ford F-150 in rural Oklahoma. Full circle, man! Everything is relative, man! Ford trucks RULE! ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/49 "2011-02-10T21:53:05Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > At the very end of the infinite stack of turtles (yeah, I know. So sue me.), is a snowboard being towed behind a Ford F-150 in rural Oklahoma. > > Full circle, man! Everything is relative, man! Ford trucks RULE! This could actually work, if the turtles formed a loop in space. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/50 "2011-02-10T22:06:09Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > Turtles all the way down, with lasers on their frickin heads!!! When Turtle come back, will he bring pie? ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/51 "2011-02-10T22:13:28Z")
I like turtles. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/52 "2011-02-10T22:15:13Z")
Are they Good Turtles, or Bad Turtles? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/53 "2011-02-10T22:15:32Z")
“See the TURTLE of enormous girth! On his shell he holds the earth. His thought is slow but always kind; He holds us all within his mind. On his back all vows are made; He sees the truth but mayn’t aid. He loves the land and loves the sea, And even loves a child like me.” As told by [Roland of Gilead](http://stephenking.kraftysworld.co.uk/darktower/guardians/turtle.php). -XT ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/54 "2011-02-11T04:47:37Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > When Turtle come back, will he bring pie? Yes, but if you drink his soda, he won’t go back and get the umbrella. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/55 "2011-02-11T07:13:52Z")
Aside: I went as Great A’tuin for Halloween in 2009. ---
**Author:** ![TheseGoToEleven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/848f3c/32.png) [@TheseGoToEleven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheseGoToEleven)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/56 "2011-02-23T18:34:58Z")
pix, please? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@Captain\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_M)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/57 "2011-02-23T19:37:02Z")
We’ve gone this far into the thread and not yet menioned “Discworld?” The entire series is set on a world in the back of the turtle. In its usual satirical way a wiseguy asks “But what does the turtle stand on?” And gets the reply “The turtle doesn’t stand on anything. It _swims!_ What else is a turtle good for?” ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/58 "2011-02-24T07:55:37Z")
> [@](#): > > What else is a turtle good for?" Seriously?😕 DUDE! The obvious uses are… well… ummm… just THAT! TOO, obvious! :rolleyes: I offer a small assortment… Have you ever TASTED, turtle soup?:dubious: YUMMMM! (And I speak from experience!)😛 Not to mention, the dried shell makes a dandy bowl! Albeit, it’s a little on the unstable side. (Which is easily remedied with a rolled up napkin arranged in a circle, so as to give support. :D) ---
**Author:** ![alindallas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@alindallas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alindallas)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/59 "2011-02-24T14:51:24Z")
Off we go … like a herd of turtles! No. I don’t know where that one came from. Sorry. The theme of this thread makes me feel like being a bit silly. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584/60 "2011-02-24T15:17:35Z")
> [@Captain\_M](#): > > We’ve gone this far into the thread and not yet menioned “Discworld?” Look 2 post and 12 hours back. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-turtles-all-the-way-down-dilbert-just-used-it-wheres-it-from/570584.md?page=2)