# I pit DrDeth **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 28, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971 "2021-02-28T19:52:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 68
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2023, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1345 "2023-01-08T07:22:29Z")
Can we call him a knuckle-dragger? Or is that racist against australopithecenes? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1346 "2023-01-08T21:23:05Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > It was indeed a medical term used in the early 1900s, but by the time it became a popular insult (sometime between the 1960s-1980s) the term was no longer associated with an actual medical condition. Rather, like “slack-jawed” it was based on the cartoonish caricature of a person of low intelligence, rather than a particular deformity or disability. It’s the equivalent of “numbskull” which similarly isn’t a reference to any specific condition. The idea that breathing through your mouth means you are of low intelligence have to come from somewhere. It need not have come from a current medical term—it could have come from the observation that people with certain intellectual disabilities breathe through their mouths. Though there’s also the possibility that the term was used much earlier, but only gained popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, and did in fact (like “moron”) evolve from existing language. That said, I do still use “moron,” but avoid “mouthbreather,” because it still inherently implies people who breathe primarily through their mouths are stupid. My sister has allergy problems, and they were worse as a kid. And when I first heard the term I indeed wondered if people with allergies were thought to be stupid. Moron has no additional literal meaning that might get mixed up like that. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2023, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1347 "2023-01-08T21:30:41Z")
I often breath through my mouth, especially while exercising, just because my nasal passages are smaller than typical. I confess I don’t care for “mouth breather”, but it’s not a big deal. There are much more toxic insults out there, and I don’t think that anyone has ever judged me to be stupid just because they saw me literally breathing through my mouth. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1348 "2023-01-08T21:40:53Z")
I breathe through my mouth often and always have. It has to do with having a deviated septum ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1349 "2023-01-09T19:11:23Z")
Yeah, I think that’s my technical diagnosis, too. But it’s really just “smaller than typical nasal passages”. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1350 "2023-01-09T19:48:23Z")
I don’t think using the term ‘mouth breather’ is meant to compare them to someone that breathes through their mouth as it is suggesting they’re slack jawed. Think Cletus (the slack jawed yokel) or [this random picture I found](https://patch.com/img/cdn/users/122971/2011/10/raw/9f7c36c019eaf9669bd8c08e9aba8ea1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1351 "2023-01-09T19:49:49Z")
[https://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/buzzword/entries/mouthbreather.html](https://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/buzzword/entries/mouthbreather.html) > someone who breathes though their mouth often has their jaw hanging open, which has a tendency to make them look rather vacant or stupid ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1352 "2023-01-09T19:51:34Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > …they’re slack jawed. Think Cletus… Yes, I always saw it as an allusion to the inbreeding supposedly prevalent in certain folk, rather than something like Down Syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1353 "2023-01-09T20:02:07Z")
Speaking as a person with problematic sinuses, I have to admit that it never occured to me to be offended by people using the expression “mouth breather” to mean “someone less sophisticated than myself”. It’s not even close in offensiveness to someone finding a random picture of a guy with his mouth open–as mine often is–and saying, “hur hur. Guy’s name must be Cletus, am I right?” ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1354 "2023-01-09T21:56:44Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > “hur hur. Guy’s name must be Cletus, am I right?” [Cletus is a character from the Simpsons](https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Cletus_Spuckler), first appearing in the show almost 30 years ago, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the other picture. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZMKqRp3veL8/mqdefault.jpg) ](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZMKqRp3veL8/mqdefault.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1355 "2023-01-09T22:38:18Z")
Yes. I know. You were probably fooled by my slack jaw into thinking I was an idiot. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1356 "2023-01-27T23:21:09Z")
He just referred to the killing of Tyre Nichols as 5 policemen losing their tempers. Holy shit. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1357 "2023-01-28T00:05:19Z")
5 cops beating a defenceless guy to death is “an error”. What a complete piece of shit. Total fucking trolling. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1358 "2023-01-28T00:34:38Z")
The cops were only checking that American Black’s privileged! No one wants them to get too uppity (if you need a ATMB hint). ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1359 "2023-01-28T00:47:21Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > He just referred to the killing of Tyre Nichols as 5 policemen losing their tempers. Cut him some slack, he’s just enlightening us unwashed masses with his special knowledge gleaned from his personal experiences. After all, he loses his temper and acts like a child here all the time, and as he’s said, he’s a Federal Agent. Meaning he works at Social Security. If that is even to be believed. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1360 "2023-01-28T01:00:58Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > Meaning he works at Social Security. LOL, one buddy of mine works for Social Security and another just retired from there. I work for a government agency, so technically I’m a “government agent” but I’m doing the same shit I did when I worked for a small environmental consulting business at the start of my career. I just do it somewhere else. Lister and Rimmer were crewmen on the _Red Dwarf_ starship, but they basically just cleaned up after everyone else. (Actually, Lister slacked off and Rimmer yelled at him about it, I don’t know how much work either did.) But sometimes there is an unearned amount of prestige for a person based on where they work as opposed to what they actually do. And sometimes, a person tries to bank off of that, and it’s kind of sad. I’m sure that at some point a guy who washes the windows at NASA has used his job to try to pick up women at bars. DrDeth says stupid things, but I generally think he’s okay. I think he’s really just putting his foot in his mouth this time. He’s chewing extra hard on it though. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1361 "2023-01-28T01:42:44Z")
The one time Rimmer tried something on his own, he killed the whole crew except for Lister and Cat’s ancestor. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1362 "2023-01-28T02:22:51Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > DrDeth says stupid things, but I generally think he’s okay. I think he’s really just putting his foot in his mouth this time. He’s chewing extra hard on it though. I will give him the benefit of the doubt, and say that he’s a trolling asshole in that thread. Because the alternative that he actually thinks that 5 guys beating someone to death is “an error”, would be far, far worse. So let’s imagine that he is just bullshitting us to get a reaction, rather than he really is that horrible of a human being. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1363 "2023-01-28T02:25:53Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > So let’s imagine that he is just bullshitting us to get a reaction, rather than he really is that horrible of a human being. I really **am** wondering how he’s going to explain this one, yes. And also note that I had put DrDeth on my ignore list for a time and only removed him after he apologized to the entire community for _some_ of his behavior and promised to change (and for the most part I found him tolerable after that). ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1364 "2023-01-28T02:57:46Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > So let’s imagine that he is just bullshitting us to get a reaction, rather than he really is that horrible of a human being. But would it be some much less horrible to troll over something like that? Kind of like when someone says “I’m not a racist, I just like telling racist jokes to get a rise out of people!” Uh, yeah… how are you not a racist, again? Anyway, I’m still holding out hope he’s just that clueless/sense. So, negligence rather than willfulness (be it willfully malevolent, or willfully malevolently comedic). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971.md?page=67) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971.md?page=69)