# 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:** 96
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1905 "2024-03-25T05:25:50Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Good cite, and yes, if you see above, I listed the “carte blanch” You listed dipping a playing card in boiling water? ---
**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:** [March 25, 2024, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1906 "2024-03-25T06:55:38Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Oh, and he used an alternate spelling of _flavor_ 🙄 If he spelled _flavor_ as “favour” that would be a _very_ alternate spelling indeed. [Gaudere’s a bitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-guaderes-law/109719), right? However, spelling _favor_ as “favour” is perfectly correct, it is the proper English way, not your dumbed-down colonial cod-Latinate spelling. Noah Webster was a dumb-ass (not as [batshit as Franklin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin%27s_phonetic_alphabet), but a dumbass all the same). Use his spelling-for-babies variant if you must, it’s your country. But don’t be such a stupid sack of pus that you think it’s the only correct way. > [@DrDeth](#): > > dribble there Ooh, high humo_ **u** _r with a certain nonnie flavo_ **u** _r. Always a favo_ **u** _rite, _DrDumbth_! ---
**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:** [March 25, 2024, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1907 "2024-03-25T11:58:00Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > However, spelling _favor_ as “favour” is perfectly correct, it is the proper English way, not your dumbed-down colonial cod-Latinate spelling. > > Noah Webster was a dumb-ass (not as [batshit as Franklin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin%27s_phonetic_alphabet), but a dumbass all the same). Use his spelling-for-babies variant if you must, it’s your country. But don’t be such a stupid sack of pus that you think it’s the only correct way. Right. The “ou” form of words like “favour”, “colour”, “neighbour” and so on are prevalent throughout the Commonwealth and most of the English-speaking world, except in the US and a few areas of strong American influence. The simplified American spellings of those words weren’t all personally invented by Webster, but he was largely instrumental in popularizing them. Webster was a fervent nationalist and revolutionary and a sort of linguistic populist, and probably regarded the new non-standard spellings as both emblematic of American independence and, more importantly, a hearty “fuck you” to the British. Only a parochial idiot like Dr Dumbass would call the spelling convention prevalent in the majority of the English-speaking world “an alternate” spelling, as if the rest of the world didn’t even exist, though maybe we should just be grateful he didn’t say “a alternate” or just declare it to be plain wrong, which is more his usual style of provocation. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2024, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1908 "2024-03-25T13:21:05Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > if you see above, I listed the “carte blanch” > [@Czarcasm](#): > > You listed dipping a playing card in boiling water? He used an alternate spelling of ‘blanche’. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2024, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1909 "2024-03-25T13:36:50Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Webster was a fervent nationalist and revolutionary and a sort of linguistic populist, and probably regarded the new non-standard spellings as … a hearty “fuck you” to the British. I think you meant “fuk u.” ETA: And for that matter, maybe it should be a “harty” one at that? ---
**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:** [March 25, 2024, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1910 "2024-03-25T13:40:58Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > I think you meant “fuk u.” Yes, I did, but I believe the correct formulation, following Webster’s standard rules, would be “fuk yo”. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1911 "2024-03-25T14:24:23Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > DD reminds me of the southern apologists who seize on a book or article written by one of their fellow delusionaries claiming that the evil North forced the Confederacy into war to defend “state’s rights”, and will not accept a mountain of countervailing evidence. Well, DD’s dad played D&D with Kaiser Wilhelm at a con once (Ludendorff was DMing) and he was a really nice guy, so the whole “world war” thing must be a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![eulalia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eulalia/32/457_2.png) [@eulalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eulalia)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1912 "2024-03-25T17:14:07Z")
Non-rhotic English speakers will often stick an _r_ sound in there. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2024, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1913 "2024-03-25T19:31:24Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The simplified American spellings of those words weren’t all personally invented by Webster, but he was largely instrumental in popularizing them. Webster was a fervent nationalist and revolutionary and a sort of linguistic populist, and probably regarded the new non-standard spellings as both emblematic of American independence and, more importantly, a hearty “fuck you” to the British. And this is the answer to the question… > [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Ain’t that what the dictionaries used to say about color, flavor, theater, and defense? Because Webster wrote the dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1914 "2024-03-25T22:18:10Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I dont like to admit I am wrong. You know, the amount of self-reporting and lack of self-awareness contained in this short sentence is truly astounding. Most people stop having problems admitting they are wrong in grade school. Narcissistically being unable to admit to being wrong or incorrect about something to the point of not liking to do it is phenomenally childish. Here, have an example to kill two birds of your delusional projection with one stone. Notice that in the post I’m being factually corrected on I’ve used six cites. And my response upon being corrected? Giving my thanks for the correction. See, this is how people who care more about the truth than continuing to insist upon being ‘right’ act. You know, functioning adults. [Are tanks of any use anymore on the modern battlefield? - Great Debates - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tanks-of-any-use-anymore-on-the-modern-battlefield/961813/56) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1915 "2024-03-25T23:10:12Z")
So Clark thinks that Germany is at the top of the list for the immediate cause of the war, followed by Russian mobilization. He blames France for raising tensions well before the war, though. Seems reasonable. In my quest to understand the business about Tuchman and altered dates, I found this review [Time Out of Joint - Claremont Review of Books](https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/time-out-of-joint/) which says: > Clark was the first Western historian to enter the Russian diplomatic archives. With them he showed that Russia mobilized first and made war inevitable at a moment when Berlin still expected a localized rather than a European war. He proved that Barbara Tuchman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning account of the war’s beginning in _The Guns of August_ (1962) transposed the date of Russian mobilization, delaying it by a decisive two days Meanwhile, this review [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/books/review/the-sleepwalkers-and-july-1914.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/books/review/the-sleepwalkers-and-july-1914.html) says: > Clark lends authority by citing Russian-French falsifications of documents. The Russians backdated and reworded papers in the records. The French were even more inventive, fabricating a telegram reporting six days of war preparations by Germany that weren’t happening. In Clark’s phrase, both Russia and France were at pains, then and later, to make Berlin appear “the moral fulcrum of the crisis.” No mention of a French declaration of war, but at least I understand the claims now (as a radical notion, perhaps people talking about the claims of an author could provide a quote or two, or at least a second-hand description of the claims?) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1916 "2024-03-26T00:00:00Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > Most people stop having problems admitting they are wrong in grade school. Have you ever met people? Because I have, and they hate admitting to being wrong. People on the internet are even worse about it. DD is nowhere near the exception in this regard. Hell, most people wouldn’t even admit to not liking to admit being wrong, for fear of admitting they may have ever been wrong at any particular moment in the past. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2024, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1917 "2024-03-26T00:18:04Z")
This is the kind of bullshit lying post that makes me agree with DrDeth that the Pit should be closed. They were alpha testing _Axis & Allies_! ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1918 "2024-03-26T00:28:52Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Have you ever met people? Because I have, and they hate admitting to being wrong. Amazing, yes, I actually have. And unsurprisingly, people I’ve met who are as incapable of admitting when they are wrong as DrDeez tend to be about as well liked as him. There was this coworker I once worked with in programming who was practically pathologically incapable of admitting she was wrong about anything and would probably have sold her own mother for career advancement. Unsurprisingly, being unwilling to acknowledge you’ve made mistakes doesn’t work very well in a field where you are going to make mistakes and fix them. Karma being what it is sometimes, I got the position she’d been gunning to get for years not all that long after being hired. Because the people responsible for managing that position got to know me and know that I wasn’t going to snow job them to try to cover my ass. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1919 "2024-03-26T02:49:33Z")
“Russia mobilized first and made war inevitable” is still horseshit. Preparing for war in the face of aggressive threats to allies does not justify the aggressor(s) invading while saying “you made me do it!”. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1920 "2024-03-26T02:54:41Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > being unwilling to acknowledge you’ve made mistakes doesn’t work very well True in most of life, and one reason I try to own up to my mistakes, however embarrassed I am. I’d like to say that this is because I’m a very noble person, but that’s not really it. I’m just practical - I know that I’ll make a much better impression on others/have better relationships if I graciously admit when I’m wrong, rather than stubbornly refusing to acknowledge it. Since I would like to be thought of well and have good relationships with people, I swallow my pride and admit mistakes. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1921 "2024-03-26T03:28:33Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > “Russia mobilized first and made war inevitable” is still horseshit. > > Preparing for war in the face of aggressive threats to allies does not justify the aggressor(s) invading while saying “you made me do it!”. Who said that? And aggressive threats to allies? You mean AH ultimatum to Serbia after Serbia’s secret service assassinated the heir? > [@Dissonance](#): > > And unsurprisingly, people I’ve met who are as incapable of admitting when they are wrong as DrDeez tend to be about as well liked as him. You never admit you are wrong, even in the fact of cites proving it. I do admit I am wrong- at times. > [@Dissonance](#): > > Because I already knew there were no T-34s at Khalkhin Gol. There were, however, over 1,000 Russian tanks in the Far East against a theoretical total of 73 Japanese tanks. With shit for logistical support, any real tank doctrine, or a concept of combined arms. To say nothing about overwhelming Russian artillery superiority. > > But no, DrDeez is certain that Zhukov was the _only_ reason Russia won at Khalkhin Gol. **Well, first of all, I already refuted that the USSR had 100o tanks there, with a cite. Right here. Did you admit you were wrong?** Nope. Clear as a bell, you were wrong. No opinions, just you being wrong. And, umm how did all those tanks and artillery get there? Because Zhukov was a master of planning and logistics- not to mention tactics and strategy. Up until then, the USSR had been losing the war of attrition with Imperial Japan. Look at these stats- > **[Soviet–Japanese border conflicts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Japanese_border_conflicts)** > > Soviet and Mongolian victory (1939) and Japanese defeat (1939) >  Japan > Total: 33,000 casualties (including 27,000 combat casualties) > Total: 30,000 casualties (including 25,000 combat casualties and 5,000 non-combat casualties) USSR-33,000 casualties **Material losses:** 350 tanks destroyed 140 armored cars destroyed 211 aircraft destroyed Imperial Japan-30,000 casualties **Material losses:** 43 tanks destroyed several tankettes destroyed 162 aircraft destroyed And this point- _The Japanese 19th Division expelled a Soviet garrison from the disputed area, and repulsed numerous counterattacks by an overwhelmingly more numerous and heavily armed Soviet force. Both sides took heavy losses, though Soviet casualties were nearly three times higher than Japanese casualties, and they lost dozens of tanks._ Note that the Soviets outgunned and outnumbers the Imperial Japanese, but lost the attrition war anyway. Incompetent Soviet commanders. Until Zhukov arrived. > **[Battles of Khalkhin Gol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Khalkhin_Gol)** > > Soviet-Mongolian victory >  Japan > 61,860–73,961\[nb 1\]498–550 tanks385–450 armored cars900 aircraft (participated) _Zhukov planned a major offensive on 20 August 1939 to clear the Japanese from the Khalkhin Gol region and to end the fighting.[[41]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Khalkhin_Gol#cite_note-FOOTNOTECoox1985578%E2%80%939-44) Zhukov, using a fleet of at least 4,000 trucks (IJA officers with hindsight disputed this, saying he instead used 10,000 to 20,000 motor vehicles) transporting supplies from the nearest base in Chita (600 km (370 mi) away)[[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Khalkhin_Gol#cite_note-FOOTNOTECoox1985580-8) assembled a powerful armored force of three tank brigades (the 4th, 6th and 11th), and two mechanized brigades (the 7th and 8th, which were armored car units with attached infantry support). This force was allocated to the Soviet left and right wings. The entire Soviet force consisted of three rifle divisions, two tank divisions and two more tank brigades (in all, some 498 [BT-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BT-5) and [BT-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BT-7) tanks),[[42]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Khalkhin_Gol#cite_note-FOOTNOTECoox1985pp._579,_641_note_23-45) two motorized infantry divisions, and over 550 fighters and bombers._ That shows _that Zhukov assembled_ those overwhelming forces. Because Zhukov wasnt purged, like almost every other competent Soviet officer. So, are you gonna admit you were wrong? Okay, no one likes doing it, but I try. But dizzynonsense there never admits he is wrong,even when shown the bare numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1922 "2024-03-26T20:09:54Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > “Russia mobilized first and made war inevitable” is still horseshit. No disagreement. I’m just providing some much needed cites to clarify what has been said by others. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1923 "2024-03-29T01:11:16Z")
@DrDeth - as you know, I generally give you some benefit of the doubt, and have tried to provide constructive criticism. So that’s what I’m doing right now and I want you to keep that in mind. I’m also putting it HERE because I don’t want to break up the thread. Please pause and think about what you said in this: > [@NY AG Letitia James drops the (civil) hammer {On Trump & Family} \[9/21/2022\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/3072): > > This is why Mexico continues to be a backward nation, even tho is should be a great place. Corruption is a way of life, the Cartels have taken over. Saying an entire _nation_ is backward, which encompasses many individual states, countless peoples and different cultures because a handwave of _corruption_ is such a simplification of the scenario as to be laughable. It makes you look unspeakably bad, reinforces every bad assumption about you, and is fundamentally wrong on the face of it. I’m not going to defend this statement, as I can’t see it but anything other than a kneejerk reaction/opinion, probably with emphasis on the “jerk” portion. And you’re smart enough to realize that unqualified statements here of all places, without considering any of the nuance, are not going to fly. You need to do better. You can do better. NOT doing so, when you’ve already burned as many second chances as you have is a non-starter. And again, I say this all as constructive criticism. Now is not the time (okay, it’s NEVER the time, but now is especially bad for YOU) to make unqualified negative generalizations about an entire nation or group of people. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2024, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1924 "2024-03-29T01:13:20Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > Saying an entire _nation_ is backward, which encompasses many individual states, countless peoples and different cultures because a handwave of _corruption_ is such a simplification of the scenario as to be laughable. It’s also blowing right by the fact that _corrupt_ does not equal _incompetent_ (aka _backwards_) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971.md?page=95) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971.md?page=97)