# I Pit Terr and all the other insolent morons at SDMB **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 14, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233 "2013-08-14T17:38:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/41 "2013-08-15T16:52:57Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Jeeze, people are so upset about a guy that they have to Pit him, and I’ve never even heard of him. Someone is falling down on the job on my daily briefing. I didn’t get the message either. But then, I’m not allowed at the water cooler any more, not since the little misunderstanding with the goldfish. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/42 "2013-08-15T17:07:10Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Why, exactly? Is it because time he spends posting here is time he’s not spending polluting the rest of the internet with his shite? > > 'Cos that’s the only benefit I can think of. No, it’s just great to have some celebrities around. Like **diamonds02** , who I’m pretty sure was Sarah Palin before she got banned. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/43 "2013-08-16T02:14:45Z")
Sarah Palin was banned? How about Michelle Bachmann, who posts (posted?) under the pseudonym **ZPGZealot**? Can she still post? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/44 "2013-08-16T04:27:18Z")
I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. 😃 First, I want to voice appreciation for the many many Dopers I’ve read who are very intelligent, expert in one or more fields, good-spirited, friendly, patient, etc. I can’t mention all of you by name. You make these forums great. (Perhaps the insolent morons serve a useful purpose by helping display the high-quality Dopers in contrast!) And there are many fine Dopers who may not be top experts, but are still very intelligent, and have good writing skills and humor. I wish I could emulate you, but I’ve poor social skills … and no one ever even laughs at my attempts at humor. ☹ I was surprised at all the anti- **Terr** comments. He’s not one of my favorite Dopers, but wouldn’t make my _Ten Most Annoying_ List. I just wanted to Pit him for one particular insult against me: automatically assuming I also know nothing on a subject about which he knows nothing. A few remarks about **deltasigma** : I used to value the articles in the N.Y. Times but on a few occasions where they wrote on subjects where I was knowledgeable, their errors were almost unbelievable. That deltasigma’s knowledge was only buzzword-level was brought home by his stupid post in GQ recommending to use a Poisson distribution in a totally inappropriate context. I’m certainly not a top statistics expert but even I saw the stupidity of that in a split-second. I also post on subjects where I’m not expert, but I think I exercise better self-control than he does. For example, in the recent thread asking about French’s base-20, I immediately remembered that Basque used base-20. _Not_ because I’m a linguist – I’m most definitely _not_ – but because European prehistory, ancient mathematics, and historical linguists are all subjects in which I’ve done much layman’s reading. I waited for the experts to comment on the Basque connection, and spoke up after a few days only when they didn’t. **deltasigma** , OTOH, posted his stupid gibberish about the Poisson distribution immediately, doubtless trying to impress. We’re _impressed_ all right. 😃 **deltasigma** started a BBQ Pit thread just to Pit himself, but reasonable Dopers are trying to carry on an intelligent conversation there despite his noise, so I’ll comment here instead of hijacking that thread. He knows a factoid about auctions used for price discovery, and trots it out (but in Jeopardy’s question form :smack: ) as if it were a Gotcha. But, as usual, he gotcha’d only himself: Not only was that irrelevant to my point but it implies **deltasigma** is unaware that QE activities affect interest rates. Duh … that’s part of their purpose, you imbecile. I have my own psychological problems and replying endlessly to idiots who insult me is one of them. :rolleyes: But there’s an excellent chance I’ll add **deltasigma** to my tiny Ignore list, so this may be my last riposte. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/45 "2013-08-16T05:12:55Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Hey, I never said **Terr** was the _only_ poster pitching a stupidity no-hitter. Strange. \*\*BigTard \*\*must be on vacation. He usually gets his half cents worth in on these kind of threads. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/46 "2013-08-16T05:21:14Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I’m good. 🆒 That was rather insolent of you! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/47 "2013-08-16T05:21:52Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I didn’t get the message either. But then, I’m not allowed at the water cooler any more, not since the little misunderstanding with the goldfish. “Misunderstanding?” Sure, let’s go with that word. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/48 "2013-08-16T05:25:12Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Or putting his threads in the right forum. Or, hell, not starting his OPs in the middle of unrelated threads (seen him do that a few times). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/49 "2013-08-16T10:40:24Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > Strange. \*\*BigTard \*\*must be on vacation. He usually gets his half cents worth in on these kind of threads. He’s working on it. Expect to read his diatribe in six months or so. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/50 "2013-08-16T12:15:40Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > Strange. \*\*BigTard \*\*must be on vacation. He usually gets his half cents worth in on these kind of threads. Maybe he finally decided to shut up. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/51 "2013-08-16T13:49:42Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > He’s working on it. Expect to read his diatribe in six months or so. I can give an executive summary now: “You guys are all MEAN!” ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/52 "2013-08-16T14:16:07Z")
This is turning into an All-Star Pit thread! ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/53 "2013-08-16T14:24:38Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I won’t attempt a crash course in statistics in this post, but briefly, if you poll 620 people about their opinions and 50% answer Yes to “Do you think Terr is a moron?” but only 10% answer Yes to “Do you think Terr is an imbecile?” then the margin of error on the first question is 4%, but only 2.4% on the 2nd question. Not to dispute the intent of the OP, but at a 95% confidence interval I would think that the margin of error for the question “Do you think Terr is a moron?” would be 3.94% rather than 4%. Have you simply rounded this up, because I agree that for the response rate to, “Do you think Terr is an imbecile?” the correct margin of error is 2.36%. Simply curious. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/54 "2013-08-16T15:10:02Z")
> [@](#): > > I Pit Terr and all the other insolent morons at SDMB Rather than give in to laziness, shouldn’t there be separate pittings for each insolent moron? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/55 "2013-08-16T16:22:18Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Not to dispute the intent of the OP, but at a 95% confidence interval I would think that the margin of error for the question “Do you think Terr is a moron?” would be 3.94% rather than 4%. Have you simply rounded this up, because I agree that for the response rate to, “Do you think Terr is an imbecile?” the correct margin of error is 2.36%. > > Simply curious. Instead of 95% confidence, I use 95.45% confidence for the calculation. This gives … well, added confidence. :smack: I’ll plead guilty to your choice of insolence _or_ moronity. But please just pick one; I don’t want to be joined into the indictment. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/56 "2013-08-18T00:53:46Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Instead of 95% confidence, I use 95.45% confidence for the calculation. This gives … well, added confidence. :smack: > > I’ll plead guilty to your choice of insolence _or_ moronity. But please just pick one; I don’t want to be joined into the indictment. Why can’t it be both? ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/57 "2013-08-18T09:17:49Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > This is the single stupidest, moronic, and unacceptable post I’ve seen on these boards in years. > > **ralph124c** is clearly ahead of **Terr** in all of these categories. **Terr** may be the Will Smith of getting things wrong, but **ralph124c** is like a combined version of Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, Robert DeNiro, and Orson Wells all rolled up into one spectacular package of never even coming close to right. Still not as dumb as humpy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/58 "2013-08-18T16:56:43Z")
I AM THE KING OF THE IDIOTS!!! And I work hard to maintain that reputation. Now I find that when my flock is assaulted, that I am utterly left out of the fun. Derp der der. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/59 "2013-08-18T18:39:00Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I AM THE KING OF THE IDIOTS!!! And I work hard to maintain that reputation. Now I find that when my flock is assaulted, that I am utterly left out of the fun. Derp der der. Yes, \*of **course** you are. \*You’re right, as always, **Your Majesty**. Now get back to scrubbing the grout between those tiles with your toothbrush. They’re not going to scrub _themselves,_ you know. Yes, there’s a good boy. Such a _good_ **Your Majesty.** Here’s a _ **cookie** _! _GOOD_ dog! ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233/60 "2013-08-18T20:51:33Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > This is turning into an All-Star Pit thread! Wait, when did **Chief Pedant** , **brasil84** and **Aji de Gallina** were mentioned? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-terr-and-all-the-other-insolent-morons-at-sdmb/666233.md?page=4)