# Is Diogenes a pretentious bombast? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 6, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549 "2011-01-06T00:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/41 "2011-01-06T13:46:48Z")
I like the dude. I even find the Dio Zone entertaining, probably because I don’t have a huge problem with just letting things go. Dio gets a huge amount of flak here, much of it arguably deservedly-so, but yet he doesn’t seem to beget grudges or take things too personally. He is a smart and interesting poster and in any case this pitting doesn’t cut the mustard! ---
**Author:** ![elninost0rm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@elninost0rm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elninost0rm)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/42 "2011-01-06T14:04:12Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > I like the dude. I even find the Dio Zone entertaining, probably because I don’t have a huge problem with just letting things go. Dio gets a huge amount of flak here, much of it arguably deservedly-so, but yet he doesn’t seem to beget grudges or take things too personally. He is a smart and interesting poster and in any case this pitting doesn’t cut the mustard! You forgot “most of the time correct.” ---
**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:** [January 6, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/43 "2011-01-06T14:04:55Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > \ > So what if he- or anyone else- is pretentious? If being pretentious was a banning offense around here, we’d have {counts on fingers} three posters left. I think **Dio** has actually been less Dio-like in the last while. I could be wrong, but he seems to be letting things go a little easier. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/44 "2011-01-06T14:44:18Z")
Hint… Why not just resurrect a prior Dio pitting and change the date. They all read the same. For the record, Dio may sometimes substitute opinion for fact, but he’s also a person who admits when he’s wrong. That’s something not too many others here are willing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/45 "2011-01-06T15:09:27Z")
I suppose it is easier to notice the Dio\*\*\*\* Show when it is on a topic with which you disagree with him, so I am probably more aware of it than most, but it doesn’t appear to me that he is any more or less annoying on any subject over any other - politics, religion, family stuff, Brett Faevre - any of his hot buttons can trigger five pages of “my opinion is unassailable fact”. _:shrugs:_ He’s hardly unique, of course. Regards, Shodan ---
**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 6, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/46 "2011-01-06T16:28:02Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Hint… Why not just resurrect a prior Dio pitting and change the date. They all read the same. > For the record, Dio may sometimes substitute opinion for fact, but he’s also a person who admits when he’s wrong. That’s something not too many others here are willing to do. His pattern is fairly predictable: post normally, someone challenges him, and either he immediately admits fault (rarely) or he digs in, and it will take at least 2 pages of posts, and then he’ll apologize, and then pretty much respond the way he would have before. And of course, if you persist in the same behavior that got you pitted before, you’ll get pitted again. The pit is where people let off steam. If you keep annoying people, they will continue to have steam to let off. Throw in the high post count, and it’s pretty much inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/47 "2011-01-06T17:01:25Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Oh no, not again. Does this never get old? I give the OP points for using “bombast”. It’s an underused word and it’s fun to say, like “smock”. Smock Smock Smock ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/48 "2011-01-06T17:06:44Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Smock > Smock > Smock It’s got a sort of woody quality about it. Much better than “newspaper” or “litterbin.” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/49 "2011-01-06T17:16:30Z")
AAACCCKKKK! Enough with the TINNY WORDS! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/50 "2011-01-06T17:44:24Z")
Intercourse. Regards, Shooooooodan ---
**Author:** ![Peeta\_Mellark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Peeta\_Mellark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peeta_Mellark)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/51 "2011-01-06T18:34:27Z")
If you cannot judge for yourself how **Dio** ’s competence at Biblical scholarship measures up, you have no place in pitting him over those sorts of discussions. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/52 "2011-01-06T18:36:30Z")
Great, now every time I see **Dio** ’s name I am going to think of “[Boombastic](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W5pq4bIzIw)”. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/53 "2011-01-06T18:42:59Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > I give the OP points for using “bombast”. It’s an underused word and it’s fun to say, like “smock”. > > Smock > Smock > Smock What on Earth is wrong with you?!?!?!\* \*Relax everyone, it’s a Calvin & Hobbes reference. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Doctor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/54 "2011-01-06T19:39:31Z")
I gotta come down on the side liking\*\* Dio\*\*. I think he is a fun poster. If you come into his area of expertise, he is going to tear you up. So what if he a little over the top sometimes? It’s an Internet message board. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/55 "2011-01-06T20:26:38Z")
> [@Lord\_Ashtar](#): > > What on Earth is wrong with you?!?!?!\* > > \*Relax everyone, it’s a Calvin & Hobbes reference. Some days even my lucky rocketship underpants won’t help. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/56 "2011-01-06T21:27:42Z")
I find it shocking that someone could read that thread and pick Dio to pit instead of some others. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/57 "2011-01-06T21:30:50Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Great, now every time I see **Dio** ’s name I am going to think of “[Boombastic](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W5pq4bIzIw)”. Great. On my first reading, I missed the “m.” So now **Dio** ’s gonna be boobastic to me. Maybe boobtastic? Anyway… **Dio** ’s good peeps, in my book. He’s got his quirks, but who among us doesn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/58 "2011-01-06T22:32:22Z")
I would say Dio’s biblical knowledge is in inverse proportion to his football knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/59 "2011-01-06T23:29:51Z")
I’ve never seen Dio make a substantive error on the subject of Biblical scholarship. I’ve seen him make shitloads of mistakes in other areas, and he seems to not understand the difference between areas in which he knows stuff, and areas in which he does not; he asserts the same confident and obstinate “my post is my cite” business if we’re discussing the Book of Luke or whether low libido means “gay” or “cheating.” So Pit him when he’s wrong. This time, he’s right. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549/60 "2011-01-06T23:46:41Z")
ISTM that this thread is an example of something that’s wrong with posters in this forum in particular and the board in general. People can’t seem to wrap their mind around a specific point, and feel the need to look at every specific point in terms of what they feel about the broader issue. This can be very difficult for someone who disagrees with the board majority about the larger issue but still wants to be fairly debated about a specific point. In this case, the OP very clearly stated and repeated again and again that he has no issue with Dio’s bible knowledge. His issue was with the logic of Dio’s argument. Now you can disagree with the OP about this too, but almost no one has focused on this. Again and again, throughout this thread, people are saying “Dio knows a lot about the Bible” as if it has the slightest relevance. But it doesn’t. What’s the deal here? How is it that even a guy like Bricker - the specialist at isolating micro-nuances and arguing them forever - can just gloss over the actual point in favor of comments about a broader issue that is not in dispute. Personally I think it’s a combination of intellectual laziness and personal bias. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-diogenes-a-pretentious-bombast/566549.md?page=4)