# Pit rules have been revised **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 24, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256 "2009-02-24T19:34:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/401 "2009-02-25T07:53:51Z")
Ok, I made it through the whole thing. At a fifth of a post per day over the last two years, I don’t exactly speak up much, but I do love this place - I’m here nearly every day. I read the pit as something of a board barometer - what’s getting people’s hackles up today? What’s happening in GD, where I don’t venture for fear that I might have to open up a pit thread for every other post I read? What’s happening in the world today that someone cares enough about to rant about - and that other people care enough about to correct the initial poster, or agree with him/her, or provide evidence that she/he is a retard? I love the pit. I don’t think that new rules are needed, but I agree with the general consensus that if there are going to be new rules, it would be good to have rules that were understood. \*\*Raindog’\*\*s posts in this thread are a perfect example; since rule #2 is a fuzzy line that mods will call as they see it, we would have a vastly different decision on a post, depending on whether **Raindog** or, say, **DocCathode** was making the call. It puts the posters in an untenable position. I also just thought it was interesting that, in the **Cervaise** [telemarketer](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=51270) thread from 2000 linked on page 2 of this thread, there are a couple of posters who were generally approving of the OP, but made a comment along the lines of “there was a little too much cunt for my taste”, and then **Lynn** posted defending the use of the word cunt (and in an amusing tone quite in keeping with the OP, as well). ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/402 "2009-02-25T07:59:32Z")
I seem to recall reading somewhere about a certain admin who ordered everyone to stop using profanity because she was interviewing for a new job, and this place was on her _résumé._ At least that time, the PTB had a specific reason (as retarded as it may have been) and a specific goal (no swearing). This…vague reasons, unclear goals…can’t end well. “Give it a chance, wait and see” --\> “Well, we can’t change it now, it’s been in place for (XX interval of time)” After I stopped paying to post here, I still came back to check in on the Pit. Although there was the occasional dip into vulgarism and nastiness, even those dips were a step up from the crassness of many other boards on the net, and that’s what kept me coming back. Everything else? I can (and have) found other fora that’s just as intelligent, interesting and witty as the rest of the SDMB, but the pit was unique. No more. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/403 "2009-02-25T08:03:29Z")
> [@RobuSensei](#): > > I seem to recall reading somewhere about a certain admin who ordered everyone to stop using profanity because she was interviewing for a new job, and this place was on her _résumé._ Wait, seriously? When was this? Anyone have more details or a link? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/404 "2009-02-25T08:05:37Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Wait, seriously? When was this? Anyone have more details or a link? [Here you go.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=2328807#post2328807) ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/405 "2009-02-25T08:25:32Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > [Here you go.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=2328807#post2328807) Looks like Tuba showed a lot of class in that thread. Seems a shame to let drop that nearly a decade ago a mod did something as stupid as try to enforce board rules according to her job search without pointing out that the mod actually apologized with a sincere apology and real class. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/406 "2009-02-25T08:38:07Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Looks like Tuba showed a lot of class in that thread. Seems a shame to let drop that nearly a decade ago a mod did something as stupid as try to enforce board rules according to her job search without pointing out that the mod actually apologized with a sincere apology and real class. Whatever. Someone asked for a link, so i did a search and provided one. If you want to clarify the situation, feel free. Or, the person who asked is also free to read the thread in question. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/407 "2009-02-25T08:59:24Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Whatever. > > Someone asked for a link, so i did a search and provided one. If you want to clarify the situation, feel free. Or, the person who asked is also free to read the thread in question. What the fuck ever is right, since I only quoted you to reference the link. My response was aimed at RobuSensei. I think it’s a shame he mentioned that she fucked up, but didn’t mention that she redeemed herself. And, surprisingly enough, I do indeed feel perfectly free to clarify when people get pulled into some shit out of the clear blue and have to look up blinking and wondering what the fuck did they have to do with anything. That shit is annoying. She was a classy broad in that thread, and I felt free to point that out. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/408 "2009-02-25T09:09:24Z")
_Broad?_ :dubious: That’s a bannin’. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/409 "2009-02-25T09:14:35Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > _Broad?_ :dubious: That’s a bannin’. _Dammit._ ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/410 "2009-02-25T09:17:58Z")
:p:D ---
**Author:** ![ajb867](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@ajb867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ajb867)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/411 "2009-02-25T09:21:50Z")
Can somebody direct me to the pitt? Someone left the light off. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/412 "2009-02-25T09:27:04Z")
> [@iftheresaway](#): > > “there was a little too much cunt for my taste” I do not understand what this phrase means. ---
**Author:** ![ambushed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@ambushed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ambushed)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/413 "2009-02-25T09:31:20Z")
> [@raindog](#): > > … I think The Pit didn’t live up to it’s potential, and I think the new rules give it the chance to do just that. The dimmest bulbs will be rendered speechless, or at least less crude and juvenile. The rest will simply step up their game and stop using the first word that comes to their key board. > > Ed, my 200 pesos: This _is_ an over reaction; the over reaction of a forum that had gotten out of control. The Straight Dope Message Board is not uncommonly referred to on other message boards, even excluding the so-called “SDMB-snark” boards. In my experience, what is the primary topic of interest concerning the SDMB on these (non-snark) boards? The BBQ Pit, and how _great_ it would be if the posters on these other boards had access to the same kind of anger-releasing free-speech zone! Yes, The Pit is the envy of who knows how many other boards whose posters are prohibited from speaking their minds and venting even angry and indignant criticisms about other posters, their motivations, their knowledge, their intellectual honesty, conflicts of interest and so forth. What happens on boards which do not provide such a free-speech zone? The unavoidable anger that arises when debating vital but polarizing issues has nowhere else to go, so the debate thread itself becomes useless as it degrades into open warfare. The benefits of Internet debate are thus often lost because those debate boards provide no alternative outlet for the anger that erupts inevitably from time to time out of basic human nature. At one such message board, frequented by philosophy professors and respected scientists, a highly respected poster wrote in defense of myself and of the pugilistic nature of the debates there (for which I, shamefully, was predominantly to blame): _“We put up with the other shit because it’s worth it; I didn’t come to this message board to have a cup of tea”_. I was never banned (though arguably I should have been), but I left it anyway and came here, where I would have an outlet for my anger, justified or otherwise. With Pit Rule 2 in place, this entire board will be… … just another place to have a cup of tea. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/414 "2009-02-25T10:21:48Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Trying to switch over to some kind of Canadian rules flame forum is like drinking non-alcoholic beer or watching _Showgirls_ on commercial television – kind of pointless. To quote the Canadian philosopher king Pierre Trudeau, “Fuddle duddle!” ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/415 "2009-02-25T10:23:44Z")
Ed, is it accepteble to insult a poster by saying, “Relax, your’re pulling an Ed,” or is that too creative. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/416 "2009-02-25T10:27:30Z")
I am a 65 years old woman and once again some man is trying to tell me that I can’t say “fuck off.” I don’t make a habit out of cursing a lot even in the Pit. But nobody is going to be making those decisions for me at this stage in my life. So if I get banned, I will see you all at that “great gig in the sky.” And, Ed. Do kids in high school drive cars and eat cheeseburgers? Does that mean that it’s juvenile to drive cars and eat cheeseburgers? Then don’t try to pull that kind of stupid logic on us about cursing. You may think that it’s civil to ignore the wishes of almost all other posters to indulge your own standards, but you showed your true colors by letting us know that you really don’t care whether we leave or not. And to me _that_ is the real obscenity. I support Rule #1. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/417 "2009-02-25T10:28:41Z")
> [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > Please understand what I’m trying to do here. I’m trying to limit outbreaks of hateful, hostile behavior, **which occur fairly rarely but often enough that they bother me.** Snipping and bolding are mine. My only comment is to say that the bolded portion above is what bothers me. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/418 "2009-02-25T10:36:53Z")
Nine pages in and what, five posts by admins? Save you fingers people. They aren’t listening. They aren’t answering questions. This thread is so we can bitch and get it out of our systems. Eventually when you get hungry enough you’ll shut up and eat your vegatables. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/419 "2009-02-25T10:46:12Z")
> [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > Please understand what I’m trying to do here. I’m trying to limit outbreaks of hateful, hostile behavior, which occur fairly rarely but often enough that they bother me. I think that’s a worthwhile and achievable goal. If it emerges that there’s some different way to phrase the rules that accomplishes the same result in a way people find easier to understand, sure, we can adjust the words. But truthfully I think it’ll be pretty obvious what I’m talking about once we let this run awhile. This is just baffling. In what world is a upheaval of existing policies and a capricious and unspecified new guideline a better solution than simply addressing those “fairly rare” outbreaks on a case by case basis? That’s asinine. You essentially nuked the thing from orbit to eliminate a couple cockroaches. Why wouldn’t a more prudent and tempered approach to have left things be and allowed the moderators the latitude _that already existed_ to put an end to those rare threads that exceeded your threshold? You really couldn’t see that these changes create far more problems than they solve? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256/420 "2009-02-25T10:58:54Z")
> [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > Of course I’m taking it seriously. Why do you think I’m posting all these responses? Relax, Ed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pit-rules-have-been-revised/487256.md?page=22)