# Pitting Der\_Trihs

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [March 5, 2026, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214 "2026-03-05T01:20:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 15

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**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/281 "2026-10-05T12:52:15Z")

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Ditto.

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**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/282 "2026-10-05T13:06:38Z")

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Huh - I was just thinking about DT. Weird.

> [@bobot](#):
>
> I wouldn’t call it a flounce if someone just leaves.

I believe that the opposite of a flounce is a slink.

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**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/283 "2026-10-05T13:10:13Z")

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> [@Alessan](#):
>
> I believe that the opposite of a flounce is a slink.

And God help us when they breed.

And you just _know_ they will.

:shudder:

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**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/284 "2026-10-05T13:19:29Z")

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Flinks.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/285 "2026-10-05T14:01:46Z")

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> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> I also agree, flounce was the wrong term.

In hindsight so do I. And not merely because it has attracted some adverse feedback since.

It should have been a neutral term such as “left us” or “departed”.

I got caught up using a SDMB in-group term without fully thinking through its connotations. Flouncing usually includes a grand self-congratulatory “I’m right and you loozers are wrong!” departing shot by the flouncee. Which absolutely positively is _not_ what he did.

My bad.

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**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/286 "2026-10-05T14:12:13Z")

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> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> It should have been a neutral term such as “left us” or “departed”.

…‘E’s restin’. Beautiful plumage.

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**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/287 "2026-10-05T15:48:05Z")

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> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> I got caught up using a SDMB in-group term without fully thinking through its connotations. Flouncing usually includes a grand self-congratulatory “I’m right and you loozers are wrong!” departing shot by the flouncee. Which absolutely positively is _not_ what he did.

Yes there was a slightly misused phrase, but it really only matters if you were dancing on his grave. Which you weren’t. It manifestly makes sense to observe in someone’s Pit thread that they’re not around to be pitted anymore.

However I’m not above saying that his schtick was getting tiresome and predictable, it won’t be missed, and there’s little sense in pretending otherwise. If he’d adjust his approach he’d be a valuable contributor, but to date he’s not been able or willing to do that.

Anyway, to him I say goodbye, rest in peace (most likely temporarily), and hopefully the feedback is taken to heart when he returns from hiatus.

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**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:** [October 5, 2026, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/288 "2026-10-05T16:32:10Z")

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> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> Flouncing usually includes a grand self-congratulatory “I’m right and you loozers are wrong!” departing shot by the flouncee.

Flouncing literally means to move in such a way as to draw attention to yourself; to move in exaggerated ways intentionally to draw the eye. It also means to leave in such a manner.

And yes, leaving while being dramatic about it could be considered a flounce.

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**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/289 "2026-10-05T17:02:51Z")

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**Der Trihs** makes some good points, if he’d just calm down and not use hysteria and broken-tape-playing-on-repeat mode, he’d be one of the best posters here. Hope he becomes that when he comes back.

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**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:** [October 5, 2026, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/290 "2026-10-05T19:10:46Z")

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Ooooh boy, now you’ve done it.

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**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:** [October 6, 2026, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/291 "2026-10-06T00:19:07Z")

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My opinion of him hasn’t changed since my first post in this thread. The stuff he actually gets in trouble for just doesn’t particularly bother me. He doesn’t seem to attack other posters, nor engage in dishonest arguing or bigotry.

Yeah, I can say that he ideally would act differently, but he’s no more annoying than some other posters I scroll past or think “yeah, you have a point, but you could say it better.”

The exception remains the misogyny, but he’d laid off that.

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**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/292 "2026-10-06T11:16:53Z")

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In other words, he’s crazy, but he means well.

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**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/293 "2026-10-06T12:36:50Z")

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> [@MrDibble](#):
>
> Then I guess you didn’t give a toss.

FWIW there are quite a few of us who “don’t give a toss” one way or the other but know of the poster’s posts enough to have their not yet returning be of some “really?” To me that’s not gossip. It is to some degree a sign that you are a poster of note that others note when you are not posting.

Personally I’d also probably take a break if I got suspended. A decent step away to keep this particular play activity in perspective. Try out something else for distraction. Be real people - playing here is not so important, out of the habit and other distractions in rotation it might be a bit until it pops into mind to open up again.

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**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:** [October 6, 2026, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/294 "2026-10-06T12:43:47Z")

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> [@DSeid](#):
>
> To me that’s not gossip.

Gossip is literally just talking about someone when they’re not around. Of course it’s gossip. Which is fine in itself, gossip doesn’t have to be malicious, but there are other venues for it like MPSIMS. There’s literally a dedicated thread for it there.

> [@DSeid](#):
>
> A decent step away to keep this particular play activity in perspective.

I recommend stepping away every now and then, even if you’re _not_ suspended - I took a month off the Board earlier this year and it was a good idea.

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**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:** [October 6, 2026, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/295 "2026-10-06T12:51:44Z")

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> [@MrDibble](#):
>
> Gossip is literally just talking about someone when they’re not around. Of course it’s gossip. Which is fine in itself, gossip doesn’t have to be malicious

Gossip gets a bad rap. I think gossip is what makes communities. Did you hear so-and-so just had another kid? They are looking for a new place to live because their old apartment is getting really cramped… Of course it can be malicious, but most of it isn’t.

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**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/296 "2026-10-06T13:59:51Z")

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> [@MrDibble](#):
>
> Gossip is literally just talking about someone when they’re not around.

I find that an odd definition of gossip. Gossip specifically is discussing something about someone else’s _private_ or _personal_ life that they may not necessarily want shared with a broader population.

“So and so has been absent from work for the past three weeks.” is not gossip, it is observation. “I hear they are on mental health leave because their spouse left them.” is gossip. Observations may invite gossip but are not themselves gossip.

I have zero interest in the poster’s personal or private life. They are entitled to whatever private or personal reason they have for stepping away for whatever duration, including forever. But yes they are “a personality of note” on these boards and their stepping away is newsworthy even if page four, whatever one feels about the news, if anything.

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**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:** [October 6, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/297 "2026-10-06T15:05:33Z")

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> [@DSeid](#):
>
> “So and so has been absent from work for the past three weeks.” is not gossip, it is observation.

If you’re not their manager, working on something with them and need to talk to them, or HR, it very much _is_ gossip. Assuming you’re talking to someone else who isn’t one of those 3 things either.

How is their absence _not_ about their personal life?

> [@DSeid](#):
>
> But yes they are “a personality of note” on these boards and their stepping away is newsworthy even if page four, whatever one feels about the news, if anything.

Even allowing that - _this is not the thread for it_.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [October 9, 2026, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/298 "2026-10-09T00:53:06Z")

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Our long Der\_Trihs-less nightmare is over! He’s back and complaining about his usual delusional fantasies - this time about the totally and absolutely real scourge that is people who defend Stalin for murdering millions but get cagey about his atheistic tendencies.

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**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/299 "2026-10-09T03:07:29Z")

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Yes it is also newsworthy that an established member of our community is back.

I do also appreciate Spice Weasel’s post to him in one of the AI threads:

> I mean this with utter sincerity, from one neurotic person to another: I hope you are getting some kind of help. I would be so incredibly constantly stressed if I held half of your pessimism. And I don’t exactly consider myself an optimist!

Imagining myself experiencing the world as D-T does … it’s pretty damn bleak. I hope IRL he has more fun!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [October 9, 2026, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/300 "2026-10-09T03:53:55Z")

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> [@DSeid](#):
>
> Imagining myself experiencing the world as D-T does … it’s pretty damn bleak.

This is true, but it’s also true of another DT I could mention. Ironic!

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