# Pitting Der\_Trihs **URL:** \ **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:** 16
**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:** [October 9, 2026, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/301 "2026-10-09T05:54:15Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > > [@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? Because it’s totally about their **corporate** life. I agree with @DSeid. And it likely has direct effects on other employees who aren’t in your above-named list. Now, if that discussion devolves into “I heard that they’re absent because {_bzz bzz bzz_}” – now, **that’s** gossip. ---
**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 9, 2026, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/302 "2026-10-09T06:19:23Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Because it’s totally about their **corporate** life. The two are not separate. If it’s got nothing to do with _their actual job_ like in the examples I cited, then it’s personal. Just because it happens _at_ work, doesn’t mean it’s _about_ work. > [@wolfpup](#): > > it likely has direct effects on other employees who aren’t in your above-named list. My list was not meant to be exhaustive, and the original example wasn’t phrased as a work-related information dump. > [@wolfpup](#): > > Now, if that discussion devolves into “I heard that they’re absent because {_bzz bzz bzz_}” – now, **that’s** gossip. Nah. We’re at the water cooler and you say “Jane wasn’t in yesterday”. That’s _already_ gossip _even if you don’t go on to say_ “because she was having Botox done” ---
**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 9, 2026, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/303 "2026-10-09T08:13:16Z")
He also wrote a very nice and informative post about magical jewelry in CS. Welcome back, D\_T. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/304 "2026-10-09T11:40:14Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > This is true, but it’s also true of another DT I could mention. Ironic! It’s easier for someone like you to have a rosy outlook, you enjoy genocide. Some people find things like that upsetting. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/305 "2026-10-09T12:26:37Z")
I can’t even tell what DT he’s talking about. The only one I can think of is DemonTree, which doesn’t seem to fit here. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/306 "2026-10-09T12:29:23Z")
In this thread in which people are discussing DT’s supposed mental illness, he’s absolutely delighting in his suffering. He’s the kind of person who enjoys other people’s hardships, just an awful fucking person. Also, a lot of people here seem to miss the part where DT was right about the US sliding into fascism. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/307 "2026-10-09T12:31:49Z")
Probly the orange bastard. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/308 "2026-10-09T12:32:29Z")
Good thinking! ---
**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:** [October 9, 2026, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/309 "2026-10-09T12:58:40Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > Probly the orange bastard. A right brutal bastard he has been, and will be again ~~in spite~~ because of all his sucking up to the evangelical chaplains. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/310 "2026-10-09T13:19:49Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Also, a lot of people here seem to miss the part where DT was right about the US sliding into fascism. He also said the same thing years ago about the situation well before Trump. If he had been remotely right back then, we wouldn’t be posting here - at best, we’d be trying to eke out existence in the aftermath of a global civilization ending war. It’s like the saying about economists correctly predicting 9 of the last 5 recessions - it’s not useful or insightful to hail somebody for finally being right making the same prediction they’ve made repeatedly. Being ‘stopped clock’ right for a mix of right and wrong reasons is what it sounds like, a useless hodge-podge. That said, we, as human beings, have a bad habit of splitting people into good and bad camps. Just because DT has some issues doesn’t mean he’s wrong about everything. Likewise, just because he makes some good calls doesn’t mean he’s on the side of the angels. Like most of us (and something the pittee does not seem to be able to grasp), he occupies a vast excluded middle ground DT has crossed the line on more than one occasion and been called out on it. That doesn’t invalidate the good points he raises re: genocide or our long time slide into fascism but at the same time doesn’t excuse the rampant misogyny or his need to rein his worst impulses in ---
**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 9, 2026, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/311 "2026-10-09T13:26:03Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Nah. We’re at the water cooler and you say “Jane wasn’t in yesterday”. That’s _already_ gossip _even if you don’t go on to say_ “because she was having Botox done” Gossip is synonymous with “talk”. There’s no moral valence other than what comes from the intent. It’s how we find out what’s going on in our community or workplace. This is why companies like Wal-Mart ban their employees from gossiping, so they can ensure that workers can only learn management-authorized information about themselves, their management, and their workplace. If you must police something, police malicious intent. But gossip as a category is fine, stop finger-wagging about it. ---
**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 9, 2026, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/312 "2026-10-09T13:34:19Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Gossip is synonymous with “talk”. There’s no moral valence other than what comes from the intent. That’s what I already said: > [@MrDibble](#): > > gossip doesn’t have to be malicious so preaching to the choir there. > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Gossip is fine. Stop finger-wagging about it. I I’m not “finger-wagging” about gossip’s existence. I’m “finger-wagging” about it being _in this thread_ - when there’s an entire fucking forum for it, and a dedicated long-running thread therein just for the particular flavour of poster gossip in question. ---
**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 9, 2026, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/313 "2026-10-09T13:36:02Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Also, a lot of people here seem to miss the part where DT was right about the US sliding into fascism. Stopped clock, twice a day, etc. People have been calling this since the 70’s. Constantly saying that the US was sliding toward fascism doesn’t exactly require a political science degree. Many others have done so, with a more nuanced and illuminating take on timing, magnitude, and specific turning points. ---
**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 9, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/314 "2026-10-09T13:44:34Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I’m not “finger-wagging” about gossip’s existence. I’m “finger-wagging” about it being _in this thread_ - when there’s an entire fucking forum for it, and a dedicated long-running thread therein just for the particular flavour of poster gossip in question. You get how it’s even dumber to topic-police a mostly-ungoverned trash heap like the Pit, right? ---
**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 9, 2026, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/315 "2026-10-09T13:49:22Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > You get how it’s even dumber to topic-police a mostly-ungoverned trash heap like the Pit, right? Tell everyone who works to keep the “What Were You Thinking?” thread approximately on topic how dumb they are, by all means. I get annoyed when Pit threads I have an interest in get bumped for dumb shit. ---
**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, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/316 "2026-10-09T14:22:38Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Gossip is synonymous with “talk”. Really, no, it is not. That is not its meaning either proscriptively or descriptively. It specifically refers to talk about someone (or by extension some_thing_ else, like a company) that is generally considered _personal_ or _private._ Absolutely correct that gossip is not definitionally malicious. It can be beneficial. It serves real prosocial functions at times. But talk about someone else who is not present is NOT definitionally “gossip” if absent of the _personal_ or otherwise _private_ information. Alessan’s comment that D-T had a nice post about magical jewelry for example does not count as gossip. I don’t know anything about D-T’s personal life. I do think his posts are overwhelmingly dystopian. And the future may end up dystopian. But if all of his life is experienced as a hopeless venture, only different flavors of hell are ahead, nothing can be done … it does sound like a hard life to live. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/317 "2026-10-09T14:27:09Z")
E.g. “At work, I like gossiping with my co-workers about the weather” makes a _ **ton** _ of sense ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/318 "2026-10-09T15:02:20Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > It’s like the saying about economists correctly predicting 9 of the last 5 recessions - it’s not useful or insightful to hail somebody for finally being right making the same prediction they’ve made repeatedly. Being ‘stopped clock’ right for a mix of right and wrong reasons is what it sounds like, a useless hodge-podge. I agree. I thought this a few years ago when a chorus developed lauding Der\_Trihs for finally being proven right about his assessment and predictions re: the Right, conveniently ignoring the more extreme stuff. Trump showed he was on the right track seemed to be the sentiment, and anyone who had pushed back sure had egg on their faces. No. His worldview is so bleak, so suicidally despondent, in all things: sexual relations, women, religious matters, etc., that of course there will be nuggets of “truth” when a despot like Trump emerges. It reminds me of my older brother, who was cognitively challenged (it was still called mentally retarded when we were kids). Whenever we’d watch the Phillies, to the extent he was paying attention, he’d predict a home run for every Philly batter. Occasionally he’d be correct, but he got zero credit for it. Same with Der; no applause for “predicting” evil behavior when that’s your default. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2026, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/319 "2026-10-09T16:48:05Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I don’t know anything about D-T’s personal life. I do think his posts are overwhelmingly dystopian. And the future may end up dystopian. But if all of his life is experienced as a hopeless venture, only different flavors of hell are ahead, nothing can be done … it does sound like a hard life to live. It can’t be that bad. A similarly hopeless world view is held by countless devotees of conspiracy theories, including ones where mass depopulation through chemtrails, vaccines, Pharma drugs and machinations of various secret societies and ethnic groups are well underway. No realistic solutions are proposed. They just wallow in their inevitable doom predictions, warm and smug in the cocoon of Being In The Know. Der Trihs is one of those. ---
**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, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214/320 "2026-10-09T17:08:42Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It can’t be that bad. > > A similarly hopeless world view is held by countless devotees of conspiracy theories, including ones where mass depopulation through chemtrails, vaccines, Pharma drugs and machinations of various secret societies and ethnic groups are well underway. My parents had a mutual friend from before they met who sometime before I was born fell into conspiratorial thinking. It completely ruined his life and a few years ago he ended up in prison after trying to act out on one of his delusions. Just because a lot of people exist in a certain state doesn’t mean that it isn’t a miserable state to be in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-der-trihs/1028214.md?page=17)