# The Pit **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 17, 2002, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154 "2002-11-17T10:49:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/1 "2002-11-17T10:49:17Z")
I recall a mod saying once something to this effect: the Pit is not necessarily just for ranting and complaining; it would be entirely appropriate, for example, to host a heated or passionate debate in the Pit. Could an administrator give the official position on this? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/2 "2002-11-17T15:04:24Z")
I’m not admin, but I think if a discussion gets too agressive for GD, it can be continued in the Pit - moving it there doesn’t necessarily mean it’s got to degrade into a flame war. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/3 "2002-11-17T15:24:23Z")
Thanks for commenting, but I’m not talking about moving one there or continuing it there. I’m talking about opening it there. I’m glad you said something though. That might’ve needed clearing up. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/4 "2002-11-17T15:35:20Z")
I dunno whether Lib’s inquiry was sparked by Lynn’s comment in closing[this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=144447&pagenumber=2), but it’s apposite for those wondering. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/5 "2002-11-17T22:08:42Z")
I’ve seen people open debates in the Pit, saying something like, “I know this is usually an incendiary subject, and I want folks to feel free to speak their minds, so I’m putting this in the Pit.” ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/6 "2002-11-18T00:09:11Z")
When people open up threads in the Pit in the scenario **Duck Duck Goose** describes, it’s usually along these lines (scenario fictituous): > [@](#): > > Thread Title: **Fucking Asshat Sons of Bitches** > > OP: My church decided to refuse entrance to my brother, because they found out he was gay. I’m so mad at these incompetent medieval bastards that I could just EXPLODE!!! > > I would like to debate the issue of churches saying “NO!” to gay people. I know this should be done in GD, but I felt like I (and maybe you) would like to vent a little as well. OP’s like this are, IMHO, bad form. You wanna rant? Fine. Just don’t disguise it as a debate. Or don’t hold yourself to such low standards that your GD OP is really only suited for the Pit. There is, as always, no clear line. A Pit rant will be started, and people will debate the issue civilly. Usually, the debate is an intermezzo to the real purpose: the ranting. But STARTING a debate because you know it’ll get out of hand, or because you think you can’t word your OP without lapsing into profanity? I’d say if you can’t collect your thoughts enough to word a constructive OP explaining your side of the debate, you have no place in Great Debates, and perhaps shouldn’t engage in the noble art of debating _anywhere_ on these boards. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/7 "2002-11-18T03:43:29Z")
I remember a debate **AHunter3** and I had that grew out of an offhand comment I made in a pit thread [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100406) that sparked a knockdown-dragout between her and I that progressively _cooled_ into something well worthy of Great Debates. I know that’s something probably one-in-a-million, but it’s something that created a thread that could only exist in the Pit because over half was pure rant or argument but had a civil debate at the end. So if debate is outright banned in The Pit, that thread would be off-limits as well. Under current thinking, would **AHunter** and I have been advised to `get a room’? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/8 "2002-11-18T05:07:45Z")
The proper behaviour would be: If you want to start a debate, then start it in the forum for Debates: the Great Debates forum. If a thread is turning into a debate, then one of the people interested in the issue should start a thread in the Great Debates forum, post a link in The BBQ Pit thread, and continue the debate in the proper forum. Of course, many a time a rant in The BBQ Pit slowly turns into a debate, and no one is reprimanded for it. But as the forum descriptions on the main pages clearly show, debates belong in a different forum. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/9 "2002-11-18T11:59:41Z")
Thanks, Arnold. That settles it. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/10 "2002-11-18T13:44:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\*I remember a debate **AHunter3** and I had that grew out of an offhand comment I made in a pit thread [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100406) that sparked a knockdown-dragout between her and I that progressively _cooled_ into something well worthy of Great Debates. Under current thinking, would **AHunter** and I have been advised to `get a room’? 😃 \*\* Apologies for the hijack, but… “her”? See, you learn so much here … ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/11 "2002-11-18T14:36:49Z")
**THAT IS THE STUPIDEST OP I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!why…Its SO stupid i cannot even debtae it!** guess that solves that problem… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/12 "2002-11-18T16:12:52Z")
Yes, I suppose it deos. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/13 "2002-11-19T14:11:12Z")
youre good… :o ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/14 "2002-11-19T22:41:02Z")
**Dantheman** : > [@](#): > > Originally posted by Derleth > > > [@](#): > > > > I remember a debate AHunter3 and I had that grew out of an offhand comment I made in a pit thread here that sparked a knockdown-dragout between her and I that progressively cooled into something well worthy of Great Debates. Under current thinking, would AHunter and I have been advised to `get a room’? > > Apologies for the hijack, but… “her”? See, you learn so much here … You ain’t kiddin’ !!! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/15 "2002-11-20T08:11:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > **…a knockdown-dragout between her and I…** “I”? Aren’t you thinking of someone else whose name begins with “m” and ends with “e”? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pit/137154/16 "2002-11-20T10:54:09Z")
Well, just between you and I, me spoke to she about that.