SPOILERS Sergeant Detritus Discussion

[Tonyblack]

The Mr Shine thing and the reluctance to discuss him, seems to be a cultural thing with trolls. He's almost like a god to them and discussing him with non-trolls would be like revealing sacred mysteries to a non-believer. One thing that is prevalent in Thud! the whole "Writing on the Wall" symbolism. It's something that comes up time and again in the book. Non trolls (even Fred Colon) have noticed a lot of new graffiti referring to Mr Shine and that seems almost like a cry for help in the troubled times that the dwarfs and trolls are going through. The Summoning Dark symbol being posted by a desperate dwarf is another indicator that reflects this.

 

[=Tamar]

Detritus is hesitant because the existence of Diamond King of Trolls is a deep secret. Trolls scarcely talk to each other about his existence, and here's a human asking probing questions. Even though it's Vimes and there's a reason, it upsets Detritus. It involves hidden troll religion that humans don't know about (and humans know about some other things, like the reverse-time belief).
There is another element as well. Trolls have historically fought dwarves because trolls are basically rocks containing valuable minerals (e.g., diamond teeth) and dwarves traditionally dig into rocks to extract valuable minerals. Trolls know that humans value diamonds and they will, when necessary, sell a tooth, because they can grow them back. Diamonds only the size of a human head were put into stone idols (Death got one of them to give as a gift). Imagine what would happen if certain types of human found out that there was a troll made entirely of diamond. In the unlikely scenario that they could imprison Diamond somehow, how long would it take him to regrow chunks taken out of him? Trolls can be injured and killed, and sometimes are by other trolls. Chrysoprase does it and wears diamond jewelry made of troll teeth.

 

[RathDarkblade]

I thought about it in a similar way. Detritus knew about Mr Shine, but didn't know if he was allowed to discuss him with a non-troll. It sounded to me like a secret that only trolls were allowed to know.

On the other hand, Vimes is Detritus's boss, and did a lot to help him. So Detritus couldn't really refuse Vimes. Hence the hesitation.

 

[Woofb]

Yep. Some other quotes from Detritus ...

Detritus (in extreme cold): “Of course! Superconductivity!”
Cuddy: “Wha‘?”
Detritus: “You know? Brain of impure silicon. Problem of heat dissipation. Daytime temperature too hot, processing speed slows down, weather gets hotter, brain stops completely, trolls turn to stone until nightfall, i.e., colder temperature, however, lowertemperatureenough, brainoperatesfaster.”
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Detritus: “Swore ’em in, sir. Used troll oath.”
Flint: “He said he’d kick our goohuloog heads in if we didn’t join up and do what we’re told, sir.”
Detritus: “Very old troll oath. Very famous, very traditional.”
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“You listen up good right now! You in the watch, boy! It a job with opportunity! I only been doin’ it ten minutes and already I get promoted! Also got education and training for a good job in Civilian Street! This your club with nail in it. You will eat it. You will sleep on it! When Detritus say jump, you say… what colour!”
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Detritus: “Corporal Carrot says there’s some good buried somewhere in everyone.”
Vimes: “And what’s your job, Detritus?”
Detritus: “Engineer in charge of deep mining operations, sah!”
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“Boys, if dere was a PhD in bein’ fick, youse wouldn’t be able to find a pencil.”
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And, of course, Detritus's war on Drugs:
Slab: Jus' say "AarrghaarrghpleeassennononoUGH"

I love the bit in Men at Arms about: "Acting Constable already, great future behind him, he got Destiny written all over him like writing"