This is a strange pattern of argument that occurs in the “culture” threads and Star Wars threads.
Person A gives an opinion. Person B calls that opinion irredeemably horrible. Person A explains why that isn’t the case. Person B repeats that it is irredeemably horrible. Person A tries again to get Person B to see some shade of grey. Person B asks why Person A cares so much and is making such a big deal out of it. And all the person did was express an opinion and defend it when challenged. It’s a relentless shaming of Person A that I don’t understand.
If it goes on long enough, someone will declare its all semantics.
I’m glad you’ve pointed this out, because you’ve exposed the real issue at the heart of this.
That’s an overstatement. The mode of discussion doesn’t qualify as the “heart of this.”
Um… okay.
De nada.
Person B is rarely (if ever at all) saying something is “irredeemably horrible.” It’s almost always just Person A overreacting and assuming they are.
To be precise about this case, it was a series of snarky and dismissive jabs. But reading between the lines isn’t that difficult. Maybe you think I exaggerate with “irredeemably horrible,” but I think you can get the essence of my meaning.
It’s not just semantics, it’s people imagining things that aren’t really being said.
Maybe the discussion hasn’t gone on long enough, but I have faith you’ll get there.
I’m not wrong. Just calling someone a “dick” is pretty fucking far away from “irredeemably horrible.” It’s a gap that goes beyond hyperbole, and won’t be closed no matter how long the discussion goes on for.
This smells like semantics to me. Granted I enjoy the probably unintended irony of “a gap that goes beyond hyperbole” which attempts to chart the supposed outer limits of hyperbole. Answer: there are none.
Sometimes the claim is that an opinion or phrase is racist or sexist, sometimes like here just jerkish. I was explicitly writing about a general pattern. What appears to be exaggeration (at least regarding the current discussion) isn’t the “heart” of my incisive commentary.