What are they?
"They torture language until we're at a loss for words".
How many times have we (and I do mean
all of us) made a post or started a topic, and been assailed by some idiot whose only intent seems to be to contort and twist every word into a pretzel-like misrepresentation of the original statement? We see it here every day, but now I have a name for it - 'linguistic sadism'. Perhaps that's because they don't want the idea, represented by those words, to have any force, so they chew it up and spit it out in a totally distorted form. I've seen it also described as 'intellectual misdirection' but that's quite a mouthful and doesn't really put the finger on it. 'Linguistic
sadism', on the other hand, fits quite nicely.
I thought about using it in Latin form, like 'non sequitur' or 'ad hominem', but 'linguae sadism' just doesn't have the same 'ring' to it, so 'linguistic sadism' it is then.
In case you're wondering where all this started, you can blame Jim Babka:
http://us7.campaign-archive1.com/?u=a62f6d3a19ffbd4c6852a4c85&id=139c0ab969&e=aa18da87ff
Larry the Legend wrote:
What are they?
"They torture language until we're at a loss for words".
How many times have we (and I do mean
all of us) made a post or started a topic, and been assailed by some idiot whose only intent seems to be to contort and twist every word into a pretzel-like misrepresentation of the original statement? We see it here every day, but now I have a name for it - 'linguistic sadism'. Perhaps that's because they don't want the idea, represented by those words, to have any force, so they chew it up and spit it out in a totally distorted form. I've seen it also described as 'intellectual misdirection' but that's quite a mouthful and doesn't really put the finger on it. 'Linguistic
sadism', on the other hand, fits quite nicely.
I thought about using it in Latin form, like 'non sequitur' or 'ad hominem', but 'linguae sadism' just doesn't have the same 'ring' to it, so 'linguistic sadism' it is then.
In case you're wondering where all this started, you can blame Jim Babka:
http://us7.campaign-archive1.com/?u=a62f6d3a19ffbd4c6852a4c85&id=139c0ab969&e=aa18da87ffWhat are they? br br "They torture language ... (
show quote)
Isn't this akin to Sophistry?
Larry the Legend wrote:
Now that's a sophistry!
I've had no complaints. Sophistry is the art of using fallacious (NOT fellatious) arguments, therefore, I would call my statement a pun.
Big Bass wrote:
I've had no complaints. Sophistry is the art of using fallacious (NOT fellatious) arguments, therefore, I would call my statement a pun.
Don't blow things out of proportion.
big bass,you spelled it wrong,should be cunnilingus.....
boatbob2 wrote:
big bass,you spelled it wrong,should be cunnilingus.....
Isn't that an Irish Airline? (
) And Genitalia an Italian Airline?
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