Or, how someone could study linguistic theory without owning a dictionary.
Okay, now that last really was pissy. But this is my space to vent my spleen so vent I shall. Had day-long arguments with people who would pick apart the least thing I said as being unclear (and I really didn't think they were, but did specify every single word later to avoid it in future), but refused to belived that saying "everything is x" would be in anyway unclear (hyperbole, 1. Rhet. A figure of speech consisting in exaggerated or extravagant statement), and when the exaggeration was pointed out, refused to understand that the clarification offered was a change in verbage (variant of VERBIAGE), and not a change in ideas.
There is a lot of personal stuff in the background that is not being acknowledged. Some is it between what is “real” and what is merely online. I feel sure that were these conversations happening face-to-face, they would never behave this way. But there is also the element of jealousy that has crept in that is not being acknowledged. The two women in question were happy to flirt with the boy at the end of the electrons as a safe distraction. They said he was too young for them, and were both already in relationships, but they enjoyed the flirting nonetheless.
But when the time came that he began flirting with someone who saw him as real, and not simply lines of text (yes, I do mean me), and one willing to return affection, things changed. Both of us were ignored more, and when I was not ignored, my views were picked apart and attacked. A lot of this also began when the idea came to move from an online environment to the flesh, in terms of a meet-up in London. Suddenly there was the possibility that these were real people. Real people can be a scary thing, which is easy to attack in cyberspace. You never have to worry about your opponent’s reaction or deal with the aftermath.
You can safely turn off your computer.
Okay, now that last really was pissy. But this is my space to vent my spleen so vent I shall. Had day-long arguments with people who would pick apart the least thing I said as being unclear (and I really didn't think they were, but did specify every single word later to avoid it in future), but refused to belived that saying "everything is x" would be in anyway unclear (hyperbole, 1. Rhet. A figure of speech consisting in exaggerated or extravagant statement), and when the exaggeration was pointed out, refused to understand that the clarification offered was a change in verbage (variant of VERBIAGE), and not a change in ideas.
There is a lot of personal stuff in the background that is not being acknowledged. Some is it between what is “real” and what is merely online. I feel sure that were these conversations happening face-to-face, they would never behave this way. But there is also the element of jealousy that has crept in that is not being acknowledged. The two women in question were happy to flirt with the boy at the end of the electrons as a safe distraction. They said he was too young for them, and were both already in relationships, but they enjoyed the flirting nonetheless.
But when the time came that he began flirting with someone who saw him as real, and not simply lines of text (yes, I do mean me), and one willing to return affection, things changed. Both of us were ignored more, and when I was not ignored, my views were picked apart and attacked. A lot of this also began when the idea came to move from an online environment to the flesh, in terms of a meet-up in London. Suddenly there was the possibility that these were real people. Real people can be a scary thing, which is easy to attack in cyberspace. You never have to worry about your opponent’s reaction or deal with the aftermath.
You can safely turn off your computer.
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