When insults become the norm, dialogue is debased | Mind your language | Jesús Romero-Trillo

When insults become the norm, dialogue is debased | Mind your language


If you call someone a Nazi just because you disagree with them, you have already lost the argument

Fraped. For the unacquainted, it’s a perturbing portmanteau of "Facebook" and "raped" something that happens when you forget to log out and forget to cut out that annoying practical joker friend from your life.

Rape is an ugly word, and should remain an ugly word for one of the ugliest of all acts. I wince when I hear it. It jars when it’s casually placed into a portmanteau to describe something that’s cheeky and slightly naughty. Rape is neither of these things. It’s something we should never stop hating, and never use as a dysphemism (the opposite of euphemism using a derogatory or unpleasant phrase to replace a neutral original). The feminist website Feministing suggested a new portmanteau Facejacking.

Continue reading…

Mind your language | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1laKRXo

Facebook Twitter Linkedin Plusone Delicious Email