Flame howto...

[baboe]

1. Tell your opponent that the argument is over, because it's degenerated into pointlessness.... doing so at the end of your post giving you the lengthy last word in it.

2. Predict the imminent death of the Internet. ("Film at 11!")

3. Call your opponent a Nazi.

4. Change the subject by pointing out all of your opponent's grammar and spelling mistakes.

5. Post some horribly vicious and insulting note about your opponent.... several minutes later, post a profuse apology, claiming that you'd intended to send the message privately to a friend.

6. a: Refer frequently to pretend hordes of lurking supporters, who have mailed you privately to express their agreement and gratitude.... but aren't willing to come out publicly and say anything. (See also here.)

b: Accuse your opponent of trying to intimidate your hordes of supporters.... add indignantly that you "will not be silenced".

7. Attempt to impress/silence your opponent by discussing your professional credentials and experience related to the topic at hand, which clearly make your opinions better and more correct than anyone else's.... be vague about details if your credentials and experience aren't actually all that impressive. (Also known as "dueling resumes".)

8. Accuse your opponent of being overly sensitive, or suggest in a patronizing tone that they "must be having a bad day".

9. Claim that an insult or other rudeness was "just a joke", and suggest that your opponent has no sense of humor.

10. Claim that *everything* is a matter of opinion, that there are no such things as facts or truth.

11. a: Claim that facts are absolute.... that there's never any such thing as dispute or disagreement about a fact.

b: Assume that everything you learned in college, no matter how many years ago nor how much a field has advanced in the meantime, is completely unchanged.

12. Redefine words to mean whatever you want them to mean. (Also known as the "Humpty Dumpty" defense.)

13. Refuse to look something up, if challenged to do so.... no need, surely your memory is perfect.

14. Ask your opponent to supply lengthy and detailed references for their every statement.

15. Claim that if something works for you/your spouse/your kid/your parent/your best friend/your boss/your hairdresser's first cousin's dog's veterinarian, it will always work for everyone.... and if it doesn't, it's because they're not doing it right.

For all the lurkers here, get an opinion!!!

Let the war start!

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

[baboe]

*** everyone on tf.........especially me

Is that all you can say? You're obviously in the need of a good shag indeed!

[zeusbheld]

this is a cut-and-paste from somewhere insn't it? seems like i've seen it before. some of it is obvious, some of it is cliche, and some of it is spot on.

btw when i say cut-and-paste i'm not implying plagiarism--most of the stuff that gets forwarded around the 'net is pretty anonymous and basically in the public domain.

1. Tell your opponent that the argument is over, because it's degenerated into pointlessness.... doing so at the end of your post giving you the lengthy last word in it.

ever notice how many people do this, and then can't resist coming back to make one or more additional posts on a thread?

a variant of this is "you have no life, you're arguing on internet forums." these polymaths should think that one over a bit before they um... post it as part of ... an argument... on an internet forum.

2. Predict the imminent death of the Internet. ("Film at 11!")

not sure what is meant by this.

3. Call your opponent a Nazi.

this one is fatigued, and only worth dusting off and trotting out when your opponent is actually supporting nazis (this being the internet, it happens.)

better to tailor it to the subject at hand: for example, if someone doesn't agree with your genocidal plan to eradicate every muslim man, woman child and pet, accuse them of "standing side by side with osama bin laden."

in other words, there is plenty of room to be creative with this one.

4. Change the subject by pointing out all of your opponent's grammar and spelling mistakes.

this old saw is often a distraction but is sometimes useful when your opponent is asserting that they are really the cleverest and the only one who knows the truth. if someone is asserting that they're really, smart,, they should be able to express their alleged genius clearly. some slack should be granted for those who are writing in a language other than their mother tongue. sadly, most of the 'grammer police (sic) suck at both grammer (sic) and speleng.

5. Post some horribly vicious and insulting note about your opponent.... several minutes later, post a profuse apology, claiming that you'd intended to send the message privately to a friend.

this is one of the few i haven't actually seen happen.

6. a: Refer frequently to pretend hordes of lurking supporters, who have mailed you privately to express their agreement and gratitude.... but aren't willing to come out publicly and say anything. (See also here.)

this is the most popular one on the internet probably. seems everyone is claiming to represent the 'silent majority' except for the people who actually do.

b: Accuse your opponent of trying to intimidate your hordes of supporters.... add indignantly that you "will not be silenced".

seems a lot of internet types have lots of imaginary friends...

7. Attempt to impress/silence your opponent by discussing your professional credentials and experience related to the topic at hand, which clearly make your opinions better and more correct than anyone else's.... be vague about details if your credentials and experience aren't actually all that impressive. (Also known as "dueling resumes".)

this can actually be useful though. for instance, every conspiracy nut will say something 'couldn't possibly happen.' if for instance someone says a heated steel beam couldn't collapse, and you say it most defnitely can, and you happen to be a structural engineer, then sorry, your opinion DOES matter more than the conspiracy nut's. all opinions are NOT created equal; informed opinions are worth more. an open mind doesn't mean open like a trash bin. that said, that doesn't mean the 'expert' is correct, just that if the conspiracy nut's correct, it's an accident.

experts can be wrong, but ithat doesn't mean i have to respect the opinions of ignorant dipshits, and weigh them the same as experts.

8. Accuse your opponent of being overly sensitive, or suggest in a patronizing tone that they "must be having a bad day".

ahem... or say something "press your skirt and have a good cry."

ahem... of course *i* would never say that, just an example <<hides>>

9. Claim that an insult or other rudeness was "just a joke", and suggest that your opponent has no sense of humor.

this is the most prevalent on TF. quite often it *is* just a joke. sometimes though, the joke doesn't fit the audience, mostly because the audience are boring, thin-skinned sissies.

10. Claim that *everything* is a matter of opinion, that there are no such things as facts or truth.

i invite whoever claims that to change their opinion about basic phsyics, and back it up by leaping in front of a speeding bus.

11. a: Claim that facts are absolute.... that there's never any such thing as dispute or disagreement about a fact.

the people who do this are usually reluctant to post any facts. no such animal as absolute certainty though. although, to be fair, there *are* some facts that are not controversial, and trying to make them controversial is

b: Assume that everything you learned in college, no matter how many years ago nor how much a field has advanced in the meantime, is completely unchanged.

haven't seen much of this; although perhaps because the people with a degree in whatever are usually up against someone who has absolutely no relevant experience whatsoever.

12. Redefine words to mean whatever you want them to mean. (Also known as the "Humpty Dumpty" defense.)

? haven't seen that, except where people say "i really meant to say x".

13. Refuse to look something up, if challenged to do so.... no need, surely your memory is perfect.

the usual response is "do you own homework". quite often used by people who havent' done theirs. on the other hand, i like to hold back some of the info i've already looked up, giviing opponent a chance to say something really stupid before i post the details.

14. Ask your opponent to supply lengthy and detailed references for their every statement.

whether this is appropriate depends on a) what they're saying and which position is the more controversial. if, for example you claim the moon is made of green cheese, you can expect to have to back it up. if you claim the moon is made of rock, you shouldn't have to post references for it, it's common knowledge.

15. Claim that if something works for you/your spouse/your kid/your parent/your best friend/your boss/your hairdresser's first cousin's dog's veterinarian, it will always work for everyone.... and if it doesn't, it's because they're not doing it right.

this is the favorite approach over on thaivisa.

[Zombiedriven]

WELL YOU ARE FORGETTING ONE OF THE BEST ONES.

TELL THE IDIOT HE IS WRONG THE PROCEED TO TAKE A BILLYCLUB UPSIDE HIS HEAD :twisted:

[khun_lung]

I think calling someone a silly **** may have been omitted.

[zeusbheld]

I think calling someone a silly **** may have been omitted.

'prize *****' too.

surely TF can't be the only website where that tactic is practiced?