Posts Tagged ‘verbal sparring’
The answer to “How dare you?”
I hate “How dare you?” I hate it so much. How dare you is a meaningless bit of outrage. Argumentative spittle. A waste of three words. A ridiculous rhetorical question designed to express overdramatized personal outrage. We must stop “How dare you?” in its tracks. Bring it to an end. Remove it from the lexicon.…
Read MoreVerbal sparring: Don’t allow your opponent (Trump) prescribe beliefs to you
A bit of advice to all of the journalists and news anchors who are interviewing Donald Trump (or any other politician): When Trump says makes a wildly false assertion and then adds, “I know it. You know it. Everyone knows it,” it’s perfectly acceptable and even advisable to say something like: “Actually, Mr. President, I…
Read MoreVerbal sparring: Never tell someone to do something that they can ignore
As a result of my outspoken opposition to Donald Trump, I am frequently attacked online by trolls who disagree with my positions. When I say trolls, I don’t mean the people who support Trump and respond to me in thoughtful, measured ways. I’m talking about the people whose emails, Facebook messages, and tweets are laced…
Read MoreFour pieces of debate advice for Hillary Clinton. Someone please pass this post onto her people.
It demonstrates Trump-level hubris to suppose that I might have something to say about Hillary Clinton’s performance during the debate last night, but at the risk of sounding a little too certain of myself, I have a few notes for Clinton that I think would help a lot. And while I’m sure that she has…
Read More3 verbal tics that you must stop
These may not seem like big deals, but they are. The world is oftentimes far too uninteresting a place, thanks to the inability to communicate with verve and aplomb. The wasted words. The lack of vigor. Verbal tics that cause conversations to be grating upon the soul. Stop these three things now. 1. Thesis followed…
Read MoreVerbal sparring 101: Comparing apples and oranges makes a whole lot of sense. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
The next time someone attempts to counter your argument by claiming that you are making an “apples to oranges” comparison, say this: Really? Apples and oranges are both similarly sized spherical fruits that grow on trees and weigh about the same. They have about the same number of calories per fruit. With the exception of…
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