While I said I don't want it to be a struggle session, cool headed good faith discussion is also appreciated. This just came up with some comrades of mine and I couldn't find the last post about it so if anyone has the link that would be great too.

  • keepcarrot [she/her]
    ·
    8 months ago

    Crafting punchy insults is hard.

    I vaguely remember there was a popular thing on reddit where people wanted to find an insult that went over their target's head. Top of the bell curve. I feel like you generally want your target to know your contempt.

    Ass, I feel like describes someone being belligerently stubbornly ignorant, but it's evolved to focus primarily on the belligerence so I feel like doesn't convey the meaning where we'd want favour the choice to be ignorant.

    Rube describes a sort of naivety and innocence that is only "bad" because you're surrounded by predators and scam artists. That said, the default approach to nationalist narratives if you grew up in The West is to be a Rube naively trusting your national interests etc.

    You also never want an insult that partly implies your target is living in your head rent free. I know you're an anarchist, but the first example I can think of is the response insults to tankie (e.g. dronie, et al). It's piss weak and belies a lack of confidence in both yourself and your position. That lack of confidence may be real, but we're workshopping here.

    I think you don't want it to be too smart. If you have to explain your insult, you're playing a losing game. It should be punchy and short. (Aside: in a recent conversation I thought of a term "Suburban Nietzsche ", which I think would describe a sort of person that definitely exists, but implies I read too much. I might use it in an essay somewhere, but it's absolutely something that would work as a sneering insult)

    I think some names work if there's enough cultural force behind them. Lots of little missteps can be made, but if it works it works