My example was from around college with a Disney adult (I know) who was adamant that Pocahontas shouldn't be counted in the Disney princess line up.

That fixation set an alarm bell in my liberal brain, but I didn't want to think it was racism at the time. But the fixation on using technicalities (not technically a princess in the western monarchy sense) like in this case was just reaching to exclude a category of people in a way that was socially acceptable.

I can see that unbending view of rules and technicalities to be a red flag. The lack of willingness to take a personal stake in a topic and couching your real thoughts in arbitrary rules has been a clear sign for me to watch out. I see it with boardgames too. The excessive rule-following clues me in to a lot of reactionary behavior.

What about the rest of you? What things turned out to be red flags like that?

Edit - Fast forward to present day and this person is no longer a friend and is big into Q, Trump, and covid denialism.

    • LangdonAlger [any]
      ·
      3 years ago

      the wrong way is an-TEEF-uh.

      i mean, the origin is "antifascist" or "antiFascist-Action" depending on who you ask. People say "anti" like "ant-eye" or "ant-ee" then throw in a little "fuh" or "fah" at the end. but the idea that it's an-TEEF-uh, obliterating the "anti" portion of the word, is a giveaway to me that this person is a local news consuming deadhead and on the chud watchlist. when i say it, it sounds most like ant-if-uh and not particularly pronouncing any syllable harder than the others

      • The_Jewish_Cuban [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        ah since I live in a chud hell hole I wasn't sure if that had influenced the way I say it. Glad to know I'm still cool :fidel-cool:

      • happybadger [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        When they say it like they're calling a pig, somethin's amiss.