The misunderstood, (and perhaps, misapplied) rule that the phrase “You are a liar” may be treated as the equivalent of “Your statement is a lie” is hereby suspended.
“You are a Liar” will be treated, henceforth, as a personal insult subject to the normal sanctions of insult in Great Debates.
The permanent record in this rule is posted at http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9294639&highlight=liar#post9294639.
This thread will be stickied for a week, then allowed to drop off.
Comments may continue to be posted in Should “Liar” Be Permissible In GD?
As a further addendum to the above:
Questioning or disputing the accuracy of another poster’s statements–“I don’t think that’s right”, “That’s incorrect”, “You are mistaken”, or even “That’s not true”-- is what Great Debates is all about. However, questioning the intent of another poster in making an arguably false statement–e.g., “You are a liar”, “You are lying”, “That is a lie”, “That’s not true and you darned well know it isn’t true”–is crossing the line into attacking the other poster rather than attacking the other poster’s arguments, and will be considered a violation of the rules of the forum.
If you absolutely must, the BBQ Pit is available to discuss the inflammable state of another poster’s pants. In addition, if dishonest posting rises to the level of trolling, it should be reported to the Moderators. (Be advised that merely being utterly wrong-headed about whatever the topic is, and failing to be convinced by your brilliant, well-cited, perfectly reasoned arguments, will not necessarily get the other poster warned for trolling.)