# "Comical OCD pattern of argumentation" is a personal insult? Really? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 29, 2016, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436 "2016-08-29T22:19:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/1 "2016-08-29T22:19:38Z")
On the celebratory occasion [of my first-ever warning](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19590172&postcount=203), I’m posting this on the general principle that if a poster is genuinely surprised at getting a warning, then there is some disconnect between understandings and expectations on the part of posters and mods. And perhaps the disconnect is entirely on my part, so I welcome an explanation. But here’s how I see it right now. One common understanding of principle here is “attack the post, not the poster”.\* The statement that seemed to cause offense was “there is only one appropriate way to respond to that comical OCD pattern of argumentation”. This seems to me to be clearly a criticism of _ **the said pattern of argumentation** _ and not a criticism of the poster. Is it not exactly like saying “there is only one way to respond to a stupid argument like that” (permitted) versus saying “you are stupid” (not permitted)? Yet \*\*JC \*\*reaches the following conclusion (link above): Accusing Bone of OCD is not responding to his arguments but rather an attack on him. Where did I disparage **Bone** , where did I accuse him of being OCD, as opposed to disparaging his arguments, and specifically disparaging the series of statements that I had just listed? ## What irks me about this is that if I’d been angry and had deliberately insulted someone and got a warning over it, I’d suck it up and move on. But I wasn’t angry, and that wasn’t even remotely the intent here. \*[Our rule of thumb for insults is that you can disparage the post but not the poster.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7697084&postcount=2) ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/2 "2016-08-29T22:26:53Z")
I’m not a mod, but I thought the post was ok through “Comical OCD pattern of argumentation”. After that it trended towards insult of poster, not post. The poem belonged in the pit. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/3 "2016-08-29T22:26:57Z")
Seems harsh to me. I’m just me. ETA: **Measure For Measure** posted seconds before me. The poem CLEARLY speaks to a rather useless type of pedantry – the very same OCD-style of posting already named. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/4 "2016-08-29T22:39:16Z")
You clearly should not have been Warned, and you did not in any way call the guy OCD. As someone with OCD myself, I know very well that people use OCD as an adjective to mean “overly nitpicky.” ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/5 "2016-08-29T22:44:33Z")
I agree. Totally uncalled for warning. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/6 "2016-08-29T22:50:45Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > You clearly should not have been Warned, and you did not in any way call the guy OCD. As someone with OCD myself, I know very well that people use OCD as an adjective to mean “overly nitpicky.” > [@Clothahump](#): > > I agree. Totally uncalled for warning. Thanks, that’s how I see it. > [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > I’m not a mod, but I thought the post was ok through “Comical OCD pattern of argumentation”. After that it trended towards insult of poster, not post. The poem belonged in the pit. I have the sense that the poem is what tipped the balance for **JC**. And yet the poem was never cited as the reason. Moreover, I posted the poem as a humorous/creative way of simply saying that my opponent was totally focused on the wrong thing, and there was nothing actually insulting about it except the implication that “you’re not making sense”. So I remain perplexed about the reason for the warning, which is supposed to be for direct personal insults. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/7 "2016-08-29T22:59:37Z")
I’d say, the pattern doesn’t have OCD; the poster does. If it’s a comical OCD pattern that the poster has, then you’re calling the poster comical, which is mildly insulting, and OCD, which is personal (and insulting if you don’t think OCD is funny). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/8 "2016-08-29T23:03:34Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I’d say, the pattern doesn’t have OCD; the poster does. If it’s a comical OCD pattern that the poster has, then you’re calling the poster comical, which is mildly insulting, and OCD, which is personal (and insulting if you don’t think OCD is funny). I don’t think you’ve got the point at all. I’m allowed to call your post banal, that doesn’t mean I accused you of being banal. ETA: your post was banal ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/9 "2016-08-29T23:05:42Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The statement that seemed to cause offense was “there is only one appropriate way to respond to that comical OCD pattern of argumentation”. This seems to me to be clearly a criticism of _ **the said pattern of argumentation** _ and not a criticism of the poster. I’m going to buck the trend, and point out that a “pattern of argumentation” cannot suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and so, “OCD pattern of argumentation” can only mean something along the lines of “pattern of argumentation employed by someone with OCD.” It’s a shorthand insult. It’s not that far from writing “your post is like unto something a dumbass would post,” and then wandering away with an innocent expression on your face. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/10 "2016-08-29T23:15:21Z")
> [@Kyrie\_Eleison](#): > > I’m going to buck the trend, and point out that a “pattern of argumentation” cannot suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and so, “OCD pattern of argumentation” can only mean something along the lines of “pattern of argumentation employed by someone with OCD.” It’s a shorthand insult. > > It’s not that far from writing “your post is like unto something a dumbass would post,” and then wandering away with an innocent expression on your face. +1 ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/11 "2016-08-29T23:18:33Z")
> [@Kyrie\_Eleison](#): > > I’m going to buck the trend, and point out that a “pattern of argumentation” cannot suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and so, “OCD pattern of argumentation” can only mean something along the lines of “pattern of argumentation employed by someone with OCD.” It’s a shorthand insult. > > It’s not that far from writing “your post is like unto something a dumbass would post,” and then wandering away with an innocent expression on your face. Really? “OCD” in this case is an adjective, modifying the noun “pattern”, describing a particular style of recent postings and not the nature of the poster him/her/self. Is it your contention that if I say (per my OP) that “there is only one way to respond to a stupid argument like that”, that I am thereby slyly accusing the poster of being stupid, and then wandering away with an innocent expression on my face? Because it’s perfectly permissible to attack the quality of a post, and that is distinct from personally insulting the poster. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/12 "2016-08-29T23:22:54Z")
Folks defending the post, have you read the whole thing? He calls Bone humor- and sarcasm-impaired, and posts an insulting poem about him. You might nitpick the exact passage JC picked out, but it’s hard to believe anyone would read the whole post and not see insults in it. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/13 "2016-08-29T23:30:09Z")
> [@Kyrie\_Eleison](#): > > I’m going to buck the trend, and point out that a “pattern of argumentation” cannot suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and so, “OCD pattern of argumentation” can only mean something along the lines of “pattern of argumentation employed by someone with OCD.” It’s a shorthand insult. > > It’s not that far from writing “your post is like unto something a dumbass would post,” and then wandering away with an innocent expression on your face. -1, with apologies to sam (and Kyrie for that matter). **wolfpup** was trying to address an aspect of Bone’s argument and he was alleging that he had to deal with that sort of thing repetitively. That’s dicey in GD, but in the end it belongs there. The allegation was that wolfpup’s respondent was focusing on irrelevant factual corrections, while dodging the main argument, which was unaffected by said factual corrections. To curb such discourse makes the fight against ignorance more difficult. It is a challenge to deal with posters you perceive as obtuse or perceive as applying motivated reasoning. My guideline is edit back remarks that might be perceived as personal, but on occasion I’ll struggle with that. I would respectfully submit to samclem that these sorts of issues crop up less in GQ. I would caution wolfpup that JC appears to have tighter standards than the ones I laid out in post 2 or this one. Personally I often have 1 or 2 misses when attempting to adjust my behavior. So I’d advise wolfpup to take this warning and the comments by the mods in this thread to heart. On edit: agree with LHoD, still disagree with those who think “OCD pattern of argumentation” is a definitive and universal no-no. May not be best practice, but finding a good substitute is challenging. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/14 "2016-08-29T23:42:52Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Folks defending the post, have you read the whole thing? He calls Bone humor- and sarcasm-impaired, Is that an insult, per the rules? It’s actually a factual reference to **Bone** in the past responding to sarcasm as if it was a literal statement of fact. How or why this occurred I don’t care to speculate on. But it did. So I stated that observation. There are certainly people who don’t get sarcasm, or who don’t get it on certain subjects. I don’t think it’s an insult. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > and posts an insulting poem about him. The original one by Ogden Nash begins: I give you now Professor Twist, A conscientious scientist, So apparently Nash was hell-bent on insulting all professors and scientists, do you think? But the poem is not the issue in question anyway. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > You might nitpick the exact passage JC picked out, … which is exactly what I am questioning, because that’s the only question here, no other has been raised by the moderation. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > but it’s hard to believe anyone would read the whole post and not see insults in it. It’s hard to believe anyone would read the whole post and not see it as critical, because it certainly was intended to be critical, in the spirit of debate. Whether it was “insulting” is the question at hand. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/15 "2016-08-30T00:06:08Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Is that an insult, per the rules? It’s actually a factual reference to **Bone** That’s as far as needs reading in order to answer the question. “BUT IT’S THE TROOF” is never a legitimate defense against a charge of insulting. (Grammar note: it may be that I cut off the quote prematurely, but I don’t think so; if you’d intended a different object of the preposition “to”, “Bone” should have been possessive. In any case, the rest of the quote, " in the past responding to sarcasm as if it was a literal statement of fact," wouldn’t change the insulting nature of the comment.) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/16 "2016-08-30T00:10:46Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > agree with LHoD, still disagree with those who think “OCD pattern of argumentation” is a definitive and universal no-no. May not be best practice, but finding a good substitute is challenging. As for this: for me, the “humorously” makes it extra-insulting. The “OCD” business is still pretty contemptuous, and because it’s a term that’s almost never applied to concepts or objects, it’s appropriate to read it as applying to the poster, not the post. (In a quick Google, I’m not finding any examples of OCD used to describe behavior other than the behavior of someone with OCD). It ain’t best practices. If it were in a post by itself, without the other insulting language, I could see giving it a note and not a warning (I agree that JC is sometimes too quick to pull the trigger on warnings when a note would do). But in context, it’s not okay, and while I would’ve pulled a different quote for the highlight reel, the post deserved a warning anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/17 "2016-08-30T00:20:52Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Really? “OCD” in this case is an adjective, modifying the noun “pattern”, describing a particular style of recent postings and not the nature of the poster him/her/self. Is it your contention that if I say (per my OP) that “there is only one way to respond to a stupid argument like that”, that I am thereby slyly accusing the poster of being stupid, and then wandering away with an innocent expression on my face? Because it’s perfectly permissible to attack the quality of a post, and that is distinct from personally insulting the poster. I didn’t mean to imply anything about your intent. But, yes, I do think you can call an argument stupid or dumb without insulting the poster, even though the forms are similar. Those adjectives are commonly used so to describe ideas and arguments, without necessarily implying that they describe their authors. English is weird. Smart people sometimes make stupid arguments. It’s not clear, to me at least, that it’s a commonly held belief that non-OCD people make OCD arguments. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/18 "2016-08-30T00:25:37Z")
> [@Kyrie\_Eleison](#): > > I’m going to buck the trend, and point out that a “pattern of argumentation” cannot suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and so, “OCD pattern of argumentation” can only mean something along the lines of “pattern of argumentation employed by someone with OCD.” It’s a shorthand insult. > > It’s not that far from writing “your post is like unto something a dumbass would post,” and then wandering away with an innocent expression on your face. +25 ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/19 "2016-08-30T01:46:19Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > … which is exactly what I am questioning, because that’s the only question here, no other has been raised by the moderation. Wait wait wait… You’re nitpicking which part I quoted when you were insulting a poster for nitpicking? I think I just got a concussion from the meta whizzing by. Ow. You were warned for your entire post. If I chose to only quote a part of it that was because I didn’t want to repeat your poem. Live with it. You insulted Bone. You got a warning. Learn and move on. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436/20 "2016-08-30T01:46:25Z")
My OCD is well treated but my comical ADD is not, so I lost interest in this thread a couple of posts in. Like the several shows in other tabs and apps. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comical-ocd-pattern-of-argumentation-is-a-personal-insult-really/764436.md?page=2)