I see it all the time here in SDMB, as well as in real-life conversations:
One or more people will claim that Brand X is the best widget. Inevitably, somebody will eventually reply, “No, Brand Y is the best. X is overrated.”
Of course, everybody is entitled to an opinion, and everybody is free to disagree with a popularly held opinion.
But labeling something that happens to be popular as “overrated” seems to imply that the opinion of those who prefer X is somehow wrong; that one is necessarily smarter than the majority simply by disagreeing with the majority.
Seems kind of arrogant to me. If not downright rude.
Is it still rude to offer and opinion in this manner?
The masses/majority fall for many ideas that are based on things other than facts and data, and many opinions are formed by exposure to news snippets and sound bites. So, the majority can indeed be overrating something. It happens, and it shouldn’t mean that someone who is approaching the issue from a different angle is rude.
In some places, the popular idea of what is best can actually be dangerous. I encourage people to step up and disagree, even if it means saying that “what you prefer is overrated”. If it isn’t truly overrated, then the person should be able to back up their position or be forced to re-evaluate.
It is just a way of disagreeing and challenging a position. Sage Rat offered a great one. It is an awesome intro into a meaningful discussion.
To say “overrated” is to make a judgement about the people who don’t agree with you. That’s the part I find somewhat unsavory.
I do realize there’s a good deal of difference between “Japanese cars are overrated” and “People who drive Japanese cars are idiots.” But it’s a matter of degree. Both statements are a put-down of people who prefer Japanese cars. One is just more subtle than the other.
How about:
*“Generic prescription drugs are just as effective as name brands, at a lower cost.”
“I prefer American cars to Japanese cars for the following reasons…” *
Perfectly valid statements that don’t insult anybody.
All it’s saying is that the speaker believes the other people’s opinion is incorrect. If that’s enough for the other people to take it as a serious insult, then those people really need to grow a thicker skin.
Additionally, people seem to have a misconception about things being “overrated”. Just because something is overrated doesn’t mean that it’s bad. If a number of people rate a widget as a 10 out of 10, and I believe this is just due to temporary infatuation and the widget’s really only a 9 out of 10, it’s both true (from my perspective) that the widget is very good and the widget is overrated. However, because people erroneously assume that someone who says the widget is overrated also believes that the widget is crap, they interpret the statement a little more personally than if some had merely said they rated the widget as a 9 out of 10.
I think saying something is “overrated” doesn’t necessarily put down other people. It’s more of a personal opinion that something didn’t or doesn’t match the hype it is given by others.
Take your average 16 year-old today and ask them what they think of Star Wars.
Most will say “overrated” and rightly so. Given it’s massive hype, longevity, and love by fans you’d think it would be some life altering experience for kids even nowdays. It’s not. Thus “overrated”.
As soon as I hear the word “Overrated,” I have to wonder, “overrated” by whom?
Is Mariah Carey “overrated”? Well, she’s extremely popular, but that’s not the same thing, is it? Even the millions of people who LIKE her records don’t act as if she’s a magnificent artist, so is she really “overrated”?
Is the Velvet Underground “overrated”? Well, they get WAY more critical praise than their spotty output deserved, in my opinion, but does THAT make them overrated? It seems silly to pummel a band that never made much money, doesn’t it?
is Rush “overated”? Well, their diehard fans give them way more devotion and take their lyrics WAY more seriously than I think they deserve. But since Rush almost never appears on manstream TV or on mass market magazine covers, it’s hard to say they’re overrated… unless we change the definition of overrated to “the relatively small number of people who like this like it too much!”
I prefer to limit “overrated” to quantifiable matters. I think one could use stats to make a solid argument that, say, Andre Dawson or Jim Rice was an overrated ballplayer.
But when there aren’t stats, only opinions, I think it’s usually silly to call anything overrated.