# Is It Trolling to Try to Get Another Poster to Break the Rules?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-trolling-to-try-to-get-another-poster-to-break-the-rules/601395>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [October 31, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-trolling-to-try-to-get-another-poster-to-break-the-rules/601395 "2011-10-31T17:24:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Vita\_Beata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@Vita\_Beata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vita_Beata)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-trolling-to-try-to-get-another-poster-to-break-the-rules/601395/41 "2011-11-02T22:00:03Z")

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> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> Oh god, head hurts. Can’t we just fling implied feces like we always do, without all this algebra stuff?

I was ready to groan over all the complications of sorting out these rules and complaints .. and then saw this gem of a post. 😃

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**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-trolling-to-try-to-get-another-poster-to-break-the-rules/601395/42 "2011-11-03T03:11:49Z")

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I simply read **tomndebb** ’s note as being unclear whether **omg** was intending to call anyone a racist, or was sarcastically commenting on accusations of racism. Tom modded it as off-topic and inflammatory, since that’s what it was. It’s not Tom’s responsibility to clarify what rules might also apply if the statement had more context. Nothing about Tom’s mod note could be read as an invitation to call a specific poster a racist, although I suppose it could be read as an invitation to clarify an ironic use of the phrase “you must be a racist.”

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**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:** [November 15, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-trolling-to-try-to-get-another-poster-to-break-the-rules/601395/43 "2011-11-15T19:38:32Z")

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> [@Marley23](#):
>
> Just because a comment offends someone doesn’t make it an insult. I’ve seen people on the SDMB aver that they either don’t care about being called a racist or that they admit they’re racist. I don’t consider those people particularly reasonable, but that’s my personal opinion. Calling another poster a racist is discouraged in GD because it’s a comment about the person making the argument and not the strengths or weaknesses of the argument. I’m saying I wouldn’t call it an insult.

But is that not exactly how we define personal insult: A negative remark about a poster as a person rather than the content of their posts? What then distinguishes between a remark being critical commentary or a personal insult?

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