# Looking for a word or phrase for this posting style **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 14, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592 "2020-09-14T17:17:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/1 "2020-09-14T17:17:12Z")
This is a phenomenon I encounter here and at other message boards. The topic doesn’t matter, it is the tone I am trying to capture in a word or phrase. It is where the writer makes a statement that is just their opinion but they make it sound like established fact. The writer may be guilty of a logical fallacy of one kind or another, or maybe they should have used cites, but that’s not what I’m after. I’m looking for a word or phrase to describe the tone of someone who posts like that – authoritative but without the actual authority. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/2 "2020-09-14T17:35:36Z")
“My post is my cite” is the SDMB way of saying that, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/3 "2020-09-14T17:46:37Z")
Assuming facts not in evidence? ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/4 "2020-09-14T18:47:34Z")
The word that immediately comes to mind is [“aver”.](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aver) However, that doesn’t quite cover it. I think you are looking for a word that describes something that is understood by readers/listeners to be opinion masquerading as fact. My quick google search does not find a single word for this phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/5 "2020-09-14T18:48:36Z")
Those are both accurate when considering the content, but I am interested in the tone, what you might call the tone of voice (in typed content) of such posts. It’s the sort of term you would be able to use to fill in this sentence: “Your posts are too \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.” ---
**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/6 "2020-09-14T18:49:32Z")
short to argue over for weeks. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/7 "2020-09-14T18:53:59Z")
“Often wrong but never in doubt”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/8 "2020-09-14T21:46:02Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I’m looking for a word or phrase to describe the tone of someone who posts like that – authoritative but without the actual authority. “Overconfident” is about the best single word I can think of and that’s pretty value-neutral. If you really mean you want a pejorative word connoting “You do the over-authoritative thing and it’s bad that you do that.”, I can’t come up with such a term. “Officious” is a term for behavior sorta like that. Overweening authority, a petty tyrant, especially in a bureacratic manner or context. But your scenario isn’t quite that. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/9 "2020-09-14T22:01:38Z")
I thought “officious” was pretty good but I looked up synonyms and that’s not it. Over-authoritative is about as close as anything so far. I appreciate all the contributions. There may not be a good expression for this (which surprises me, if so). ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/10 "2020-09-14T22:48:02Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > There may not be a good expression for this (which surprises me, if so). Oh absolutely, that is the case. 🤡 ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/11 "2020-09-14T22:50:17Z")
I see people start the post with, “I think we can all agree…”. No. You can’t think for others. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/12 "2020-09-14T22:51:45Z")
Dogmatic? ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/13 "2020-09-14T23:20:38Z")
Here is a nice list of common logical fallacies. What you’re describing might be considered Begging the Question (which doesn’t mean what many people think it does). > **Begging the Question** (also called _Petitio Principii_ , this term is sometimes used interchangeably with [**Circular Reasoning**](http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/fallacies_list.html#circular_reasoning_anchor)): If writers assume as evidence for their argument the very conclusion they are attempting to prove, they engage in the fallacy of begging the question. The most common form of this fallacy is when the first claim is initially loaded with the very conclusion one has yet to prove. For instance, suppose a particular student group states, “Useless courses like English 101 should be dropped from the college’s curriculum.” The members of the student group then immediately move on in the argument, illustrating that spending money on a useless course is something nobody wants. Yes, we all agree that spending money on useless courses is a bad thing. However, those students never did prove that English 101 was _itself_ a useless course–they merely “begged the question” and moved on to the next “safe” part of the argument, skipping over the part that’s the real controversy, the heart of the matter, the most important component. [http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/fallacies\_list.html](http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/fallacies_list.html) ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/14 "2020-09-14T23:49:34Z")
This is a phrase that has been in mind lately… I’ve also been calling it “arrogant” though that’s a dual diagnosis. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/15 "2020-09-15T00:47:40Z")
I’ve used a portmanteau of “ignorragant” for it and nominate it for use if no other term adequately exists. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/16 "2020-09-15T00:57:01Z")
Obsequious? ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/17 "2020-09-15T03:00:33Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Dogmatic? I believe we have a winner. Here is the dictionary definition: > inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true That’s pretty much what I was looking for. And it’s not at all an obscure word, so if I use it, most people will understand it. Thanks TOWP. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/18 "2020-09-15T03:43:56Z")
Opinion. Why would you have one if you didn’t think it true? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/19 "2020-09-15T03:55:04Z")
I might use the verb “bloviate” or “bloviating”. Is there a corresponding adjective form? “Blovious”? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/20 "2020-09-15T04:19:14Z")
“Presumptuous” or “presumptive” comes to mind. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592.md?page=2)