# No direct personal insults or "flaming" in great debates **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 29, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-direct-personal-insults-or-flaming-in-great-debates/210240 "2003-10-29T15:21:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-direct-personal-insults-or-flaming-in-great-debates/210240/1 "2003-10-29T15:21:16Z")
**Moderator’s Note:** Direct personal insults of other posters and “flaming” are not permitted in Great Debates (or, indeed, in any SDMB forum outside of The BBQ Pit). The general rule is to attack the other poster’s _arguments_, rather than the other poster him- or herself. If you feel you must “flame” someone, please open a thread in [The BBQ Pit](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=5). (Although be advised that even the BBQ Pit does have [some](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=127729) [rules](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=168963).) It is permissible to post a link here in Great Debates to the Pit thread you have started in order to let the other poster that he or she has been “Pitted”, although you should of course refrain from using over insults or flames in doing so; i.e., [So-and-so, I have opened a Pit thread on you](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=5) rather than [So-and-so, you moronic cretin, I have opened a thread in the Pit to express what contemptible scum you are](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=5). If you have any questions about what does or does not constitute a personal insult or “flame”, contact a moderator or ask in the [About This Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=2) forum. If you disagree with a moderator’s decision as to what does or does not constitute a personal insult or “flame”, contact the moderator or open a thread in ATMB. Finally, if you think someone has violated the rules, the most productive thing to do is to report the post using the “Report this post to a moderator” link in the bottom right corner of the post. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-direct-personal-insults-or-flaming-in-great-debates/210240/2 "2003-12-18T23:01:59Z")
…when directed at your fellow posters. That is all. (Note: The “Putz!” smiley–AKA as the “Wally smiley”–was [removed from the lineup](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=7674482) as of August 2006. Calling another poster a “putz” outside of the Pit is of course against the rules.) ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-direct-personal-insults-or-flaming-in-great-debates/210240/3 "2004-04-13T02:25:16Z")
Do not say or imply that your fellow posters achieve sexual gratification or soil themselves in glee/distress due to recent news reports, politcal icongraphy, contemplation of ideological positions, etc. In fact, if you’re going to discuss someone’s bowels or genitalia at all, it better be DIRECTLY relevant to the debate at hand. I mean, GEEZ. It’s disgusting and adds nothing to the debate, and I am somewhat dismayed I even have to explicitly make a rule against this practice, but what was once a vanishingly rare occurance is now getting ickily prevalent. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-direct-personal-insults-or-flaming-in-great-debates/210240/4 "2004-07-01T06:53:24Z")
If two or more other posters in Great Debates are breaking the rule against flames and insults outside the Pit, or look like they’re edging towards breaking the rule against flames and insults outside the Pit, don’t encourage them to do so. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-direct-personal-insults-or-flaming-in-great-debates/210240/5 "2007-12-21T06:50:06Z")
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. [Should “Liar” Be Permissible In GD?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=447653) ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-direct-personal-insults-or-flaming-in-great-debates/210240/6 "2008-01-08T17:09:40Z")
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](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=5) is available to discuss the inflammable state of another poster’s pants. In addition, if dishonest posting rises to the level of [trolling](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7696935), 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.)