# Question about insults in GD **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 19, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-insults-in-gd/345158 "2006-02-19T02:56:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-insults-in-gd/345158/1 "2006-02-19T02:56:06Z")
Based on [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=359449) thread, I was wondering what would garner a mod warning in Great Debates when a situation similar to this happens: (i’m not saying this is what happened in the quoted thread, though) I’m pretty sure this would be fine - > [@Poster A](#): > > All people whose favourite colour is blue are stupid. - because, while it’s likely that a number of members of the board have blue as their favourite colour, Poster A isn’t directly insulting someone (assuming no mentions of colour preference have been talked about). So, what about this situation - > [@Poster A](#): > > My favourite colour is blue. > [@Poster B](#): > > All people whose favourite colour is blue are stupid. Would this count as a _personal_ insult? It would be insulting a wide range of people, of whom Poster B knows A to be one. It’s clearly different from this situation - > [@Poster A](#): > > All people whose favourite colour is blue are stupid. > [@Poster B](#): > > My favourite colour is blue, actually. - in that in this third situation, it is not an insult directed at a particular member of the board (unless Poster A happens to know Poster B’s colour preference beforehand). So, in that second situation, is Poster B directly insulting Poster A, and would he/she get a mod warning? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-insults-in-gd/345158/2 "2006-02-19T05:38:24Z")
I can’t speak for Great Debates, but I can speak for Cafe Society. In the particular thread in question, the situation seems to be: > [@](#): > > Poster A: Blue is a transcendental color. > Poster B: My, “transcendental” is a big word to be used by someone who likes blue. The comment of Poster B, although thinly disguised, is clearly directed at poster A as an individual, and that’s not allowed. I suppose you could say that it was directed at all posters who like blue who used the word “transcendental” but gimme a break. In a situation of: > [@](#): > > Poster C: Blue is my favorite color. > Poster D: All people who like blue are stupid … I think it depends on context, and the forum. We recently had a similar case in Cafe Society, a discussion about the music of certain singer: some people like her, some people hate her, some are indifferent. In that case, saying “All people who like her are stupid” is, in fact, an insult to the posters. Yes, it may be insulting them as part of a group, but in the context of the discussion, that’s not what’s happening. That’s no way to win an agrument, by calling your opponents stupid. And that’s no way to justify a matter of taste about entertainment. In short, there’s no way to write up rules or definitions short of about 700 volumes. It depends on context. Obviously, however, if the group being insulted is based on gender, race, religion, ethnicity, disability, etc. then we’re in different territory altogether. And, by the way, a thread in which the opening post was > [@](#): > > Poster E: All people who like blue are stupid would go in the Pit, not in Great Debates nor in Cafe Society.