# You don't know what you're talking about = direct insult?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-know-what-youre-talking-about-direct-insult/724194>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [July 4, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-know-what-youre-talking-about-direct-insult/724194 "2015-07-04T04:35:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 100

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![camille](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@camille](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camille)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-know-what-youre-talking-about-direct-insult/724194/100 "2015-07-08T04:09:06Z")

</div>

> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> It may be instructive to look at the actual exchange from the link below.

Okay, thanks for the link. I could only base my original opinion on your description. I think it was fortunate that the other poster was gracious about it, but generally speaking, it’s best to avoid that type of blunt accusation, as you yourself admit in that thread:

> [@Freedoms Based on Religion Should Not Exist](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedoms-based-on-religion-should-not-exist/717899/141):
>
> But there were indeed more courteous ways of saying the same thing. 🙂

> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> Like “you’re right”, “you’re wrong”, “you have a point”, “you misunderstand me”? That doesn’t seem like a very practical rule, or one conducive to natural conversation.

_That’s_ an overly literal interpretation of my point (see what I did there?).

I meant it as a guideline - a good habit to keep you focused on replying to the post instead of the poster. It’s practical in that it keeps you from getting mod notes and warnings, and it’s less likely to put the other poster on the defensive - which comes in handy when you’re trying to persuade someone to your point of view.

BTW, I’m not trying to be preachy here; it’s something I aspire to myself. I think practicing civil persuasive skills on the internet has real life benefits as well.

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-know-what-youre-talking-about-direct-insult/724194)._