On Sat, Mar 03, 2007 at 05:20:58PM -0800, Ray Saintonge wrote:
andrew.cady at
gmail.com wrote:
Besides their relative rudeness as rebukes, there
is a substantial
difference between the *meaning* of the two phrases. "Don't be a
dick" is a far more broad concept, and makes greater reference to
motives and meaning; "civility" is more about style and form.
Quite the contrary. If you're telling someone to not be a dick that
presumes that he was being one in the first place.
Hmm. That is not contrary to what I said.
For example, a
dismissive, one-line response to a carefully
considered five paragraph argument is a "dick move" even if perfectly
civil.
Not always.
Of course, not always. It seems like a good example to me, though.
There are, in any case, others.
Sometimes it just keeps the heat from being cranked
up.
Perhaps. In the majority of cases, it should be expected to have the
opposite effect.