Strakeln wrote on Jan 30
th, 2012 at 1:54am:
For the record, I don't know that Schmoe and I are defining things the same. I think he "basically," which implied that he that there was more depth to his definition than "online insults=ITG," in which case I would agree.
A person who insults someone online is not necessarily an ITG. What differentiates the two is the choice of insults the ITG uses. Generally speaking, fighting words. Things like "I'll kick your ass." Other variations include "you're a little bitch" or "you're a fucking pussy" or even "you don't have the balls, you stupid piece of shit." Phrases that, when uttered without the safety of a keyboard, have a tendency to lead to physical confrontation.
Now, occasional or contextual use of such phrases does not necessarily an ITG make. But frequent, habitual, and contextually clear uses most certainly do. Now let's see if Oak will own up to his behavior, as he so often advises others to do.
I'll gladly talk to someone who I see committing shitty behavior in front of me in that tone, actually. It's just that I rarely see people in real life dodging a real life fight that they picked, for instance, which was responsible for about a quarter of my uses of "Little bitch."
I could sit and pick apart and justify each use of those terms, but the fact is that I wouldn't have a problem telling you that you were being a piece of shit who insulted several people in the room without actually being willing to insult any of them, if I were having an extended conversation with you and a whole lot of other people in a big room and you tried pulling what you tried to pull.
Are you basically trying to say that if I had said that to your face, you would have kicked my ass? It sounds a lot like that's what you're implying, but implying that sort of thing sounds a lot more like an ITG than anything that I've actually said or implied. I'm willing to call people on their bullshit when they pull that bullshit in front of me and I don't have my hands tied due to being in a professional setting or something.