A question about one of my most disliked expressions.
November 10, 2012 at 6:05 pm
(This post was last modified: November 10, 2012 at 6:11 pm by Edwardo Piet.)
I have observed that bigoted people often say things like "I've got nothing against[...X group of people]".( But of course that could be said by non-bigots (to think otherwise would be bigoted towards anyone who says that)).
And then there is also another thing, sometimes when you don't personally have a similiar taste or opinion or lifestyle as someone else, when you say that you personally don't share what they share and you express that by saying something like "I don't like X" (X being for example, a particular genre of music, or fashion or lifestyle or whatever) this is misinterpreted by some people to mean that it means that you are saying "X is objectively bad, anyone who likes X is an idiot" as if it's not simply that you don't personally share that lifestyle/preference, but that you are also criticizing anyone who shares it. But it of course doesn't have the same meaning.
So, if you then want to go on to explain that you don't objectively hate such and such you simply don't share that preference/lifestyle, what is an informal way of stating that in a way that doesn't seem pretentious and like a smart ass to someone who would think that "I don't like X" means "I hate people who like X" - without it being "I have nothing against X group of people"... which is the sort of expression often used by bigots which understandably sounds bigoted because it should be obvious that you don't hate X group of people so it shouldn't need stating...
But in these cases when it actually does require explaining, what is the best way to explain it?
And then there is also another thing, sometimes when you don't personally have a similiar taste or opinion or lifestyle as someone else, when you say that you personally don't share what they share and you express that by saying something like "I don't like X" (X being for example, a particular genre of music, or fashion or lifestyle or whatever) this is misinterpreted by some people to mean that it means that you are saying "X is objectively bad, anyone who likes X is an idiot" as if it's not simply that you don't personally share that lifestyle/preference, but that you are also criticizing anyone who shares it. But it of course doesn't have the same meaning.
So, if you then want to go on to explain that you don't objectively hate such and such you simply don't share that preference/lifestyle, what is an informal way of stating that in a way that doesn't seem pretentious and like a smart ass to someone who would think that "I don't like X" means "I hate people who like X" - without it being "I have nothing against X group of people"... which is the sort of expression often used by bigots which understandably sounds bigoted because it should be obvious that you don't hate X group of people so it shouldn't need stating...
But in these cases when it actually does require explaining, what is the best way to explain it?
