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Words That Kill: How Do Insults Affect You

pkfroce

Skelepuns
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Nov 25, 2012
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I'm normally one to laugh at myself before I laugh that others, and I just tend to roll with the punches. When someone insults me, I either ignore them, or I say, "Hm. I guess you're right." Then I laugh at myself. If my friends insult me, we all just laugh because we all know we're just joking. Now it's different if some stranger insults one of my friends. Then I start talking back to them and insulting them.
 

NayruKasai

"Don't take us so lightly."
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Feb 18, 2017
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When I was younger I used to get bullied a lot and I ended up moving schools but because I live in a small town people at my new school knew people from my old school so it never really completely stopped. I was always cut deep by what they said and never wanted to attend school. Later it began to affect me less but I was still really hurt especially when people from my old school moved to my new school in about year 9 and tried to start drama.

Now I honestly don't give two s****. I just let it roll and think whatever because where are these people going to be in 5 years time? These people mean jack to me so why let it bother me. I know im not perfect. Nobody is. And I know that's a major cliche but who cares. I don't. Words are just words. They're just sounds coming out of our mouths that we use to communicate. Even if words are used to impact us negatively in the end they're just noise. Even when it's written we read it using sound in our mind.

Truth is, a lot of people just plain suck!
 
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Ventus

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i had a dream where this fat ***** was tryna scold me for using cuss words and I told her off. she started crying. naturally, insults are not good. I may have thick skin and my personal philosophy is toughen up buttercup, but not everyone is like that. I don't insult people in public, only in my private life. But for insults in MY direction, I laugh them off or simply pay them no mind. I had one mutha****a that I wanted to kick the **** out of because he started talking **** after knocking down my shelf. I didn't though, because insults are petty as ****.
 

Beauts

Rock and roll will never die
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It really depends who the insult is coming from. If it's a random on the internet or even irl I don't really give a ****. If it's a pointed insult by someone I know, attacking something specific, then I'll just get angry, more than hurt.
 

Jamie

Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out...
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Insults hurt me if they are from someone I love or care about, typically. I don't know kw why people feel the need to insult others though.
 
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The whole video applies, watch it all, it's great. But the main part about political correctness and offense is at 3:20.

I agree with this video totally. If you want to be offended, go ahead, be offended. Nothing is going to happen. We all will be offended about different things and that is totally ok. It's when people try to make it a crime to offend someone or have voilent protests over themselves feeling offended is when the problems start. We should grow up, act like adults and accept the fact that being offended is ok.

Insults are the same. Like in the video (and I paraphrase):
That's what we teach children, daddy, he called me an idiot. Nah don't worry son, he's a dick.
That's how you deal with it. Just move on.

Deformation is different though and there are laws about that and you should go to court over deformation. But for basic insults, not a big deal. They are the idiot for calling you pointless nasty names.
 

Jamie

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The whole video applies, watch it all, it's great. But the main part about political correctness and offense is at 3:20.

I agree with this video totally. If you want to be offended, go ahead, be offended. Nothing is going to happen. We all will be offended about different things and that is totally ok. It's when people try to make it a crime to offend someone or have voilent protests over themselves feeling offended is when the problems start. We should grow up, act like adults and accept the fact that being offended is ok.

Insults are the same. Like in the video (and I paraphrase):
That's what we teach children, daddy, he called me an idiot. Nah don't worry son, he's a dick.
That's how you deal with it. Just move on.

Deformation is different though and there are laws about that and you should go to court over deformation. But for basic insults, not a big deal. They are the idiot for calling you pointless nasty names.

Not all insults are just "hey ***got" though. Some cut much deeper. Imagine if my sister, who has CF, had someone say like "you useless **** you're going to die soon you drain on society", I think that would rightfully hurt her feelings.
 
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Not all insults are just "hey ***got" though. Some cut much deeper. Imagine if my sister, who has CF, had someone say like "you useless **** you're going to die soon you drain on society", I think that would rightfully hurt her feelings.
You are correct. But as long as they have people who care for them, they can be the loving soul to help them through this. It's not right that these kind of harsh insults exist. But for every nasty insult there is a caring person who is there for the one being insulted to help them through it.
 

Castle

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I insult back. Even when the insult is childish and baseless. The only requirement to the reprisal is that it has to sound more clever than the one you just received. Never let a bully think they can get away with it. And above all, never let them see you bleed. Make sure it looks like you're standing up for yourself, not levying reprisals for having been wounded. People tell you to "Just ignore them. Show kindness!" That is crap advice. Bullies don't care about kindness... THEY'RE BULLIES FOR GOSH DARN SAKE!! And if you just ignore them they'll get more persistent. Show them you'll stand up to them and they'll back down. Bullies are often lazy cowards looking for an easy target. Don't give them one. Make them work for their sadistic pleasure and they'll get frustrated and leave you be.

More important than that, however, is the need to set the record straight as it were. A lot of bullies seek to spread malicious gossip. Referred to as slander, this can do real irreparable damage to the victim. Immediate damage control is mandatory, I'm afraid, and usually where the vast majority of frustration lies when having to deal with malicious rumor mongers. Prove the liar wrong at their every word, discredit them, make them look the fool. There will always inevitably be a number of holdout fools who believe the lies, but sense and reason always prevails which is why your job is to convince sensible reasonable people. The fools have short attention spans anyway, and a slanderer with a record has a lot tougher time convincing anyone who matters the next time he or she starts talking smack.
 
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If I share facts to a discussion and the other side runs out of facts and just resort to insults I consider that a win and drop the subject.
If they just randomly insult me I just ignore it or reply with a fact or two and then drop it
 

NintendoCN

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I have mastered the art of not caring, with the way I grew up insults were uncommon, you just don't mess with someone who "hangs" with all the jocks.
 
I'm generally indifferent about most things meant as insults. Sometimes, it stuns me and has me asking myself what I did to the person to make them resent me, but in the end, the person who ultimately points the insults on me is myself. I always assume I'm the guilty one; that whatever was said was justified because I must have done something that made me deserve it. But, it's the things that aren't said that I tend to dwell upon.
 

Justac00lguy

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Insults really depend on the delivery and context of the situation. I'm pretty laid back and I have thick skin, but I can't rule out being hurt by words. As I said, it's about context. Easy to say "Ay ay words are just words". When you're feeling down and someone in your family has cancer and they make a horrible joke about it, are you going to pretend it doesn't bother you?
 

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