When insults had class
There was a time when men disagreed using intellect and humor to banter back and forth. Much of it was all in fun.
"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play, bring a friend... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one."
- Winston Churchill, in reply
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3 comments
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Carla, you are so right. It used to be that we would discuss and jest in fun. Now it’s vicious.
Cindy, you give me an idea. What if we communicated in Olde English. Might help us to be more gracious in our communication.
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I love these – you’re right – even insults had a grace and dignity about them that we are missing today – I would love to see us return to this skill – even talk in “old English” to get our point across :)
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This is indeed one of the classics, JoJo! There are a lot of these. . . witty, to the point and not quite as blatantly insulting as things are today. Some of today’s disagreements are positively brutal. They are targeted at shaming, hurting and humiliating the other person and nothing more. There IS a better way.
And for those who don’t think they need communication skills. . . like you always say, “You can get through your entire life without making one formal speech, but you can’t get through one day without communicating something to someone!” A little mastery of this skill might be in order, eh? :)