It isn’t apparent to me to me that this person has “virtue signaled” by expressing their opinion. Why dive immediately for sinister motivations when someone says that a particular piece of language makes them uncomfortable?
Their motives aren't necessarily sinister, but they are pearl-clutching bullshit without which the world would, in general, be a much better place.
Oh no, this noun if used in an entirely different context means something different! Oh my stars! I mean, give me a break. It is in the best case, bending over backward to avoid even the slightest offense or misunderstanding on something so basic it can safely be taken for granted even among non-native - likely even non-fluent - speakers who are much less familiar and comfortable with English idioms. It is in a slightly worse case, virtue signaling exactly as the GP suggests.
Because the inability or unwillingness of commenters to separate unrelated context from the matter at hand is frustrating and distracting. It does seem like virtue signaling to me because the original commenter goes off an unrelated tangent.
"this word you've used has reminded me of something I don't like and so I'm going to complain about it instead of discussing the actual topic."
Speaking personally it bothers me because it implies either the OP intended to be offensive, or that it was careless to use language that's not devoid of any other context. Neither are reasonable in this case, so it's feels needlessly intrusive, and distracting.
I probably wouldn't feel this way if they commenter attempted to show an assumption of good faith by asking if they considered the context others might have related to the word 'pimp'. Instead of asserting it's outright wrong to be willing to use it.
> I'm not a fan of it is this context. And I hate it in this other context. Obviously the word itself is always a bad word to use. Because the context I care about it clearly the most important.
woodruffw|4 years ago
pc86|4 years ago
Oh no, this noun if used in an entirely different context means something different! Oh my stars! I mean, give me a break. It is in the best case, bending over backward to avoid even the slightest offense or misunderstanding on something so basic it can safely be taken for granted even among non-native - likely even non-fluent - speakers who are much less familiar and comfortable with English idioms. It is in a slightly worse case, virtue signaling exactly as the GP suggests.
grayhatter|4 years ago
"this word you've used has reminded me of something I don't like and so I'm going to complain about it instead of discussing the actual topic."
Speaking personally it bothers me because it implies either the OP intended to be offensive, or that it was careless to use language that's not devoid of any other context. Neither are reasonable in this case, so it's feels needlessly intrusive, and distracting.
I probably wouldn't feel this way if they commenter attempted to show an assumption of good faith by asking if they considered the context others might have related to the word 'pimp'. Instead of asserting it's outright wrong to be willing to use it.
> I'm not a fan of it is this context. And I hate it in this other context. Obviously the word itself is always a bad word to use. Because the context I care about it clearly the most important.
SquishyPanda23|4 years ago
And yet you felt the need to signal your tribe while trying to shut down someone's speech.