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<blockquote data-quote="Barastrondo" data-source="post: 5054993" data-attributes="member: 3820">I would compare it to &quot;bitterness,&quot; actually. If you describe yourself as bitter or embittered, that's very different from choosing to describe someone else as bitter or embittered. Unless that other person has already referred to him/herself as such, of course. In the one instance it's a simple description; in the other instance it's a potentially dismissive ascribing of intent. If there were a thread entitled &quot;Bitter about 4e,&quot; consider the difference if the original poster were describing himself or if he were describing other people. And if he were describing himself, would it then be fair to use &quot;bitter&quot; to describe everyone else who disliked 4e? I don't think so. A term can go from perfectly neutral to viciously loaded with a shift of context. Incautious use of those words is no small part of why discussions turn uncivil (which this one still hasn't yet, nicely enough).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Barastrondo, post: 5054993, member: 3820"] I would compare it to "bitterness," actually. If you describe yourself as bitter or embittered, that's very different from choosing to describe someone else as bitter or embittered. Unless that other person has already referred to him/herself as such, of course. In the one instance it's a simple description; in the other instance it's a potentially dismissive ascribing of intent. If there were a thread entitled "Bitter about 4e," consider the difference if the original poster were describing himself or if he were describing other people. And if he were describing himself, would it then be fair to use "bitter" to describe everyone else who disliked 4e? I don't think so. A term can go from perfectly neutral to viciously loaded with a shift of context. Incautious use of those words is no small part of why discussions turn uncivil (which this one still hasn't yet, nicely enough). [/QUOTE]

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