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> His Orangeness Please refrain from insults. Nearly half of the voters voted for him. There are plenty of his supporters here and this is offensive to them.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago
Half the nation may have voted for him but referring to the orange man in a way that does not also signal that you disapprove is a one way ticket to down-votes on the orange website. It's a really fine line to walk for those who are inclined to do so.
chickenpotpie 6y ago
What? Are you suggesting we cannot criticize politicians on this website because it might be insulting to their supporters?
- buzzerbetrayed 6y ago
  This is very obviously NOT what they are suggesting. They are suggesting you should "Please refrain from insults", as is clearly stated in their comment. Insult != Criticism.
  - brewdad 6y ago
    Is it an insult if it is factually accurate?
    - ddingus 6y ago
      Stating the fact is not the same thing as stating an insult. Trump is more orange than just about all people. That's a fact. "His Orangeness" actually does the following: Implies egregiously sized ego Implies royalty Associates that to the orange fact. The connotations associated with "His" are not complementary. Etc... Burying a fact amidst snark, then ignoring the snark is a sleight of hand others find easy to see as well, which is how I saw your query. Actually making facts the priority is a lot more healthy and productive, and there is a bonus! When we do that, we can also be perfectly reasonable and also point out that any offense taken isn't on us. Sometimes facts are painful, right? These are the things people are trying to get at so the discussion is higher value. That's my take for what it's worth.
- giantg2 6y ago
  I think it's fine to criticize constructively. Calling people names is not likely to lead to constructive conversations and can be dehumanizing.
  - corpMaverick 6y ago
    You are talking about a person whose mode of operation is to insult people.
    - giantg2 6y ago
      And that makes it ok to do the same? If so, then that justifies others to insult you.
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
      - corpMaverick 6y ago
        I haven't spent my life insulting people. He does. False equivalence.
        giantg2 6y ago
        How is it false equivalence? What metrics show that you spent your life not insulting people and that another person did, and how do people know that? Care to quantify it? Where's the line? Maybe to me the line is a single insult. I mean, given the sample size of my interaction with you, maybe that single insult would meet the threshold of insults/compliments when compared to the insults/ compliments of another person over 4 years, even if there are more examples of insults due to sample size.
- Rebelgecko 6y ago
  There's a big difference between criticizing someone based on their policy or behaviors vs making fun of their physical appearance. The latter is normally frowned upon on HN
ddingus 6y ago
70 million. It is worth highlighting a very significant fraction of the nation does not vote. It is 40 some percent. Quite a few of us are not participating. Frankly, I have moved to a very judgement avoidance type mode. We all should be talking, understanding one another better and should we do that we may find ourselves operating in a more healthy, productive body politic. We need that. It's a mess right now. Maybe that would being more of us back into the process too.
Clubber 6y ago
>this is offensive to them. It's not offensive to me and I supported some of his policies. Did you support him? Is it offensive to you? If not, maybe you shouldn't presume to speak for other people as a general rule. I don't mean to sound scolding, but it's something people do now a days that's a little counter productive.
andrewzah 6y ago
People shouldn't be so invested in a politician that a cheeky nickname for that politician actually offends them. This is a case of actively choosing to be offended about something. Now, as far as HN etiquette goes, factually just referring to politicians by their name would be better. Not because nicknames are oh-so-offensive (which, by the way, implies their supporters cannot handle even nicknames...) but because neutral discussion is just more pleasant in general.
- JPKab 6y ago
  As I said elsewhere in the thread, my wife voted for him, and finds my ribbing nicknames hilarious. She learned, like I did as a kid, that choosing to be offended by something is a weakness and a distraction. It's as if it's become a currency of sorts now, where I can show virtue and get attention by calling someone else out for their gross misdeed of thinking that people are adults who don't need the world nerfed for them. Clearly, I was wrong.
JPKab 6y ago
My wife voted for him. She thinks it's funny, because she's doesn't take herself seriously in the narcissistic way that has become fashionable online these days. I love how we have to nerf the world instead of asking people to not be so desperate to be offended.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago

Half the nation may have voted for him but referring to the orange man in a way that does not also signal that you disapprove is a one way ticket to down-votes on the orange website. It's a really fine line to walk for those who are inclined to do so.

chickenpotpie 6y ago

What? Are you suggesting we cannot criticize politicians on this website because it might be insulting to their supporters?

buzzerbetrayed 6y ago
This is very obviously NOT what they are suggesting. They are suggesting you should "Please refrain from insults", as is clearly stated in their comment. Insult != Criticism.
- brewdad 6y ago
  Is it an insult if it is factually accurate?
  - ddingus 6y ago
    Stating the fact is not the same thing as stating an insult. Trump is more orange than just about all people. That's a fact. "His Orangeness" actually does the following: Implies egregiously sized ego Implies royalty Associates that to the orange fact. The connotations associated with "His" are not complementary. Etc... Burying a fact amidst snark, then ignoring the snark is a sleight of hand others find easy to see as well, which is how I saw your query. Actually making facts the priority is a lot more healthy and productive, and there is a bonus! When we do that, we can also be perfectly reasonable and also point out that any offense taken isn't on us. Sometimes facts are painful, right? These are the things people are trying to get at so the discussion is higher value. That's my take for what it's worth.
giantg2 6y ago
I think it's fine to criticize constructively. Calling people names is not likely to lead to constructive conversations and can be dehumanizing.
- corpMaverick 6y ago
  You are talking about a person whose mode of operation is to insult people.
  - giantg2 6y ago
    And that makes it ok to do the same? If so, then that justifies others to insult you.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - corpMaverick 6y ago
      I haven't spent my life insulting people. He does. False equivalence.
      - giantg2 6y ago
        How is it false equivalence? What metrics show that you spent your life not insulting people and that another person did, and how do people know that? Care to quantify it? Where's the line? Maybe to me the line is a single insult. I mean, given the sample size of my interaction with you, maybe that single insult would meet the threshold of insults/compliments when compared to the insults/ compliments of another person over 4 years, even if there are more examples of insults due to sample size.
Rebelgecko 6y ago
There's a big difference between criticizing someone based on their policy or behaviors vs making fun of their physical appearance. The latter is normally frowned upon on HN

ddingus 6y ago

70 million. It is worth highlighting a very significant fraction of the nation does not vote. It is 40 some percent. Quite a few of us are not participating. Frankly, I have moved to a very judgement avoidance type mode. We all should be talking, understanding one another better and should we do that we may find ourselves operating in a more healthy, productive body politic. We need that. It's a mess right now. Maybe that would being more of us back into the process too.

Clubber 6y ago

>this is offensive to them. It's not offensive to me and I supported some of his policies. Did you support him? Is it offensive to you? If not, maybe you shouldn't presume to speak for other people as a general rule. I don't mean to sound scolding, but it's something people do now a days that's a little counter productive.

andrewzah 6y ago

People shouldn't be so invested in a politician that a cheeky nickname for that politician actually offends them. This is a case of actively choosing to be offended about something. Now, as far as HN etiquette goes, factually just referring to politicians by their name would be better. Not because nicknames are oh-so-offensive (which, by the way, implies their supporters cannot handle even nicknames...) but because neutral discussion is just more pleasant in general.

JPKab 6y ago
As I said elsewhere in the thread, my wife voted for him, and finds my ribbing nicknames hilarious. She learned, like I did as a kid, that choosing to be offended by something is a weakness and a distraction. It's as if it's become a currency of sorts now, where I can show virtue and get attention by calling someone else out for their gross misdeed of thinking that people are adults who don't need the world nerfed for them. Clearly, I was wrong.

JPKab 6y ago

My wife voted for him. She thinks it's funny, because she's doesn't take herself seriously in the narcissistic way that has become fashionable online these days. I love how we have to nerf the world instead of asking people to not be so desperate to be offended.