3 ms·
Yea I do have the right to demand that, but you have the right to ignore my demands.
by moi2388 3y ago
Yea I do have the right to demand that, but you have the right to ignore my demands.
- brookst 3y agoI think it's the semantics of "demand." To me, that connotes a claim of control or power or moral authority. I have a right to complain that it's raining. And I have the free speech right to say "I demand it stop raining". But I have no right to come to you and demand that you make the rain stop, because that implies a claim on you that I do not have.
- _whiteCaps_ 3y agoOh boy, that reminded me of a flame war that started when someone wrote in English, "I demand ..." when they were really just _asking_ for further details about something. They woke up the next morning to find a thread dozens of messages long of people arguing back and forth about whether this person was rude or not. Once they explained that French was their native language and how they would write that sentence in French, things eventually calmed down.
- brookst 3y agoI think there's a similar bit in some movie where some character (foreigners? aliens?) keeps using "insist" inappropriately. I insist that it's nice out today. I insist that we go for a walk. I insist that you tell me what time it is. It's amazing how relatively mild denotational differences can have such wildly different connotations and perceived tones.