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[Ethan Furman]

Daniel Fetchinson wrote:
>>>>>I was referring to this comment by Ben:
>>>>>
>>>>>"Suggestion: Please don't make efforts to fragment the community."
>>>>>
>>>>>This IMHO is hostile, because it presupposes that the mere goal of the
>>>>>OP is fragmenting the community
>>>>
>>>>It presupposes nothing of any goal. It describes a predictable result of
>>>>the OP's efforts, and requests those efforts to cease.
>>>>
>>>>So I deny the characterisation of that request as hostile.
>>>
>>[mass snippitude]
>>
>>
>>>If yes, with the substitution A = Ben and B = OP we get "in order for
>>>Ben's request to make sense, Ben has to assume that the OP is making
>>>an effort to fragment the community". This assumption on the part of
>>>Ben, I think, is hostile, since it assumes that the OP is making an
>>>effort to do something not nice. Whether the OP is indeed doing
>>>something not nice, is irrelevant. If the OP does do something not
>>>nice, the hostility is warranted. If the OP is not doing anything not
>>>nice, the hostility is unwarranted. But the fact that Ben was hostile
>>>is a fact :)
>>
>>You were doing fine until you brought in the hostility.  I must agree
>>with Ben that his comment was not hostile.  It was merely a statement.
>>Not an exclamation, no name calling, just a plain request rooted in reality.
> 
> 
> Okay, before we get to quarks let's see what 'hostile' means :)
>>From Merriam-Webster http://www.learnersdictionary.net/dictionary/hostile :
> 
> 1 a : of or relating to an enemy <hostile fire>
>   b : marked by malevolence <a hostile act>
>   c : openly opposed or resisting <a hostile critic> <hostile to new ideas>
>   d (1) : not hospitable <plants growing in a hostile environment>
>      (2) : having an intimidating, antagonistic, or offensive nature
> <a hostile workplace>
> 
> Now, I think the OP was perceived by Ben as doing something which he
> thinks is not good. We most probably agree on this. In other words,
> Ben was opposing the OP's ideas. Yet in other words, Ben was resisting
> the OP's ideas. And yet in other words, Ben was not hospitable. So
> perhaps 1a and 1b doesn't quite fit the bill since Ben didn't go as
> far as call the OP an enemy and he wasn't evil or wished harm to the
> OP, but 1c and d(1) are certainly correctly describing his behavior
> and to a lesser extent d(2) as well.

AH hahahahahahah.

Okay, you got me.  However, if we're going to start looking up the exact 
denotations of words to justify our remarks, surely we should also pay 
attention to the connotations?  In normal, everyday speach the 
denotations of 'resisting' and 'opposed to' are very different from 
'hostile' -- hence such phrases as 'resisting with hostility' and 
'hostiley opposed to'.

In other words, I'll grant you the win of that hair, but I still would 
not characterize it as hostile.  ;-)

~Ethan~