Well, we just disagree on the meaning of the word.
To you, an insult can be delivered even if it is taken as a compliment.
To me, the insult must be accepted as such to be an insult.
On one level, it's a difference in definition.
On another level, it's a completely different way of perceiving human interactions.
Would you say the same thing about compliments? That an intended compliment is a compliment even if it is not perceived as such?
Let's say I say something intending it to be a compliment, but you take it as an insult. Is it a compliment, or an insult, or both?
That happens from time to time. In the most sexist context, for example, a guy may say to a woman "nice knockers," intending it as a compliment, but she takes it as a sexist insult. Which is it? Is it what was intended, or what was taken?
Is there an objective and subjecive aspect here? Does it matter what other people would think of it as? Let's assume that ten other people are listening, and all of them except the woman believe that it was a compliment. Does that make it a compliment even thought the woman takes it as an insult?
Or, let's say that the ten other people all think it was insulting. Does that make it an insult even though it was intended as a compliment? |
