It’s a pretty common thing on the internet to see somebody relating a story about someone acting in an inconsiderate way and the response is usually something like, “Well that person is a total piece of shit.”
I’m fine with using those kinds of words. What I don’t get is why people are inclined to go full tilt in how they express themselves rather than using the full range of meaning that words provide. It’s like, if you go straight to calling things a piece of shit, how do I know whether you’re genuinely upset about something versus, mildly annoyed?
We have all of these linguistic colors and yet things are so often painted in black and white.
Why is this?
Personally I have a tendency towards black/white hyperbole when leaving comments on Lemmy for instance because if I make it too grey the meaning will be misconstrued. Inevitably. Every single time. (see, I just did it again)
I also have a tendency towards adding jokes to negative comments, even to serious subject matter, as I’ve noticed both online and in real life people are more likely to dismiss outright negativity if you don’t make it funny somehow. People are scarcely in the mood for serious discussion of real problems, especially of those they can’t solve