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Arguing/Conversation Words - HAAAYLP!

  
  

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Cherry Bomb
09:03 / 08.08.02
Hey all.

I'm teaching a conversation and discussion class for foreignors at the moment. It's really most fabulous actually, as you can imagine.

I want to do a vocabulary session where I teach them as many words and phrases we use in arguing and discussing as possible. Things like, "that's not the point," " you're making a generalization," "I see what you're saying," etc. etc.

Since y'all are so good at arguing, could you help me out in a brainstorm session?

I wanted to do this vocab thing with them in about an hour, but considering I'm still trying to come up with words and phrases I'll probably do it tomorrow. Still, as many things aas you can think of will be highly appreciated by moi.

Cheers!
 
 
Ariadne
09:07 / 08.08.02
But don't you think...?
As a feminist/ratepayer/Scotswoman, I think....
You're being illogical there.
Now you're just being silly.
Will you listen to what I'm saying!?!

Err, that'll have to do for now....
 
 
Sax
09:10 / 08.08.02
"Well, that's okay, but why don't you look at it this way?"

"I would have to take issue with that statement."

"I agree up to a point, but there's more to it than that."

"On the other hand..."

"You're entitled to your opinion, of course..."

"Do you honestly believe that to be the case?"
 
 
Mourne Kransky
10:05 / 08.08.02
"Don't be silly /daft /such an arse"

"You don't really believe that?"
or the Billy Connolly variant: "Oh, do you really think so?"

"I see your point but what about..."

"You're just saying that for the sake of argument"

"No, I'm right and you're wrong"

"That's not logical, Captain"

"Good God, you're right. How could I not have seen it before? They're all lizards!"

"& I'm never wrong" (thus spake both the Elephant God and ZoCher's omniscient Dad too)

There are some fine Scotticisms which, granted, may just confuse your foreign students:
"Away an' boil yer heid"
"Don't be such a numpty"
"Listen, tumshieheid..."
"Weel, ye ken noo"

& there is the magic word used on the Lith to quell all possible dissent: "Foucault..."
 
 
Bill Posters
10:28 / 08.08.02
But I'm not taking it too personally!

That's just going to get us into semantics.

You're using rhetoric!

Why, that's just the latest example of political correctness gone mad!

But I lead a life of Dickensian misery for godsake!

That's a totally fascistic thing to say!

Fuck off and die!

That's it, you just got your one way ticket to Plonksville, Arizona. Enjoy your stay.

Don't do the hysterical female thing with me!

But not when you take Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle into account it doesn't.

Can I put my penis in your ear?
 
 
Kit-Cat Club
11:13 / 08.08.02
Holiday in Selfawaria...

'Well, that's all very well, but where's your evidence?'

'In my opinion...'

'I suppose there might be something in what you say.'

'Have you thought about the >insert factor< factor in relation to this?'

'You're just fucked up and wrong' (OK, perhaps not much use in the teaching context)

'It's people like you that start wars'
 
 
The Natural Way
11:24 / 08.08.02
Hmm. Actually, I think it could be really cool and groovy to give kids lessons in rhetoric. I mean, most people can't argue for toffee - confusing strongly felt belief and noise w/ debate. Very frustrating.
 
 
Ganesh
12:10 / 08.08.02
"If you're about to disagree with me, STOP IT!"

"You're actually agreeing with me unconsciously, but your conditioning/beta-carbolenes/Lizards Masters are forcing it to come out as disagreement."

"I hear what you're saying, but..."

"I'm taking that on board, but..."

"I agree with you up to a point, but..."

"I AM CALM!!"
 
 
Tryphena Absent
12:16 / 08.08.02
When the person you're arguing against runs off to escape you call after them in a voice that carries across the room "you do that".
 
 
Jack The Bodiless
15:19 / 08.08.02
"I think you'll find that what you actually mean is..." [CUE REITERATING YOUR OWN POINT FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE]

"This from the..."
"Well, of course you'd say that. You're a..." [CUE BRINGING UP HIGHLY EXAGGERATED VERSIONS OF PRIOR OFF-COLOUR ARGUMENTS PUT FORWARD BY THE OTHER, IN ORDER TO UNDERMINE THEIR POSITION WITHOUT ACTUALLY ATTEMPTING TO ENGAGE WITH THEIR CURRENT ARGUMENT, EITHER BECAUSE YOU CAN'T, OR (MORE LIKELY) BECAUSE IT'S FUNNIER THIS WAY]

"Well, had you been listening to what I actually said..." [CUE REITERATION OF EXACT SAME ARGUMENT AS BEFORE... ONLY THIS TIME THE OTHER WILL PROBABLY ALLOW YOU GRACE TO EXPAND UPON YOUR THEME - AND CORRECT ANY PREVIOUS ERRORS - EITHER BECAUSE YOU'VE CHASTENED THEM INTO LISTENING, OR (MORE LIKELY) BECAUSE THEY'RE TRYING TO CATCH YOU OUT]

Have many more, but have to go out now...
 
 
Loomis
15:30 / 08.08.02
"Where did you read that? The internet?"
 
 
Rage
15:55 / 08.08.02
"I used to think like that."

"It's a matter of linguistics."

"The facts you're using to support your case are fiction."

"I figured you were gonna say something like that."

"You sound like Hitler."

"You just illustrated my point perfectly."
 
 
captain piss
16:11 / 08.08.02
"No no, [i]you[/i] fuck off"
 
 
Our Lady of The Two Towers
17:18 / 08.08.02
"But you are The Knowledge!"
 
 
grant
17:21 / 08.08.02
Idioms like "seeing the point" and "on the other hand" would be valuable.

So would, "Oh, please!" or "For Pete's sake!", "Jesus!", "Geez!" and other odd exclamations.
 
 
Less searchable M0rd4nt
17:28 / 08.08.02
"Oh, is that the sort of thing they teach you in your little [airquotes] conversation [/airquotes] class, then?"
 
 
Persephone
17:51 / 08.08.02
"Whatever."

But you must tell them it is very rude. I am disallowed from saying this at home, as it wilts the vegetation.
 
 
Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero
18:35 / 08.08.02
"It makes my head hurt when you say that."

"That doesn't add up. Look at the writing on the wall and do the math." (this one is great, because you can sound so damn sure of something, and no one will know what the hell it is).

"Who says life can't write good plots? Look at WWII. That was a nail-biter, and I'll kill the man who says it wasn't." (this will rarely come up in conversation, but it'd be great to hear foreigners saying it regardless).

"Well, what can you do. I guess some people just >insert whatever<..."

"I can't imagine why..."

"With all due respect..."

"In/with regard(s) to..."

"Your views are interesting, and I admire the strength of your convictions" (you can add a "but" to the end of that. I use this all the time when I'm ambushed down south by people trying to save my pagan soul).
 
 
Kit-Cat Club
22:25 / 08.08.02
Can you actually say that without the but?

'Son, son, I admire your sincerity. Always be sincere, whether you mean it or not.'
 
 
Cherry Bomb
22:29 / 08.08.02
This is all "good shit," as they say. Now you're getting a feel for thinking of things you say all the time without thinking about. Anythihng else you woud care to add will be appreciated.
 
 
Persephone
23:40 / 08.08.02
Probably all the ones that are used so much, they have web abbreviations: IMHO, YMMV, AFAIK, IIRC, etc.
 
 
Margin Walker
07:47 / 09.08.02
"Your argument is not valid because it is an Ad Hominem attack, you mewling fuckwit."
 
 
Bill Posters
13:29 / 09.08.02
YOUR MOM!
 
 
Cherry Bomb
14:41 / 09.08.02
Please please please please don't take the piss and help me I'm begging you. Thanks. I'm going to give the lesson on Monday so there's all weekend for brainstorming! :-)
 
 
gravitybitch
01:50 / 10.08.02
How about general idiom? Like, for example, "take the piss" - that sounds rather kinky to my delicate San Francisco sensibilities. ("Bugger ..." probably needs no translation!)
 
 
Cat Chant
10:12 / 10.08.02
"Mmm. Mmm. Mmm." (said very intensely while staring at yr interlocutor. Eventually they will run out of steam, at which point you should lean back with a big frown on your face to indicate that you are thinking VERY HARD about what they have said. Then just say what you said before all over again. Repeat until they give up.)
 
 
Ganesh
11:36 / 10.08.02
Similar passive-aggressive tactics include consistent (just slightly patronising) agreement - "Yes, dear" - and the Jerry Springeresque "Whatever".
 
 
junejune
12:41 / 10.08.02
et tu crois vraiment que ce que tu dis est vrai ?
est-ce que tu sais que...
ah ouais, sérieux ?
noooooooonnn ? tu plaisantes, j'espère ?
 
 
Stone Mirror
15:39 / 10.08.02
YOUR MOM!

The proper pronuncation of this phrase is "Yo mama!"

Further suggestions:

"Chowderhead!"
"If I have to explain to you, you'll never understand."
"Define your terms!"
 
 
Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero
17:02 / 11.08.02
"Believe you me..."

Maybe an introduction into the usage of words like "however" and "be that as it may" or "Would that I could..."

All manners of formal apologies would be useful, methinks ("my humblest apologies, I apologize profusely"). Maybe some slang? Useful profanities?

"Fuck that/this/him/her."

"This tastes like a shoe dipped in ass."

"Damn, that's fucked up."
 
 
Seth
00:13 / 12.08.02
I just reflect and question. Most people will hang themselves if you give them enough rope, and questions are also a great way of advancing your point. It also allows you a bit of thinking time to tailor your *truth* to the situation.
 
 
doozy floop
12:25 / 19.09.06
In a kind of similar vein, (no, really - stick with me on this...) I have to engage in lunching/drinking/mingling with lots of rich, tedious, pompous old men on Thursday. I will have no idea for a single thing to say to any of them, particularly as I will offend by saying anything that suggests I'm not fully aware of who they are and what they do and just how damn famous/rich/important they are.

Since you are all so good with the words, any ideas for utterly meaningless phrases like the lists above that can be respectfully muttered for the making of conversation?
 
 
All Acting Regiment
12:36 / 19.09.06
Ask them if Rabelais was right.
 
 
Jub
12:50 / 19.09.06
Asking them what they think of the wine, how they know the host, and how they are finding work at the moment are all considered to be safe topics of small talk.

Depending on what country they're from, also be mindful of cultural differences such as body space, overlapping and directness. The other thing needed to make small talk successful is to resist correcting someone when they are wrong. Nod earnestly a lot.
 
 
stabbystabby
05:00 / 21.09.06
"that's simply anecdotal"
"that's a straw man argument"
"Dworkin does not represent the whole of feminist thought" (i've used that one myself)
"you've mischaracterised (insert theorist's name here)'s theory here"
"astrology is not a science"
"neither is economics"
 
  

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