A question of semantics

[LunchpackOfNotreDame]

Aibu To think If you say to someone 'stop acting like a drunken arse' you're not attack them as a person you are in fact challenging their behaviour as a pisshead?

Apparently I've launched a personal attack by using the above sentence

Well if you needed to say it (and it wasn't just a good natured, light-hearted quip) then you were probably justified and they probably are a drunken arse. Or at least a complete arse when drunk.

Instead of getting angry with you for saying it they might want to think about why you needed to say it.

You tried to debate semantics with a drunken arse?

You were crazy acting like a crazy person.

If you said 'stop acting like a drunken arse' you were criticising the behaviour, if you said 'Stop acting as a drunken arse' you were criticising the person.

There's a technical answer for you. Was the person in question sober enough to remember exactly which one of those two you said?

YABU to try to stop a drunken arse from acting like a drunken arse.