Are you dim?

[Seventybillionnamechanges]

Aibu to think anyone who posts this is just putting the boot in.

I mean what does it add to a conversation? Is the OP supposed to say “ah yes I am”.
If the OP genuinely is “dim” -whatever the fuck that’s supposed to mean- chances are, they won’t be aware of it. Or they’re forced into having to explain themselves over and over.

Or is it just another way for people to put the boot in.

Think I’ve literally seen it on 3 posts just this morning.

Is it the new "Are you on glue?". So witty and funny that people race to put it on the post

I prefer "What are you smoking? And why aren't you sharing?"

@Babycrackers haha among with wow... just wow.
However I actually think it’s nastier. Are you on glue at least insinuates that the OP is temporarily insane - whereas are you dim is just pure insult.

Unfortunately this is symptomatic of the level of bullying ( and, yes, it is bullying - no other word for it), which is becoming increasingly common on MN now. It would appear that it is difficult for some people to hold, or express, a contrary view or opinion without resorting to bullying, insensitivity or downright nastiness.

A poster the other evening was badly mauled for asking a perfectly valid, reasonable question, she clearly had a good deal of personal trauma in her life, but she was ripped to shreds, and her thread was used as an excuse for others to be vile towards her.

Repugnant, disgusting behavior which shows the abusers up for their lack of empathy, emotional intelligence or consideration toward another human being.

@Beekeeper1 it’s odd isn’t it. It’s something you’d really never ever say irl, (even if you thought it).

Saying “you need to educate yourself” to a poster who happens to disagree with you is another example.

@SerenDippitty while I agree - I actually saw this play out well irl well on Facebook
An old work colleague had posted a typical “all lives matters” pile of crap - and she was quite robustly told off.
Next thing she obviously had taken on board the comments and was telling all and sundry how they should read x and watch y to better understand the movement.

To be fair - she probably is someone who is “a bit dim” but it was quite sweet to see.

However when it’s a row over a parking thread not so much

I don't understand the question

It depends I guess. I've seen it said to someone when they were putting across an entirely rational, reasonable point of view. In that case, it was just the person who threw out the insult being rude and not being able to cope with the fact that someone was disagreeing with their opinion.

I've also seen people who are coming across as genuinely dim being called so. It depends on the conversation. However by the time someone has started name calling, it's kind of gotten past the point of a conversation.

@SerenDippitty

Saying “you need to educate yourself” to a poster who happens to disagree with you is another example.

I agree. I Googled the term a couple of weeks ago, when it was being bandied about particularly freely, and the general mood on the interweb is that the person telling you to 'Go and educate yourself' is either too lazy to bother telling you how they feel, or are incapabable of justifying what they have said or having a reasonable discussion with you. It's another way of telling you to eff off.

A cop-out. basically.

@AwaAnBileYerHeid but if someone is genuinely dim - what’s the point? Just saying “oh you’re thick as pig shit” doesn’t really help matters when trying to reason with someone who is, well, dim.

@Seventybillionnamechanges there isn't any point, whether it's being said accurately or otherwise. Perhaps it's said in frustration? I don't know, it's just an observation that I've made.

@AwaAnBileYerHeid love your username by the way! Now that’s a great insult to chuck at someone

SerenDippitty

Saying “you need to educate yourself” to a poster who happens to disagree with you is another example.

The ironic thing is, that phrase is usually trotted out by the ones who clearly have no grasp of what they're talking about themselves. Anyone who knew what they were actually talking about would be able to put their point across and counter argue against the so called 'uneducated' persons argument. I find the less of a clue the person has, the more aggressive they are in their point of view.

@Seventybillionnamechanges haha, it was a phrase that was spat out often by my old battleaxe of a granny towards any neighbours that dared to piss her off!

@AwaAnBileYerHeid I’d try it - but fear it wouldn’t sound as wonderful in my dulcet tones

Unfortunately there is a total lack of respect for education (and I don't just mean schools). If poster A knows a lot about something and dares to "educate/correct/inform" Poster B the resulting responses accuse her of being pretentious, classist, racist, sexist, ageist, bullying or just wrong!. It seems rare for people to accept that someone else might know better. (I don't mean the practical threads where poster asks for plumbing advice but any opinion threads)

I have learnt SO much from MN but if I dared to tell someone that XYZ is not right I am slammed. So I don't, (well not often! ).

YANBU. It's spiteful and mocking and a particular bugbear of mine. Everyone comes at things from their own angle and with their own reserves of knowledge and experience and sometimes they might be a bit misinformed or naive, but there is no need to go out of your way to make a person feel inferior.

Almost as rude as 'Is English your first language?' to a poor poster who made ONE spelling mistake.

I actually work as a professional writer, and make plenty of spelling mistakes here, because more often than not I don't proofread my posts on here - so people might assume I'm foreign!

@ClinkyMonkey you’ve hit the nail exactly on the head. It is pure spite. Nothing to be gained at all from it.

@LindaEllen or conversely “you’re very difficult to understand so no wonder why you’re having a problem at work/communicating with your friend etc - when it’s very clear that English is not their first language.

@SerenDippitty

Saying “you need to educate yourself” to a poster who happens to disagree with you is another example.

It's so patronising! "Now, dear, I know the adult concepts are difficult, but if only you'd just try a bit harder to understand I'm sure you could learn enough to see that we're right."

Saying “you need to educate yourself” to a poster who happens to disagree with you is another example.

But often people do need to educate themselves on issues they are taking a stand on. I’m thinking of posts where people have made wholly false statements about things like racism or disability issues. Those people do need to educate themselves. It’s not a phrase I’d use personally, but I don’t see it as being a lazy debating tactic, it is rarely used as a one liner.

@MintyMabel it is slightly lazy to just say “educated yourself”. Far better to perhaps challenge with facts or at least point them to where this “education” should come from.