What phrases or topics immediately shut down your interest in a conversation?

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Stasisesque

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Nov 25, 2008
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dvd_72 said:
Am I the only one who thinks that "am I the only one..." doesn't litterally mean "am I the only one...?" and is actually a way to put an idea out there in an effort to find people who feel as you do?

Because really guys, not everything people say is to be taken literally.
I agree. I've never understood why people get so worked up about questions starting with, "Am I the only one...," and it saddens me that so many then take that to shouting the person down with , "You're not a special snowflake!" I dunno, maybe being a teenager is different now than it was ten years ago, but it's sort of upsetting.
 

Snotnarok

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Nov 17, 2008
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Any comment that tries to absolve guilt or something that they think makes them more knowledgeable about something, as people have said before "I'm not racist but" or "As a mother"

Recently I had a client for a website who insisted on having music on the site, which is one of the top 10 sins of webdesign. Despite saying how no one likes it, it's one of the worst choices her response was
"As someone who makes cakes I feel like I know my customers better and I know they like the attention to detail!"

As a professional W3 certified webmaster, your decision is ill advised and not in the customers best interest. But what do I know about websites?
 

dvd_72

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Jun 7, 2010
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Vegosiux said:
dvd_72 said:
Am I the only one who thinks that "am I the only one..." doesn't litterally mean "am I the only one...?" and is actually a way to put an idea out there in an effort to find people who feel as you do?

Because really guys, not everything people say is to be taken literally.
Am I the only one who thinks that "You're not the only one..." doesn't literally mean "You're not the only one..." and is actually a way to say that just because nobody is the only one, I still don't have to agree with the idea?

Also, yes, that old phrase "want to have your cake and eat it", that just irritates me. I mean, eating is what a cake is for!
You make a good point, until you realise that more often than not the responses of "You're not the only one..." are usually followed by a generally angry post about the person "not being a unique snowflake" or "You're NEVER THE ONLY ONE" while calling them self-entitle pretentious or whatever else hasn't come to mind. It's less the wording of the response I'm fed up with, and more the hate those responses are infused with.
 

AzrealMaximillion

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Jan 20, 2010
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"Why did this happen? This is America...." Sorry, but every time I hear that in the news I cringe. "This is America" doesn't mean that bad things happen everywhere else but.
 

Vegosiux

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May 18, 2011
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dvd_72 said:
Vegosiux said:
dvd_72 said:
Am I the only one who thinks that "am I the only one..." doesn't litterally mean "am I the only one...?" and is actually a way to put an idea out there in an effort to find people who feel as you do?

Because really guys, not everything people say is to be taken literally.
Am I the only one who thinks that "You're not the only one..." doesn't literally mean "You're not the only one..." and is actually a way to say that just because nobody is the only one, I still don't have to agree with the idea?

Also, yes, that old phrase "want to have your cake and eat it", that just irritates me. I mean, eating is what a cake is for!
You make a good point, until you realise that more often than not the responses of "You're not the only one..." are usually followed by a generally angry post about the person "not being a unique snowflake" or "You're NEVER THE ONLY ONE" while calling them self-entitle pretentious or whatever else hasn't come to mind. It's less the wording of the response I'm fed up with, and more the hate those responses are infused with.
Oh, agreed there completely, it's not usually the words themselves that put me off a discussion but the attitude behind them, some people are simply difficult to discuss things with, no doubt. Hell, I'm sometimes difficult to discuss things with ^^
 

xdiesp

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Oct 21, 2007
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Casual xenophobia, dropped by US speakers as part of their normal culture. US-centrism is that trite.
 

vasiD

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Oct 28, 2012
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Sports... Dear god I hate when people talk about sports.

I don't care how well millionaire team X did against millionaire team Y, even if they are your 'rivals'. Sports can be fun to play, and some of them can be fun to watch (Mostly just Hockey and Basketball), but I've never had one interesting conversation about them.
 

Thedutchjelle

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Mar 31, 2009
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People talking about the bedroom-parts of their relationship (some of my friends tend to do this) and talking about females in general.

Conspiracies that are unbelievably stupid

People who start talking about science, especially biology/medicine, without knowing a damn thing about it. Often they're just repeating bullshit they heard before without ever factchecking it.

These three are high in my list of 'I rather just ignore you now and come back in 5 minutes'

Captcha: forget this. Uh.. okay?
 

Uhura

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Aug 30, 2012
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"Feminazi"
"Biodrone"
"Pretentious"
"Whore"
"Fugly" (when used to refer to a person)
Those terms just kill any interest/hope I might have had for the discussion.
 

Shilefin

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Aug 18, 2011
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There's certainly a plenty of those, although I do hide a particular hatered for something that pops up in chats, comment sections and even forums like this one. I believe that discussion, exchanging thoughts, debates, hell, in some cases even just name-calling are good things. They broaden the mind, spark up new ideas, simulate your mental abilities, expose you to other opinions therefore making you more aware and able to reinforce your own views having heard the opposite ones instead of locking yourself out of any other thought than the 'right' one.

With that in mind, the amount of irritation I get out of seeing a phrase like 'Stop arguing, guys, you should just blindly say yes to what you're reading or never comment on anything that even slightly goes out of your minds bounds as to what is right and wrong' is colossal. So often do I see this aggresively-apathic, close-minded behaviour show up. Aside from asking to stop using a medium for its intended purpose and threats of being aggresively told how the person really doesn't care about the discussion going on, this kind of thing also really serves to close minds, which is a thing I really despise.

Granted, it can be appropriate in some cases where the argument is really out of place, but outside that, even if the 'discussion' turns out to be just two jerks are going at it in a Call of Duty match, I say let them have it. Let them shout their minds, say what they want to say, however stupid it may be.
 

Treeinthewoods

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May 14, 2010
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This may already be on the other nine pages, but I personally stop caring or listening to anyone's point the second they refer to a group of people who enjoy something they don't enjoy as sheep.

Oh yeah, you are superior because you don't like Halo/CoD/whatever else. You are superior because you feel the price for something is too high and anyone who has enough disposable income to not care about it must be a stupid flock animal. Hurr hurr durr.
 

Eggsnham

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Apr 29, 2009
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"I'm not racist but..." - Is usually followed by an incredibly racist statement and I usually stop listening at that point.

When people speak like they assume that the entire world follows their method of thinking and then say something that only a tiny percentage of people would actually agree with.

"I blame [insert politician/celebrity/group of people] for [insert complex problem which couldn't possibly be caused by one single person or group of people]."

Actually, I typically lose interest in any given conversation if it involves people being offensive and narrow minded about politics, religion, or social issues.

Though I imagine that's a pretty normal reaction.
 

gideonkain

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Nov 12, 2010
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"Straw man argument"

Pretty much anyone I've ever heard use that phrase thinks every perspective that isn't there's is a straw man argument
 

De Bureau

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Apr 21, 2010
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"I've never heard of it, it must not be important/relevant/interesting."

Look I don't care if you've never heard of Cancer/Kronenbourg/the Taj Mahal, your ignorance does not make something irrelevant. I didn't exit the womb as Baby Socrates either, but pretending things I don't know aren't worth knowing is a poor way of fixing this. Without a doubt my number one.
 

userwhoquitthesite

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Jul 23, 2009
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DarkishFriend said:
"I'm not a racist, but..."

Nothing ever good ever comes after that statement.
"I'm not a racist, but I know many racists, and have been fortunate enough to help many of them see the error of their prejudiced ways"

heeheehee
 

Filiecs

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May 24, 2011
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Usually anything involving random pointless drama, sports, support for violence, or too much pessimism.
 

Angie7F

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Nov 11, 2011
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I thought about an example, but then I realized that I actually am not interested in any kind of topic. I just want to hear myself talk. LOL

But the worst of all if when people start talking about kids. I am sooo not interested in kids.
 

SantoUno

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Aug 13, 2009
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As soon as someone starts to mention some grand conspiracy (i.e. why our votes truly don't matter because _______is secretly running the show), "theories" about what people in government are trying to do to control or manipulate us, and how this and that event has transpired into an entire sequence of events that is secretly going underway under the radar of the American public, I do the same as the OP and go "yah, uhuh, ok" while thinking in my mind "Ok when the fuck can I stop listening to this loon?"

Seriously, I'm not saying that people don't have the right to try and educate themselves about a certain subject that the majority of people might not even know exists, but when it seriously involves crap like what I listed above that is supposedly being kept secret from the masses and only a select few are truly "opening their eyes", it really makes me wonder why some people don't just shut off the part of their brain that makes them paranoid panickers and get a grip on reality already.