Yeah, I disagree with the saying “respect is earned, not given”. But that’s because I define respect as treating others like a person and with dignity.
Therefore, I believe respect should be given, and not earned.
I think that aphorism is about authority-respect rather than basic-human-decency-respect.
This thread makes me wonder how much contemporary American English is to blame for people being able to exploit ambiguities surreptitiously. Dog whistles have to start somewhere, they don’t seem to be prearranged.
Words don’t have meaning any more, or they mean whatever you want them to mean as long as you can use them to pummel the opposition, because that’s all that really matters. It’s the style of the time.
Yeah, I disagree with the saying “respect is earned, not given”. But that’s because I define respect as treating others like a person and with dignity.
Therefore, I believe respect should be given, and not earned.
I think that aphorism is about authority-respect rather than basic-human-decency-respect.
This thread makes me wonder how much contemporary American English is to blame for people being able to exploit ambiguities surreptitiously. Dog whistles have to start somewhere, they don’t seem to be prearranged.
Words don’t have meaning any more, or they mean whatever you want them to mean as long as you can use them to pummel the opposition, because that’s all that really matters. It’s the style of the time.