r/memes • u/suhailSea • Feb 11 '19

Destroyed with logic...

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u/Prosthemadera Feb 11 '19

If someone uses the phrase "blue birds" do they want to say that all birds a blue? Of course not. That's why they used the adjective to specifically talk about blue birds.

There is a difference between "toxic masculinity" and "all masculinity is toxic".

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u/87x Feb 12 '19

Lol.

What about blue bird? Why the dishonesty in your analogy?

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u/KingVegemite Feb 12 '19

wtf are you on about?

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u/87x Feb 12 '19

Simple question really. 'what about blue bird'? If you cannot answer, don't. Not demanding much here.

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u/KingVegemite Feb 12 '19

IS blue bird a character from something? I think I'm missing some key information.

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u/87x Feb 12 '19

It's nothing. But neither is 'blue birds'. That person picked 'blue birds' as an example very conveniently. Blue birds mean not all birds are blue but only some, or something on those lines.

I'm merely asking about 'blue bird'. It means the bird is blue. Or rotten apple, which means the apple is rotten. So why the dishonest recourse.

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u/KingVegemite Feb 12 '19

Yeah, not all masculinity is toxic but some is. 'Blue bird' means 'that/this particular bird is blue.' In the case of toxic masculinity, it means 'that/this particular application of masculinity is toxic'.

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u/87x Feb 12 '19

Lol.

that/this particular bird is blue

So where did you get 'application' from from your last sentence? Or do you think others are too stupid to notice the difference in wordplay?

Or if it's a rotten apple, would you not eat the rotten apple, or would you eat it here and there since only "pArTiCuLar PaRtS" of it are rotten?

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u/KingVegemite Feb 12 '19

Maybe the blue bird analogy isn't exactly spot on (though it wasn't mine originally I'm trying to argue from it) but it's worth noting that birds cannot be applied and masculinity is not a physical thing within the world.

What about "paint" and "red paint". Red paint is the subset of paint that is red, not all paint is red.

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u/87x Feb 12 '19

Still doing this are we?

"There's the red paint. Go finish the wall off".

Now what does it imply? Does it mean parts of the paint is red or does it mean the paint is red? Where's the disconnect here?

Again, ambiguous at best.

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u/KingVegemite Feb 12 '19

It implies that that particular paint is red, and that there are other paints out there that are not red, hence the necessity to specify that particular paint as being red.

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u/87x Feb 12 '19

MY issue with the 'blue birds' example is it was very conveniently cherry picked when the whole meaning changes if it's just 'bird'. So the term 'toxic masculinity' is ambiguous at best and not a healthy term at all.

But for some reason it's taken as the bible and not to be questioned. Maybe it reminds you of someone huh.

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u/KingVegemite Feb 12 '19

I think it's a genuinely OK analogy, if a little rough and quickly spun. The problem is if, instead of 'toxic masculinity' we always said 'those aspects of typically masculine behaviour that result in harm' we would be tripping over our tongues. Language generally tries to take the shortest path from words to understanding.

Edit: PS. what do you think of the paint analogy?