I've noticed this trend a lot over the last several years, and it never made sense to me. If you can stand it without losing your sanity, watch cable news. It doesn't matter which of the 5 oligopoly controlled media outlets you watch (pretty much the entire "mainstream media" is controlled by one of five large companies).
Chances are, within seconds, you'll hear a talking (air)head say the words "I would argue..." followed by exactly what he is arguing.
I was talking about this with a friend yesterday, and we agreed this is passive-aggressive behavior. This is someone who wants to make a statement, but is afraid of somehow angering or offending other people. So the statement is cloaked in the passive-aggressive and pretentious wrapper of cowardice.
We then degenerated into him saying "Well, I would argue that this is passive aggressive and pretentious" and me saying "Because I have a pair, I AM arguing that it is passive-aggressive and pretentious". We got a bit of mileage out of that one.
This goes back into my parroting theory, that people often repeat things they've heard without giving much if any thought to what they are saying. Because I am The Stand-Up Philosopher, I do give thought periodically to what I am saying. And because I actually have a pair, I AM arguing that the "I would argue" verbal affectation is just as pretentious as the dreaded "Question Talker".
Chances are, within seconds, you'll hear a talking (air)head say the words "I would argue..." followed by exactly what he is arguing.
I was talking about this with a friend yesterday, and we agreed this is passive-aggressive behavior. This is someone who wants to make a statement, but is afraid of somehow angering or offending other people. So the statement is cloaked in the passive-aggressive and pretentious wrapper of cowardice.
We then degenerated into him saying "Well, I would argue that this is passive aggressive and pretentious" and me saying "Because I have a pair, I AM arguing that it is passive-aggressive and pretentious". We got a bit of mileage out of that one.
This goes back into my parroting theory, that people often repeat things they've heard without giving much if any thought to what they are saying. Because I am The Stand-Up Philosopher, I do give thought periodically to what I am saying. And because I actually have a pair, I AM arguing that the "I would argue" verbal affectation is just as pretentious as the dreaded "Question Talker".
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