Why don't you just fuck off?

[aroraborealis]

As a rule, any time you are about to start a statement, "Why don't you just ...", you should keep your mouth shut and think more carefully about the topic from the perspective of the person you're talking to. You are almost certainly about to oversimplify in a dismissive and insulting way.

If you are the subject of a "Why don't you just ...", I hereby deputize you to sign the speaker up for a lifetime supply of personal visits from Scientology evangelists.

Comments

[bloodstones.livejournal.com]

Yeah, me too. I was thinking about times when I've used that phrase, and realized that I was typically *actually* curious about the reason why X wouldn't work, not trying to say that X would solve the problem, so it was a way of asking for a better understanding the problem. I also realized that the set of people I would ask this question to are limited to a pretty close circle of friends who are likely to get that nuance.