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

[Mr Binary]

It's usually a phrase which starts with something like "As a ___" or "I'm not ____, but..." Those usually shut down all of the interest for me. Stuff regarding relationships as well; I really don't care about anything having to do with relationships and I hate hearing about them.

 

[averydeeadaccount]

I have 0 tolerence for racism of any kind .

I simply cannot tolerate people who don't tolerate the intolerant.

On a more serious note, people who say 'football'. Whenever someone says football it irritates me to no end because people who play rugby think rugby is called football and soccer is called soccer, while people who play soccer think soccer is called football and rugby is called rugby.
Why not call them rugby and soccer so we can all stop having stupid arguments?

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

I just can't get involved in sexism in video games threads at all. I see ridiculous stereotypes on both sides of the isle. And if I cant be arsed about it happening to male characters then I cant be arsed about it happening to female characters either. Plus, just don't buy those games, if it bothers you that much. Plenty of games with gender parity out there already for you to support.

Your friend is the exact reason i don't associate myself with most black males, they make us look bad . Yes , us ... ...I hope you friend ends up where black males "stereotipically" end up . Shot or in jail .

So basically you hate a person just because of their music/food choices combined with their skin color; so much so that you want them to die? Wow you're totally not a bigot at all.

 

[Sharp Blue]

You should play (Insert game here) I think you would like it, People always sound so pompous when they say it. I will admit that it is fun though when I get to ask them how they beat some tough enemy or whether they thought the game was better on hard or was it better set up for medium, I like seeing their crestfallen look as they realize I am better at what is usually their current favorite game.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

I pretty much tune out when born again christians start talking about science or social policy.



I've never heard an argument from these people that didn't boil down to. "According to the book of fairy tales my imaginary friend wrote..."

 

[Easton Dark]

Sports.

I don't want to talk about American Football or rest of the world Football. Or basketball. Especially not baseball or hockey. Leave me alone.

 

[Sandjube]

So, why are you a vegetarian/what's your view on religion/politics/why haven't you got your license yet/what are you doing at uni etc. Basically I just don't like discussing my personal life, pretty much.

 

[someonehairy-ish]

People who say 'football'. Whenever someone says football it irritates me to no end because people who play rugby think rugby is called football and soccer is called soccer, while people who play soccer think soccer is called football and rugby is called rugby.
Why not call them rugby and soccer so we can all stop having stupid arguments?

Hang on, what? As far as I know, it works like this:
American English vs British English
Football = American Football
Soccer = Football
Rugby = Rugby

Unless... is it a thing to call American football rugby now? I have literally never heard of anybody refer to either kind of football as rugby, or vice-versa.

 

[Slayer_2]

Actors as actors and not celebrities are an interesting subject for me. Don't you like to discuss why you think x is a better actor fit for a certnain role than z guy?

Yes, that's my favorite topic to discuss, I always perk up when it comes up

 

[averydeeadaccount]

People who say 'football'. Whenever someone says football it irritates me to no end because people who play rugby think rugby is called football and soccer is called soccer, while people who play soccer think soccer is called football and rugby is called rugby.
Why not call them rugby and soccer so we can all stop having stupid arguments?

Hang on, what? As far as I know, it works like this:
American English vs British English
Football = American Football
Soccer = Football
Rugby = Rugby

Unless... is it a thing to call American football rugby now? I have literally never heard of anybody refer to either kind of football as rugby, or vice-versa.

I live in Australia, so it might be different to where you are, but here Australia's version of rugby is called Australian Football, American Football is called Rugby, Rugby is called Football, soccer is called Football, footsal is called soccer, color is called colour, cookies are called biscuits, and immigrants are called boat people.

 

[Draken Steel]

Time travel and halo

Always been annoyed by the various time travel things, especially when they dont really seem to follow their own rules, or the rules are just.....odd. In general stuff involving it just isnt worth the effort of bothering with to me. heard looper is fantastic but still havnt bothered with it yet cuz time travel jsut turns me off so much.

halo....idk i had some interest in it, but tried halo 2, and wile i kidna liked the arbiter and elites, i hated everything else about it, it just felt horribly bland as boring to me. Not really sure why i dislike even the story so much, but i just never got into it at all. So yea, its a popular series, lots of people including some of my friends are big fans of it, but I lose almost all interest whenever it comes up. Personally, i prefer ads shooters (mw2 prolly my fav), if i do play one more like halo....vastly prefer unreal tournament.

 

[Gormech]

Anything in which the orater has to say something to make their position seem to hold more weight before giving me any facts/logic to begin working with for that conclusion.

 

[omicron1]

Opinion articulated as fact.

This pretty much sums up political discussions; it means "I won't let you argue these points with me, so if your disagreement with me is based on something I think is fact, tough cookies. Fight on my turf."

 

[DrBonBon]

Any conversation, minus the historical ones, where someone comes out with the "Hitler and the nazis" argument. Why not change it to something else for a change? Stalin and the soviets? Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge?

 

[Kargathia]

"These people", or any variants thereof tends to do the trick - it generally prefaces a statement devoid of any basic empathy or cultural understanding.

Cars, and relationships will also work in a pinch.

 

[Mikeyfell]

Happy birthday! Fuck off, you have one too it's not special.

Also 90% of sports talk. I like talking about sports theory, or the rules of sports, but I couldn't give a shit about players and coaches and injuries and salaries and I'm boring my self by listing all the stuff I don't want to hear about. Just shut up and watch Football, Handegg, what ever. I don't care about your Super Bowl, or your Packers, or your late draft coaching change. Just shut up!

"
"As a random asshole"

I'm going to start every conversation like that from now on.

 

[Deshin]

Most of the things being discussed here such as "With all due respect" and "No offence" are just polite formalities to show no outstanding hostility before bringing up a valid point of critisicm. When a friend says to someone "No offence dude but you've been drinking a lot lately, is everything ok?" it's being critical while at the same time being polite about it. Even the racism and the "as a *insert thing here" are all just polite ways of starting a conversation.

Even the "as a mother" part is just defusing a potential argument by bringing it to the forefront that the next part is from a specific point of view and should be viewed in context. That's all those do, add context to a conversation to stop people going "well that's stupid" followed by a lengthy explanation about why that viewpoint would come about.

You guys really get pissed off at people being polite and bringing up important context that would be relevant to the conversation? Sheesh...

 

[phyrexian]

My brain also shuts down when people start talking about politics, and there was a lot of that this week past. My care-o-meter was stuck at -30. Anyway, the phrases that really stick out and ruin a conversation for me are;

"ALL rich people..."
"ALL men..."
"ALL women..."

And then there's the complete opposite of that;

"Am I the only ONE..."
"I'm probably ONE of a few..."

Not ALL people are the same, and no ONE person is that special. I hear things like this constantly, and it makes me sad.