‘Sealioning’ is the word that sums up why Twitter discussion is so unbearable
This neologism on Merriam-Webster’s checklist of phrases to observe aptly describes the frustration of conversing on-line
Over the a long time, comics strips have birthed various phrases that turned a part of widespread speech. Think about “brainiac,” believed to have its genesis within the identify of the hyper-smart alien and Superman adversary who debuted in 1958. Or “milquetoast,” based mostly on the submissive character Caspar Milquetoast within the strip The Timid Soul, which first appeared in 1924.
And now comes “sealioning,” a noun on Merriam-Webster’s “Phrases We’re Watching” checklist and outlined as “a harassment tactic by which a participant in a debate or on-line dialogue pesters the opposite participant with disingenuous questions below the guise of sincerity, hoping to erode the persistence or goodwill of the goal to the purpose the place they seem unreasonable.”
The phrase was coined after David Malki, who creates the comedian Wondermark, produced a strip by which a girl disparages sea lions. Instantly, one of many marine mammals approaches her, saying, “I’m simply curious when you’ve got any sources to again up your opinion” and occurring to declare, “Are you unable to defend the statements you make? Or just unwilling to have a reasoned dialogue?” The strip concludes with the ocean lion insisting, “Very effectively, we will resume in a single hour.”
“Pardon me, I could not assist however overhear…” // Wondermark #1062; The Horrible Sea Lion http://t.co/mow0vnmWSS pic.twitter.com/7gByjQ4mAD
— Wondermark Comics (@wondermarkfeed) September 19, 2014
The comedian went viral. Information web site indy100 from the British newspaper the Impartial proclaimed, “This comedian is probably the most apt description of Twitter you’ll ever see.” Malki appears to have blended emotions about having conceived the meme: “I didn’t got down to coin a phrase. I simply needed to make a remark,” he says. “The core of what I got down to criticize is simply the notion that any random affected person stranger ought to really feel entitled to as a lot of somebody’s consideration as they need.”
This text seems in print within the November 2021 concern of Maclean’s journal with the headline, “Sealioning.” Subscribe to the month-to-month print journal here.
