Originally Posted by
jivecat
You're just too nice, Gamebird!
I think the idea is that Gerry's insinuating that Frodo's a rubbish dancer so meeting up personally would give the chance to lock horns, circle each other like rutting stags and settle the matter for once and all.
Also, by casting unproveable doubt on Frodo's dancing ability he is absolved from the need to answer Frodo's arguments by force of written reason alone. It's a Classic Forum Technique - I've seen it used on other dance forums also - and is of course pretty much unanswerable without (at the very least) video evidence, or maybe a handwritten personal reference from Lily Barker. That's why it's a very effective undermining technique but also, IMO, below the belt. The last refuge of anyone losing in a discussion is to get personal so although Gerry's got a lot of good points to make, overall it weakens his argument.
Having said that, I've sometimes been surprised by someone sounding very authoritative on a forum turning out to be a mediocre dancer. But we all need to make allowances and adjustments for that when reading posts, challenging people to duels is just soooo 18th Century.
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