--- title: Arguing politely and never calling names — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Arguing politely and never calling names», a lesson of the politics course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: An argument means giving reasons for your view, not a fight: you can disagree with an idea and still be friends with the person --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Politics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/) / Arguing politely and never calling names # Arguing politely and never calling names Lesson 39 of the politics course of Mova's primary school: 16 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/0/) — An argument means giving reasons for your view, not a fight: you can disagree with an idea and still be friends with the person who has it. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/1/) — Think of two mates arguing over which pizza to order: "pineapple's wrong because..." keeps it fun, but "you're stupid" ends dinner, because the moment you insult someone they stop listening and start defending. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/2/) — Strong arguers steelman: they say the other idea back in its best, strongest words before answering it, and they look for common ground, what both sides want. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/3/) — Saying "I don't know yet" and changing your mind after learning more are signs of a thinking person, not a weak one. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/4/) — Families vote different ways for many reasons, a vote can stay private, and calling a whole group "stupid" ignores all those reasons and the nice people in it. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/5/) — Disagreeing about ideas is fine; calling an idea "stupid" makes the other person feel attacked, while "I don't agree, because..." keeps the talk going. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/6/) — Calling people names because of their political views is hurtful and does not change minds; asking "why?" works better. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/7/) — Each party usually thinks it is helping the country, just in different ways, so people often hear only the worst version of the other side. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/8/) — Steelmanning means saying the other person's idea in its strongest, fairest way; strawmanning means making it sound silly so it is easy to knock down. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/9/) — Saying "I don't know yet, I need to learn more" is honest, and it is fine to wait, read and listen before deciding. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/10/) — Changing your mind after learning something new is a sign of a thinking person; "flip-flopper" is an unkind word for changing views often. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/11/) — In many countries voting is secret, and nobody has to say how they or their family voted. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/12/) — When people shout over each other nobody learns anything; good debates let each person finish, then reply. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/13/) — Online arguments heat up fast because people cannot see faces; you can say "I disagree" once, walk away, block, or tell a grown-up if it gets nasty. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/14/) — Finding common ground means starting from what both sides want, and a compromise is a deal where each side gives up a bit. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/16/) — Words in this lesson: "don't have a cow" means calm down; "bruv" in London means mate; "tamping" in Wales means furious; "cwtch" in Wales means a cuddle; "can or not" in Singapore English means "is that OK?" - ← previous: [Protests, petitions and young activists](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/) - next →: [Putting it together: explain each side, check the claim](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/40-putting-it-together/) - ↑ back to [Politics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/)