what is the best response to name calling?

Question

eg. when a person calls another a person a "weirdo" etc.

Answer 1

Every situation is different. Sometimes you have to give people a dose of their own medicine to put them in their place. But remember, you may piss that person off and embarrass that person in front of his peers and he may come back to key your car or something like that. Smart people know how to swallow their pride and mentally block out what people say about them. The guy or girl who called you a name and all his buddies may laugh at you then, but when you see his/her azz on the side of a road, in a courtroom, wants to copy your homework, you know about him/her cheating on his/her spouse, breaking the law, etc, make sure you hang that SOB out to dry! You will be the one who laughs last and the HARDEST. Anyways, those type of people just want a response out of you and if you fall for their childish games, you just let a person who has the mentality of a kid beat you! So what you do is ignore them, and smile so there is a big azz smirk on your face and nod your head side to side like he's got issues. That will put that sob in his place so quick. I promise you he will walk around thinking he's a dumbazz for the rest of the day. You will never know it, but he will. If he says something back to you like, " Aren't you going to say something? Are you retarded or something? Cat got your tongue? Are you that slow?" say to him, " you've got serious issues " and walk off. Don't say anything else. He won't because you just called out his childish personalitiy in front of his friends or you just confirmed what someone else probably said to him, which got him thinking. If he does say something, just chuckle to yourself. It'll eat him up alive! The hardest thing to do is not let it get to you. It's easier said than done, but that's the key. Just do your best to mentally block it out. And remeber, you have people like me who would laugh at his azz and agree with you if I were there. I hope I helped.

Answer 2

Whatever response fits your personality. Perhaps an instant retaliation suits you (eg call them a name in return or say "You're the weirdo!"). This would qualify as "positive punishment" in which the aversive stimuli is applied instantly to decrease the target behavior. Or you could ignore the name calling, hoping to extinct the behavior, yet reinforcement could be coming from others. It sounds like it bothers you so ignoring it is probably not going to work. So I would suggest the instant response of giving them back what they are trying to give you (no more, no less).

Answer 3

The best response, which may include no response, is the one that best fits the situation... at that particular moment. Name calling comes natural to us when we're young and around a bunch of friends. If this is the type of situation you are referring to, and the intention is to have a good comeback rather than avoid "the gang" altogether; then keep in mind that we crave attention while growing-up.

Name calling is a "cheap" way for those of us not gifted with above-average talents or filthy-rich parents, to still gain some type of "notoriety" among our peers. It's not meant to be personal, and if one expects to "hold their own" then one best not take it as such; because this will cause one to become upset which in turn.. prevents one from coming up with "spontaneous" comebacks.

The ability to come up with a witty saying at a moments notice is a talent within its own right. The eye brow raiser is that the talent has less to do with the saying.. and more to do with choosing the appropriate victim/friend to enhance the joke. A friend who is considerate will less likely complain when being used as a pawn for another's cheap thrills. Those who view life through narrow minds will normally see consideration as a weakness in one's character, when it's actually a civil condition best described as.. "being polite".

As someone who once was the "buttt end" of jokes, I was left with two options: Go Ballistic on my friend.. or beat him at his own game; I chose the latter. By paying close attention to the things he joked about, as well as the way he joked about them.. allowed me to practice on various responses aimed at taking his own jokes and turning them back onto him. It soon became apparent that he was becoming "the butt" of his own jokes, courtesy of no one else but himself. And due to this keen perception, we are still the best of friends.

For example, if a friend were to call me a "weirdo", well; first of all.. I "know" what/who I am; and I don't need any help from "anyone" in regards to this.. ya know what I mean? I might even return the stupid statement with one of my own, like say... "maybe it's because i'm around you".. or something to that fact. Not only was it a response, it also did not include any "name calling", so if you're going to respond, respond with "class"; because deep down inside.. you will feel better.. and they will still feel stupid.... I'll leave now... bye.

Answer 4

This really depends on context. You might tell them that name calling is something immature people with lesser IQs would resort to. That intelligent people would have the guts to say what exactly was wrong or point out diplomatically differences. Tell them that there are 6 billion people in the world and there's quite a lot of diversity among this group.

Answer 5

name calling is an attempt to get your goat without too much effort on the part of the person calling the names. If you show even the slightest indication that this persons efforts have indeed upset you, he / she wins. The best defence is to act as if you never heard anything. So put on your best poker face, don't respond, but keep your mind open to cruelly delivered suggestions to help you improve your personality.

Answer 6

I make no guarantees that this will stop name calling but it will shock the person doing the name calling. Read Romans chapter 12 and surrounding passages. Heap hot stone on their head by being nice to your enemy. This sometimes make them angry because they often are looking for a response.

Answer 7

I've been getting called a weirdo my whole life...now I'm in my 30's and it has turned to eccentricity.

Tell anyone who says that about you that at least you aren't blindly following the herd...and that the proper word for it is ECCENTRIC.

...and if they had half a brain cell they would know that.

Answer 8

This really depends on you and your personality. People don't generally call me names, but there are times people will say bad things about me to my face. The response I give them is in a comical voice I say "thank-you". After saying that they are usually surprised and without additional comments. They see that I am not mad and that I am not going to let their words affect me because I consider the source and feel that their opinion is theirs and thats ok.

Answer 9

The best response is to ignore this people who like calling names to other. I experienced this situation that this so called friend of mine called me different names like selfish, vindictive and many other names, my great response to him thank you very much for calling me that because i never heard that one yet.
And I walked away after.

Answer 10

Tell the name caller that you are going to pray for him/her. For some strange reason, people are afraid of that type of response.