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Re:The Maddest My Code Made Anyone by brookst on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @11:08AM (#35976380)
I think it's the semantics of "demand." To me, that connotes a claim of control or power or moral authority.

I have a right to complain that it's raining. And I have the free speech right to say "I demand it stop raining". But I have no right to come to you and demand that you make the rain stop, because that implies a claim on you that I do not have.

Re:The Maddest My Code Made Anyone by _whiteCaps_ on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @05:20PM (#35981393)
Oh boy, that reminded me of a flame war that started when someone wrote in English, "I demand ..." when they were really just _asking_ for further details about something. They woke up the next morning to find a thread dozens of messages long of people arguing back and forth about whether this person was rude or not. Once they explained that French was their native language and how they would write that sentence in French, things eventually calmed down.
Re:The Maddest My Code Made Anyone by brookst on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @07:14PM (#35982431)
I think there's a similar bit in some movie where some character (foreigners? aliens?) keeps using "insist" inappropriately. I insist that it's nice out today. I insist that we go for a walk. I insist that you tell me what time it is.

It's amazing how relatively mild denotational differences can have such wildly different connotations and perceived tones.