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Culture War Roundup for the week of June 10, 2024

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...Blaming it all on other people who read it exactly like he wanted them to...

Kinda low, no?

Your friend annoys you so you call her a whore in front of your other mutual friend, exaggerating some relatively tame story in the process, expecting that this will remain a minor anecdote that will do no real harm to her reputation. Then said mutual friend decides for her own purposes to spread this news far and wide, without any context, with some embellishments (you said she fucked her boyfriend in a club bathroom, the rumor is now that she does this with many men all the time) and then your friend calls you crying telling you you ruined her life and you’re evil.

Change the scenario and most people have been in some version of this situation.

exaggerating some relatively tame story in the process, expecting that this will remain a minor anecdote that will do no real harm to her reputation

I feel a certain tension between deliberately making the story more salacious, and expecting it to do no real damage.

In any case "feeling bad" and making amends by blaming the mutual still seems pretty low to me.