Should I tolerate this…?
So I am having a bit of an issue with the bad usage of the word tolerant[1]. It is typically when someone wants to show they are an enlightened and well-rounded individual who perhaps will not accept a certain behaviour. So they state this:
“We must become less tolerant”
Well, no. You’re not becoming less tolerant of something, you are becoming intolerant. The word already exists for you. You may “tolerate” or “not tolerate” there is not a quantifiable state of more than/greater than or less than in tolerance. You either are, or you are not. It is that simple.
Stop trying to sound reasonable as you don’t want to be seen as a bigot, it is fair enough not to want to be seen as a bigot, being intolerant of one thing doesn’t make you so. You have to be intolerant of everything to be a bigot. You are, though, being objectionable, stop using a passive approach to attempt to look like you are not. It isn’t reasonable. It is just wrong to pretend, be a vertebrate and responsible for your attitudes.
Whether it is political, sexual, religious, philosophical or simply not liking someones behaviour it doesn’t matter. You are allowed your opinion and feelings. But don’t claim that it is a lessening of your overall magnanimity, it is an intolerance, not a lowering of your general overall brilliant tolerance.
Some reference to help:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tolerate
“tol·er·ate
/ˈtɒləˌreɪt/ Show Spelled[tol-uh-reyt]
–verb (used with object), -at·ed, -at·ing.
1. to allow the existence, presence, practice, or act of without prohibition or hindrance; permit.
2. to endure without repugnance; put up with: I can tolerate laziness, but not incompetence.
3. Medicine/Medical . to endure or resist the action of (a drug, poison, etc.).
4. Obsolete . to experience, undergo, or sustain, as pain or hardship.”
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/intolerant
“in·tol·er·ant
/ɪnˈtɒlərənt/ Show Spelled[in-tol-er-uhnt]
–adjective
1. not tolerating or respecting beliefs, opinions, usages, manners, etc., different from one’s own, as in political or religious matters; bigoted.
2. unable or unwilling to tolerate or endure (usually followed by of ): intolerant of very hot weather.”
[1] There is an argument that I am wrong about this being bad usage as there is a culture of, and prior usage of, it in this manner.
Tolerate doesn’t mean the same thing as tolerant. I think you may be getting the two muddled.
The dress code “Employees must wear clothes in the office” is a more tolerant code than the null dress code, and more tolerant than “Employees must wear suits, ties and white penises to work here”. Tolerance is perfectly comfortable as a continuum. Obviously “must wear clothes” is intolerant where nudity is concerned, but will tolerate every other mode of dress and is, therefore a highly tolerant dress code.
So a community can become less tolerant by refusing to tolerate, say, casually fattist language. If you want to abuse someone as a fat fuck, then you may feel that the community is intolerant, where denigration of obesity is concerned, you’d be dead right. But you’d be an idiot for assuming that said community is more generally intolerant.
Thanks Piers for the reasoned response. i guess it is the attitude that riles me and makes me assume they are actually being a little intolerant and trying to disguise this in the manner of their prose. I could be entirely wrong and unfairly chastising them however and people are free to tell me that
.
I am still not totally happy with the usage of tolerant/tolerate in a quantifiable manner but it is fair usage and certainly your example gives a good grounding to this. I should have also included this reference:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tolerant
tol·er·ant
/ˈtɒlərənt/ Show Spelled[tol-er-uhnt] Show IPA
–adjective
1. inclined or disposed to tolerate; showing tolerance; forbearing: tolerant of errors.
I still would state however that a refusal of something is an intolerance of that, but it would be stupid to say that they were generally intolerant (which would make them bigots) as you point out, I wasn’t trying to indicate that in my rant, I was hoping to make people express themselves clearly, this may be confrontational but at least it would feel more honest to me.