OUTRAGISM!!!

Have you ever been misquoted, your intentions judged to be deceitful, even predatory, your reputation damaged because someones take on something you said or did was misquoted or taken out of context?

If so, you have been the subject of an OUTRAGIST (out-rage-ist).

Anyone who talks to someone is at risk of being misquoted and if you offer an opinion they don’t like, that misquote can become outrageously retold. Think of the game telephone when a story starts at one end and passes thru people until it gets to the other end; inevitability the story changes. Now, insert a person who doesn’t like something they heard, finds something insulting or is having a bad day. That person is liable to take the story and insert some outrageous statements, which then becomes “truth” to the next person to hear the story.

This is the origin of the word: OUTRAGISM. Taking something out of context because it fits with a preconceived idea … the intent or context of the original speaker doesn’t matter.

This is the idea behind Scott Adams (Dilbert creator) coining of the word. In keeping with Scott’s humor, I find labeling a situation and taking it to an extreme is humorous.

Not all criticism is outragism. Remember to look behind the statement or complaint to the origin of it and the person or company. Ask yourself: “Is it reasonable or do you think it’s a little dramatized for an OUTRAGIOUS effect?” If so, it may be OUTRAGISM!

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/109482303301/outragists-are-the-new-awful