What are some more locker talk nonsense that needs to be debunked? (P&R)

Yeah, that’s lowkey the dumbest argument I’ve heard in this whole thing, that Floyd was lying about not being able to breathe, as if “I can’t breathe” should be a lesson in biology, that you have to be dead in order to say it “accurately” and that it’s not something that people say when they feel any kind of restriction in their breathing.

It’s like the sentence “I’m not here”. On a technical semantic level the sentence is nonsense. You never aren’t where you are. But we all know what is meant when people say it.

@Demosthenes What does “I’m not here” mean? I don’t get it.

@Demosthenes What I mean is that “here” is a deictic referring to the speaker’s location. “Here” is where you are. So if someone says “I’m not here”, they’re saying they’re not where they are, which makes no sense. You’re always where you are. That’s interpreting it at the most literal level, though (which is why I compare it to “I can’t breathe”, which is interpreted by some to mean “no air is in my lungs” which would, of course, make it impossible to say “I can’t breathe” as speaking is impossible without air) but on a non-literal level we understand when someone says “I’m not here” they mean “I’m not available right now” or something along those lines just as when someone says “I can’t breathe” they don’t literally mean their breathing has ceased entirely, they mean it’s difficult and it’s being restricted.

@Demosthenes I had to fight between breaths to say that “I can’t breathe”. Maybe the phrase can be “its hard for me to breathe”, might work, but is to wordy for the few seconds of breath.

@RedDeer Especially since Covid affects your respiratory system and at this point in time more than ever, that should be a consideration.

Locker room talk is usually sexual in nature….