Why do law students act like they deserve disrespect?

[Chris Laurel]

You're a fool.  Respect should be automatically given, and disrespect earned.  Otherwise our society would be unworkable.  Who wants to live in a country where we have to prove we are worthy of respect?  Not me.  Are we supposed to carry around credentials with us, or something?  Maybe we can all start wearing military clothing so we know our rank in society, and who we need to respect, and who we can disrespect.

Anyone who says respect must be earned has a value system worthy of derision.  They are the jerks you come across everyday and say, "Jeez, can people really be that way?"

[arrogantbastardofahunk]

Why do law students act like they deserve disrespect?

Because they do not quite get that disrespect is earned and it does not come with posing like you deserve it!

[Chris Laurel]

By the way, when did "disrespect" become a verb?[/font][/b]

Your value system is worthy of derision.  If you wore a sign, it would probably say "bitter old man left behind in the times."    Although maybe somebody with a Granddaddy fetish might hang a sign around your neck that read "Arrogant Hunk Bastard."  You can always dream....

I don't know the history of when disrespect became a verb, but I know every on-line dictionary, including Princeton's, considers it one.  But I guess that's not good enough for an old sawhorse like yourself, eh?

Noun

    * S: (n) disrespect, discourtesy (an expression of lack of respect)
    * S: (n) disrespect (a disrespectful mental attitude)
    * S: (n) contempt, disrespect (a manner that is generally disrespectful and contemptuous)

Verb

    * S: (v) disrespect (show a lack of respect for)
    * S: (v) disrespect, disesteem (have little or no respect for; hold in contempt)

[Bobo]

Respect is definitely earned.  Like a reputation, it is something that is built up over time and one has to prove that they are worthy of it.  Courtesy is something that is automatically given. 

[jacy85]

bobo, your point is one that Chris doesn't seem to understand. Common courtesy is due everyone, no matter what, and that's what the world in general is lacking.  Respect must be earned, and once lost, is almost impossible to replace.  Chris seems to feel like being respected by everyone is his god-given right, and he apparently believes that posting articles and messages on this board will help everyone see how he's been slighted.

[aloha737pilot]

Cambridge Dictionary makes no mention of a verb form of disrespect. Oxford is careful to point out that the informal use of disrespect as a verb is chiefly in North America. I believe it comes from the ebonics word "dis". I don't have respect for anyone who uses disrespect as a verb.

[jjason]

My two cents only...

Common courtesy? Sure. Respect MUST be earned? Questionable. But as a buddhist and in my daily affirmations, I hold essentially an attitude of respect and reverence towards my fellow men. Buddhism transformed the idea of respect and obedience into a universal morality which protects the weak from the strong, which provides common models, standards, and rules, and which safeguards the growth of the individual. It is what makes liberty and equality effective.

I think that the idea of respect has been bastardized in today's culture. Machoism and popular culture are in part to blame. To me, respect is a courteous attitude of admiration or esteem for another. I can not possibly know everything there is to know about another human being - but I am certain they have endured tribulations, pain, suffering, but also have prevailed in personal matters and thrive for the common goal of happiness. To me, that is enough to respect my fellow man until their actions toward me give me reason to no longer have that respect. it is a mental attitude that I derive benefit from, as well as an action that nurtures tolerance, self-respect, esteem, and harmony.

[eray01]

Cambridge Dictionary makes no mention of a verb form of disrespect. Oxford is careful to point out that the informal use of disrespect as a verb is chiefly in North America. I believe it comes from the ebonics word "dis". I don't have respect for anyone who uses disrespect as a verb.

So, if I said, "don't disrespect me," I wouldn't be using disrespect as a verb?

[BigPimpinBU]

what a perfectly stupid thing to argue about. colloquial usage often deviates from orthodoxy and eventually supersedes it... yatta yatta... anyway, wasn't this thread about how miserable laurel is? 

[eray01]

colloquial usage often deviates from orthodoxy and eventually supersedes it...

Good point. I often wonder if the rampant use of the word "like" will eventually become accepted in english grammar. "Like" is the new "um."