Have you heard the term passive e-gressive before? I attended a social media session today while at a conference. They said passive e-gressive is being used for those text/posts/tweets/etc. where the tone/intent could go either way.

Have you heard of it? We've all seen passive e-gressiveness, I think, even maybe here on WC.

Not heard of it but it seems to be a straightforward adaptation for the digital age.

I'm not even sure I fully understand passive A-gressive, so maybe that's why the idea of passive E-gressive is confusing to me. Can you explain what you mean a little more, please?

Hey, CW, I was so hoping you'd join us on the chat today...in disguise. Or, maybe you did! We had a guest visitor.

To me passive aggressive means that you really want to be confront someone about something, but you don't have the nerve so you passively say something like, "It's fine; we'll do it your way."

On the other hand, in looking it up online , they talk about people who are passive aggressive sabotaging situations, maybe by "forgetting" to attend a graduation or "procrastinating." Now obviously, people can forget or procrastinate without being passive aggressive.

Therefore passive e-gressive would be when someone didn't say, for example, that people should follow the rules of the discussion board, but instead would leave in a rant about something silly and stupid. We've seen that before, that's for sure. Now...this is my interpretation of it. I couldn't even find passive e-gressive online. Maybe I spelled it wrong because I can't believe it's reported at conferences but not available online.

"Passive aggressive" always looks to me like one of those terms made up to explain why someone is being a bit of a prat.
It's basically when someone doesn't actively oppose you, and denies in fact that they are opposing you at all, but by their lack of cooperation and lack of response try to undermine you anyway.

As I said, being a bit of a prat.

And I assume that "passive e-gressive"* is just doing it online.


(* Or possibly it means leaving the room in a passive manner. See the last but one paragraph of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B...%27s_American_Museum)

Yes, I agree, Bob, and I think that's similar to my explanation, albeit without the word "prat." That's one of those words I don't hear much in the U.S.

Oh phooey - I missed the Halloween chat? When was it? I love that one best!

Well, we didn't have a special Halloween chat as such, CW.We chatted here on Saturday but we didn't arrive in disguise as we have in the past. Although, it must be said a new(?) member "Occupy Wall Street" did join us, and she was suspected of being one of us in disguise.

I love costumed chats, so I am glad I didn't miss anything fun like that. Maybe we can have one for New Year's Eve or something.

I love the costumed chats, too, and I was sorry more didn't show up. People probably celebrate a bit too much on NY's Eve, but maybe April 1st?

Is it not reasonable to think that "e-gressive" would mean "parting shot?" To egress is to leave + pun on "aggressive."

Of course, this is from a prescriptivist who denies that the Earth is not the center of the universe, and only grudgingly accepts that it is nearly spherical.

You know, the funny part is that it was I who spelled it "e-gressive." Plus I couldn't find it online at all. Maybe this speaker was a crock!

You do make a good point, Geoff, prescriptive or not.

quote:

Maybe this speaker was a crock!

He may have been using a nonce-word, or perhaps one that he invented and hopes will catch on.

Well, he said the word was all the rage these days. Yet, I couldn't find anything about it. Hardly a rage!

Here's how Wikipedia defines passive–aggressive behavior:

quote:

Passive–aggressive behavior, a personality trait, is passive, sometimes obstructionist resistance to following through with expectations in interpersonal or occupational situations. It is a personality trait marked by a pervasive pattern of negative attitudes and passive, usually disavowed, resistance in interpersonal or occupational situations.

Passive-Aggressive Personality Disorder (PAPD) was listed in the American Oscyiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as an official mental health disorder, but apparently it no longer is. But we laypersons don't need psychiatrists to diagnose mental health problems. We can do that.

The earliest I could find passive e-gressive was March 30, 2006, on
this blog:

quote:

And that brings me back to my original thought. If I were the passive aggressive type, e-mail would be a tool of empowerment. It would enable me to logjam and bottleneck workflow at every impasse. If I didn’t like the way things were going, I could sit on important e-mails for days. I could drag productivity to a grinding halt by asking pointless, time-consuming questions that would take even longer to answer because all communications were being executed via e-mail. In this way, e-mail as a workplace communications tool is actually COUNTER-productive.

It's clear the e referred to email.

To this person the e referred to egress:

quote:

Word of the Week: PASSIVE-EGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR
Posted on July 21, 2008 by TJ

PASSIVE-EGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR /PASS ihv ee GRESS ihv bee HAYV yer/ noun: The shuffling of newspapers, rummaging through of bags and fidgeting in seats by riders in the window seat as their stop approaches, to subtly indicate to the passenger in the aisle seat that they wish to exit.

Usage: The passive-egressive behavior from the gentleman on my right made it pretty apparent he wanted to exit at Valhalla.

And, on Aug 24, 2009, this person used it as you indicated, to refer to all electronic media.

quote:

And that brings me back to my original thought. If I were the passive aggressive type, e-mail would be a tool of empowerment. It would enable me to logjam and bottleneck workflow at every impasse. If I didn’t like the way things were going, I could sit on important e-mails for days. I could drag productivity to a grinding halt by asking pointless, time-consuming questions that would take even longer to answer because all communications were being executed via e-mail. In this way, e-mail as a workplace communications tool is actually COUNTER-productive.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tinman,

Ah, yes. He just didn't call it passive-e-gressive.