When I was in college there was a big debate on campus about some guy who had offended someone on some minor level but the guy went ballistic which triggered a major reaction from the other, etc. I don't recall much now about any of it except the Dean found the one student had "over-reacted" and the other had an "over-reaction to the over-reaction."

At the time many of us laughed at the phrasing and found it "stupid." As the years have passed I find it seems to be the norm of world diplomacy, especially in the flashpoint areas like the middle east. The politico threads here are more like that all the time too.........take this thread for instance from the very first post. The reaction here is pretty mild but still there and building.

Spaw