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Is there a particular word or phrase for this scenario:

  1. Person A poses Person B with a "pick one side" question.
  2. Person B answers with he/she honest opinion
  3. Person A criticizes Person B for the side he/she chose.
  4. Person B defends his/her position while Person A continues to criticize.
  5. Person B finally flips the question on Person A.
  6. Person A replies that he/she does not have any ties to either side of the argument and walks away from the conversation.
  7. Person B is left emotional and confused on the argument that just occurred.

Specifically, is there a philosophy category for this (ex. logical fallacies, ad hominem, etc.)?

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  • I feel like there's a story here... :)
    – dwjohnston
    May 12, 2014 at 23:18
  • 4
    Languages have terms for many things, but it’s rare that a concept that takes four lines of text to describe in great detail has a single-word name. I highly doubt there is a term for this. May 12, 2014 at 23:29
  • My younger cousin was asked the "Team Edward or Team Jacob" question by her classmate who hates Twilight.
    – sparkledot
    May 12, 2014 at 23:30
  • I'd call that person an ass.
    – Octopus
    May 12, 2014 at 23:48
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    If you're looking the name of an argument, you might have luck at philosophy.SE.
    – dwjohnston
    May 13, 2014 at 3:48

1 Answer 1

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A troll? While commonly used to a term for people acting as to illicit an emotional reaction on the internet, I think it can also apply to real life.

From Wikipedia:

In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

Other similar terms are:

provocateur, antagoniser

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