When I get into an argument I generally could get something out of Shakespeare which I could put on an opponent to his disadvantage. He has helped me out of many a tight place.
A debate is a very specific kind of performance.
In Don Mills in the Sixties, nothing comes close to the humiliation of losing an argument. In our weird little creative circle, no one cares who has faster fists, but to lose an argument suggests inferior intelligence.
As far as talking, I'm a pretty competitive dude.
I wouldn't want to debate me every day.
I'm very competitive about puns.
As if he was beating me to the punch, his words living forever, while I was left speechless, no rebuttal, no words left to say.
Monopoly may also end in tears, but its tensions are cruder, lacking the infinitely subtle shadings of irritation and acrimony provided by Scrabble.
