Yeah, television doesn't really mean much to Nida, so that didn't help all that much with his point. And to turn heated debate and insult into an art form, Nida would have had to, you know, have lasting interactions with people in the past. Which wasn't really a thing.

"There's nothing I, or I expect anyone, could say to your injury that you may not have considered turning on yourself in the past. Or which would not have been used against you. Besides, aiming for something like that only serves to show that you can't come up with something better. Something more personal. Insults are like compliments. Going for the obvious leaves no lasting marks unless the person has been bludgeoned with it so much that they just assume they will receive the comment."

Basic instruction, really. People fluster better when you tailor things a bit more deeply to who they are.