It just seemed like an outright lie and I guess it is.
It's a generic rhetorical flourish, those often come with a bit of hyperbole, aren't universally applicable, etc. That's a normal thing that happens when people have normal conversations, especially if they're a little worked up. It's this cliché, without the iambic pentameter
If you find something someone's said unclear, you're better off just asking instead of smacking them with a wikipedia link and then calling them a liar, though.
You’re arguing it’s a rhetorical misstep and at the same time suggesting it need not be called out. Huge pet peeve of mine is when these little flourishes derail an entire discussion because they aren’t really true but get the sympathetic individuals involved all riled up. If the device isn’t positively contributing it should be identified and dismissed.
It only 'derails' anything if someone decides to pedantidunk on it. That's not conversation. The occasional flight of verbal fancy is, though. 'Calling out' completely mundane things about other people's comments demolishes forums which is why the site docs and zillions of mod comments exhort you not to do it.
It's a generic rhetorical flourish, those often come with a bit of hyperbole, aren't universally applicable, etc. That's a normal thing that happens when people have normal conversations, especially if they're a little worked up. It's this cliché, without the iambic pentameter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_lady_doth_protest_too_much...
If you find something someone's said unclear, you're better off just asking instead of smacking them with a wikipedia link and then calling them a liar, though.