Mealy Mouthed Reply
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Part of a series on 2016 Brussels Bombings. [View Related Entries]
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About
"A Mealy Mouthed Reply" is a copypasta meme based on a controversial tweet posted by British Twitter user Matthew Doyle in response to the deadly bombings that occurred in Brussels, Belgium in March 2016. The tweet, which describes the author publicly confronting a Muslim woman about the terrorist attacks, quickly went viral and became widely mocked online for promoting Islamophobia.
Origin
The original tweet, now deleted, was posted by British Twitter user Matthew Doyle, a 46-year-old London-based public relations specialist, in response to the coordinated bombings that took place in Brussels, Belgium on March 22nd, 2016. In the tweet, Doyle recounts an anecdotal story in which the author claims to have "confronted" a random Muslim woman in London and demanded an explanation from her for the Brussels bombings.
"I confronted a Muslim women[sic] yesterday in Croydon. I asked her to explain Brussels. She said “Nothing to do with me”. A mealy mouthed reply."[1]
Definition
According to Wiktionary,[3] "mealy-mouthed" is defined as the following:
"prone to speaking evasively, indirectly, or duplicitously; not forthright."
Spread
The tweet has been widely lambasted as patronizing and insensitive for its pointless harassment of someone unrelated to the bombings, which prompted several snowclones to be posted on Twitter featuring ridiculous non-sequiturs and irrelevant judgements aimed at various groups of people, always ending with the snide signoff, "a mealy mouthed reply". The reaction of the public and Twitter was documented by several British online news outlets, such as the BBC[2], Metro[2] and The Daily Telegraph[4], while The Sun[5] directly referred to the reactions as "a meme" which constitutes "another show of solidarity against ignorance in the wake of the horrific Brussels terror attack which killed 31 and injured hundreds."
Examples
Doyle's Arrest
On the evening of May 23rd, Doyle was arrested by the British police authorities on suspicion of "inciting racial hatred." The news of Doyle's arrest prompted an online debate on the tangential issues of hate speech, freedom of expression and political correctness surrounding the event, with Metro's Harry Readhead asserting in an op-ed article[6] that while Doyle's actions were insensitive and a generalisation of Islamic peoples, the remark in itself does not explicitly constitute hate speech.
Doyle has since expressed some regret and confusion over the situation, stating in an interview with the Daily Telegraph[4]:
"What everyone's got wrong about this is I didn't confront the woman. I just said: 'Excuse me, can I ask what you thought about the incident in Brussels? I'm not some far-right merchant, I'm not a mouthpiece for any kind of racism or radicalism. If I was xenophobic I wouldn't live in London."[4]
Search Interest
External References
[1] Metro – Mealy-mouthed Islamophobic tweet becomes a meme of mockery
[2] BBC – Man arrested over 'mealy mouthed' Brussels tweet
[3] Wiktionary – Mealy-Mouthed
[4] Daily Telegraph – Croydon man arrested after confronting Muslim and telling her to 'Explain Brussels'
[5] The Sun – Fury as Man Challenges Muslim Woman
[6] Metro – Mock the Man Behind the Mealy Mouthed Tweet but Don't Arrest Him
[7] The Huffington Post – Matthew P Doyle’s ‘Mealy Mouthed Reply’ Tweet About Croydon Muslim Woman Prompts Twitter Backlash
[8] BuzzFeed – Man Who Said He Asked A Muslim Woman To Explain Brussels Reportedly Arrested
[9] Daily Mail – Talent agency boss who 'confronted a Muslim woman in London and asked her to explain Brussels' is ARRESTED for 'inciting racial hatred'
[10] Independent – Brussels attacks: Croydon man arrested after tweet asking Muslim woman to 'explain' Brussels
[11] The Guardian – Man who confronted Muslim woman to 'explain' Brussels attacks arrested
[12] SkyNews – Man Arrested For 'Explain Brussels' Tweet
[13] Mirror – Man arrested after posting controversial tweet about Brussels terror attack is taken to hospital
[14] Mic – London Man Who Asked Muslim Woman to "Explain" Brussels Terror Attacks Arrested
[15] Mashable – Londoner who tweeted about asking a Muslim woman to explain Brussels is arrested
[16] The Verge – UK man arrested for posting anti-Muslim tweets after Brussels attacks
[17] Twitter – Search Results for 'Mealy-Mouthed Reply
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