The Dance of Connection: How to Talk to Someone When You're Mad, Hurt, Scared, Frustrated, Insulted, Betrayed, or Desperate

by Harriet Lerner

HORSEMAN 2: CONTEMPT Contempt can be conveyed in many forms, including name-calling, sneering, eye-rolling, mockery, hostile humor, sarcasm, cynicism—any nasty or mean-spirited attempt to put the other person down. For example, she complains that he’s late for dinner, and he says, “What are you going to do, sue me?”