tone police

English

Verb

tone police (third-person singular simple present tone polices, present participle tone policing, simple past and past participle tone policed)

1. (slang, derogatory) To complain about the tone of one or more participants in a debate or discussion, especially one perceived as heated, disrespectful, etc.
   • 2017, Fobazi M. Ettarh, “Equality is not Pie; Libraries and the Insidiousness of Subtle Racism”, in fobaziettarh.com‎^[1]:

     Many white women will tone police, dominate conversation, and then when challenged follow the following playbook […]

Related terms

• tone policing

Translations

to complain about the tone of discussion participants

• Japanese: トーン・ポリース