My mother and sister do this thing that drives me nuts. When I try to explain to others what it is, I have to resort to giving a number of examples of it as I don't know what it's called. They all get it from the examples, but I'd really like to know if it has a name. I've been searching the net and that brought me here, so here goes...of course, to tell you, I have to resort to an example, lol.

I.E. if I say I hate the color blue, they will accuse me of criticizing them. They take what I say and then think something like...well if he hates blue then he must hate my blue dresses. And if he hates my blue dresses, he must think I look ghastly in them. How dare he tell me I look ghastly in those blue dresses. And then they ask me "Why are you always criticizing me??? "

another example...I can express an opinion about something not related to either of them, say, comment on a dress in a store window. If I say 'who ever made this has no taste,' and they thought differently, they claim I've criticized them (or vice versa). When, again, I point out that I did not criticize them, they'll say something like "well I liked the dress, so if you thought whoever made it was tasteless, then you think I'm tasteless, too."

Get it? Great, now what's that called?
Doug