Thin Skin

I'm upset with myself right now. A designer I skewered in a What the Hell is This? post threatened legal action if I did not remove the post. She accused me of libel and slander. I'm not an attorney but I know both of these terms are defined as false statements. I may make mean statements. I may make unflattering statements. But they are not false. If I say, "this thing looks ugly to me," how can that be false? It's critique. It's opinion. There is no true or false. If I say, "this thing is ugly and the designer is a hermaphrodite drug addict," well, then that's libel. But still rather than debate this with someone whose feelings I obviously hurt--and I'm not saying she isn't right to feel hurt--I gave in. The tenacious, angry side of my personality does not like giving in. But the rest of me knows I have much more important things to do than argue.