Rule of conflict: try never be the first to make a legible move at a new escalation level. Otherwise you’ll lose the “who started it” optics battle. Increasingly that’s most of the battle.
Doesn’t work well against illegible salami provocation tactics though. Whenever you react it will look like overreaction. Children, pets, and abusive groomers like Trump are naturals at this.
Accumulating small provocations that don’t fit a fixed pattern (so you can’t say “three strikes and you’re out”) none of which is individually severe enough to merit a response.
Ah, sure. Children and pets have the additional advantage that the differential in capability and authority makes any escalation by an adult human seem inherently disproportionate.