Is it illegal to encourage someone to fight you?

Question

If someone pisses you off, can it be illegal to tell them to fight you?

Answer 1

There are two concepts that might apply here: incitement and fighting words. And the answer is: Yes, simply encouraging someone to fight can be found to constitute a number of crimes, whose flavor varies by jurisdiction but which commonly go by terms like "disturbing the peace" or "disorderly conduct." The specific behavior may also support charges like "menacing," "assault," or "terroristic threats."