T1B

I frequently hear TVO and BSmack using that expression as a means of denigrating/discounting their opponent's argument.

"Nice strawman argument, fuckstain. Try again."

Gotta fess up here, I don't know what that expression means. What's its derivation?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawman


Straw man

(Redirected from Strawman)


This article is about the logical fallacy. For other uses of the term, see Straw man (disambiguation).

A straw man argument is a rhetorical technique based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position. To "set up a straw man" or "set up a straw-man argument" is to create a position that is easy to refute, then attribute that position to the opponent. A straw-man argument can be a successful rhetorical technique (that is, it may succeed in persuading people) but it is in fact misleading, since the argument actually presented by the opponent has not been refuted.

Its name is derived from the use of straw men in combat training (see [1]). It is occasionally called a straw dog fallacy [2] or a scarecrow argument.

Okay, it's creating a statement or argument that's easy to refute and then attributing that argument to one's opponent.

Putting words into their mouth, basically, words which then provide you with a big fat softball to knock out of the park.

Thanks, TTB. I hate when I'm not in the loop about shit like that. :-)

what about the _______ argument?

Join us next week as TTB googles "bugbear" for Van!

PSUFAN wrote:Join us next week as TTB googles "bugbear" for Van!

Nice Red Herring PSU.



:D

PSUFAN wrote:Join us next week as TTB googles "bugbear" for Van!

...bwahahaha

PSUFAN wrote:Join us next week as TTB googles "bugbear" for Van!

Should I google how to wipe your ass properly while I'm at it? I'm sure you could stand to learn a few things.

nice strawman argument.

PSUFAN wrote:nice strawman argument.

Reductio Ad Absurdum :?