NationStates Jolt Archive


Definitions for Debaters

Zendragon
18-05-2006, 05:36
Understanding the vocabulary for the uninitiated and the uninformed so they can be initiated and informed.

I'll begin. Add your own.

ad hominem = 1. appealing to prejudice and emotion rather than to reason.
2. attacking the character or motives, etc. of an opponent rather than debate the issue on logical grounds.


nonce word = a word coined and used for a single or particular occasion or time being.


non sequitur = 1. a conclusion or inference which does not follow from the premises.
2. a remark having no bearing on what was just said.


straw man = 1. a scarecrow
2. a person of little importance; nonentity
3. a weak argument or opposing view set up by a debater so that s/he can attack it and gain an easy, showy victory.
4. a person used to disguise anothers intentions, activities, etc.

All from Webster's New World College Dictionary.