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"Argument Clinic" – Monty Python sketch, in which one of the two disputants repeatedly uses only contradictions in his argument Auto-antonym – Word that has two opposing meanings Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Oxymorons are words that communicate contradictions. An oxymoron (plurals: oxymorons and oxymora) is a figure of speech that juxtaposes concepts with opposite meanings within a word or in a phrase that is a self-contradiction. As a rhetorical device, an oxymoron illustrates a point to communicate and reveal a paradox.
Reductio ad absurdum, painting by John Pettie exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1884. In logic, reductio ad absurdum (Latin for "reduction to absurdity"), also known as argumentum ad absurdum (Latin for "argument to absurdity") or apagogical arguments, is the form of argument that attempts to establish a claim by showing that the opposite scenario would lead to absurdity or contradiction.
Colloquialism – a word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation. Common topics – arguments and approaches useful in rhetorical settings. Consubstantiality – substance commonality. Contingency – the contextual circumstances that do not allow an issue to be settled with complete ...
Definitional retreat – changing the meaning of a word when an objection is raised. [23] Often paired with moving the goalposts (see below), as when an argument is challenged using a common definition of a term in the argument, and the arguer presents a different definition of the term and thereby demands different evidence to debunk the argument.
A type of ambiguity resulting from ambiguous grammatical structure, rather than the ambiguity of individual words. analethic logic A three-valued logic where the third truth value is the truth-value gap "neither true nor false" ("N"), and the designated values are "true" and "neither true nor false." [10] analysis 1.
A steel man argument (or steelmanning) is the opposite of a straw man argument. Steelmanning is the practice of applying the rhetorical principle of charity through addressing the strongest form of the other person's argument, even if it is not the one they explicitly presented. Creating the strongest form of the opponent's argument may involve ...
When the antiphrasal use is very common, the word can become an auto-antonym, [3] having opposite meanings depending on context. For example, Spanish dichoso [ 4 ] originally meant "fortunate, blissful" as in tierra dichosa , "fortunate land", but it acquired the ironic and colloquial meaning of "infortunate, bothersome" as in ¡Dichosas moscas ...