Pooh-pooh

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To pooh-pooh an argument is to dismiss it as being unworthy of serious consideration. It is an informal fallacy. [1]

Scholars generally characterize the fallacy as a rhetorical device in which the speaker ridicules an argument without responding to the substance of the argument. [2]

Some authors have also described the fallacy as the act of "ridicul[ing]" an argument as though it were "a myth", [3] and some characterize it as the act of dismissing an argument "with insults without responding to its substance in any way". [2] Other authors describe the fallacy as the act of dismissing an argument "with the wave of a hand". [4] Some sources also suggest the fallacy is an expression that involves "sneer[ing]", [4] "ridicule", [1] or "malicious comments about the proponent of the argument". [2] Some authors also suggest the term originated as a "representation of the act of spitting in sign of contemptuous rejection". [5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Munson, Ronald; Black, Andrew (2016). The Elements of Reasoning. Cengage Learning. p. 257. ISBN   1305886836.
  2. 1 2 3 Virginia Tech Intellectual Prop. (1999). Language and Logic. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. p. 119. ISBN   0787262439.
  3. ↑ Dwight, Joyce Ingle (1976). Is It Really So?: A Guide to Clear Thinking. Westminster Press. p. 115. ISBN   0664247830.
  4. 1 2 Stanley, Maurice (2002). Logic and Controversy. Wadsworth. p. 98. ISBN   0534573789.
  5. ↑ Wedgwood, Hensleigh (1859). Dictionary of English Etymology, Vol. 1. p. xiv. ISBN   9781230255484.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
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