Fether Posted June 18, 2021 Report Share Posted June 18, 2021 (edited) Is there a fallacy name or a single-word description where the person attacks the execution of the argument and not the argument itself? I know Ad Hominem is attacking the individual, but I am not concerned about that. I was engaged in a conversation the other day on a different forum where I was trying to explain a concept, but in my initial description, I used a phrase that poorly represented the argument. Despite there being enough content outside that one phrase to fully grasp what I was saying, and I even going back on it to correct myself later and admit it was a poor use of words, everyone pounced at began using that phrase as the source of argument for the next 3 pages of dialogue. Maybe there is a word or fallacy that focuses on a single phrase in an argument and ignores the "however" or the exceptions listed after? In this case, they looked at the misrepresentation of the argument and used that as the base of their argument, and when I went back to correct myself, they still chose to hang on to it. I feel like "Straw-man" doesn't really cut it as a description Edited June 18, 2021 by Fether Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vort Posted June 18, 2021 Report Share Posted June 18, 2021 The argumentum ad logicam is "the fallacy of assuming that something is false simply because a proof or argument that someone has offered for it is invalid". That's not exactly what you were talking about, but it's similar. Fether, Just_A_Guy and Backroads 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carborendum Posted June 18, 2021 Report Share Posted June 18, 2021 Deflecting Nit-Picking Red Herring Reification (180). Strawman Moving the goal posts Just_A_Guy and Fether 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mordorbund Posted June 19, 2021 Report Share Posted June 19, 2021 It's the keyhole fallacy. That's where you latch onto one argument or statement in isolation. You might not have heard of it because I just coined it. Vort and Carborendum 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mordorbund Posted June 20, 2021 Report Share Posted June 20, 2021 12 hours ago, mordorbund said: It's the keyhole fallacy. That's where you latch onto one argument or statement in isolation. You might not have heard of it because I just coined it. If you want to go literary you could call it the synecdoche fallacy - using a part to represent the whole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anddenex Posted June 22, 2021 Report Share Posted June 22, 2021 On 6/18/2021 at 10:08 AM, Fether said: Is there a fallacy name or a single-word description where the person attacks the execution of the argument and not the argument itself? I know Ad Hominem is attacking the individual, but I am not concerned about that. Happens all the time, especially with spelling. Ever read/hear someone who seeks to win an argument because they misspelled "you're"? I would simply call it "sophistry." Just_A_Guy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just_A_Guy Posted June 24, 2021 Report Share Posted June 24, 2021 On 6/22/2021 at 8:28 AM, Anddenex said: Happens all the time, especially with spelling. Ever read/hear someone who seeks to win an argument because they misspelled "you're"? “Your”. Anddenex 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carborendum Posted June 24, 2021 Report Share Posted June 24, 2021 On 6/22/2021 at 9:28 AM, Anddenex said: Ever read/hear someone who seeks to win an argument because they misspelled "you're"? Well, your an idiot. Anddenex and Just_A_Guy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vort Posted June 24, 2021 Report Share Posted June 24, 2021 28 minutes ago, Carborendum said: On 6/22/2021 at 7:28 AM, Anddenex said: Ever read/hear someone who seeks to win an argument because they misspelled "you're"? Well, your an idiot. You misspelled "yore". Anddenex, Carborendum, MrShorty and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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