Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Alternative spelling of
straw man .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an effigy in the shape of a man to frighten birds away from seeds
- noun a weak or sham argument set up to be easily refuted
- noun a person used as a cover for some questionable activity
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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I find that the term strawman is haulled out here when people do not like the implications of their posts.
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Whaddona More: I think your libertarian strawman is wearing an anarchist t-shirt.
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Nothing about that says strawman from a retard – right?
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It does not matter how many times your strawman is exposed you are just going to keep presenting it because that is just the type of person you are.
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This strawman is so puerile as to defy serious response.
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I think your libertarian strawman is wearing an anarchist t-shirt.
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The strawman is the realm of the propagandist and the uncreative.
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The “Hookah bars = teh MUSLIMS!” strawman is pretty great, but sadly, in all the cities I’ve read about, you can use the same licensing procedure for tobacconists’ shops too.
Waldo Jaquith - Study: Secondhand smoke causes lung damage. 2007
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Jenny, the first one would be called a strawman argument.
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| Reply | Permalink it proves that you can only win an argument with a strawman, which is the only type of arguments that conservatives can win anymore since your failed ideology came crumbling down so spectacularly.
bilby commented on the word strawman
"But aside from the numerous strawman arguments found throughout the book, there are several points where economics are properly applied to food and agriculture and – the authors charge – prove that local food is a bad idea.
But perhaps the opposite is true instead; that the models used in neoliberal economics do not accurately apply here."
- Jill Richardson, 6 Bogus Economic Arguments Used to Trash Local Food, alternet.org, 5 July 2012.
July 7, 2012