# Acewiza please take learn what a latin phrase means before you use it **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 21, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acewiza-please-take-learn-what-a-latin-phrase-means-before-you-use-it/674459 "2013-11-21T18:45:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acewiza-please-take-learn-what-a-latin-phrase-means-before-you-use-it/674459/1 "2013-11-21T18:45:43Z")
Acewiza, It’s great that you found yourself a list of logical fallacies and are just itching to try them out and the phrase “ad hoc hypothesis” is so catchy I can understand your desire to use it at every opportunity. I’m sure you think that throwing all these cool Latin phrases makes you look oh so intelligent. But this is only true if you use them correctly, and to quote Inigo Montoya “You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.” An [ad hoc hypothesis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hoc_hypothesis) means that additional assumptions were added to a theory as needed to make in unfalsifiable. neither > [@Benghazi Attack for Dummies.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benghazi-attack-for-dummies/673466/215): > > Do you concede that such an effort would have been too late to save Stevens and Smith, and that no rapidly-deployed force could protect the CIA annex roof from an indirect-fire weapon with a range of over three miles? nor > [@Benghazi Attack for Dummies.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benghazi-attack-for-dummies/673466/288): > > You’ve forgotten about the 2008 debate where the hypothetical was raised- what would you do if you found out bin Laden as in Pakistan? Would you go in and get him? McCain said he wouldn’t, Obama said he would. It was a gutsy move- tell the Pakistan government about it and they would find a way to mess up the mission, intentionally or not. So he risked the possibility of an attack by Pakistani forces and political fallout from a botched attempt. He deserves credit for the move. are examples of ad hoc hypotheses although I suppose one could argue that they are counterfactual fallacies, as they posit scenarios that did not occur. An ad hoc hypothesis would be to say something like “Even though the evidence seems to show that the CIA thought at first it was a spontaneous attack, it doesn’t matter because Obama secretly changes everything that comes out of the CIA.” While we’re at it, > [@Benghazi Attack for Dummies.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benghazi-attack-for-dummies/673466/80): > > I find myself torn. When considering the appropriateness and abilitites of American’s military response in Benghazi, do I trust former Sec. Def. Robert Gates, retired Admiral Mike Mullen, former Ambassador Thomas Pickering, and this administration, or **Magiver**? Tough call. is not a [straw man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawman_fallacy) fallacy although it is certainly snark, and might be confused with an appeal to authority fallacy. There is no wild assertion that is being attributed to an opponent just so it can be knocked down. An example of a straw man argument would be “If we did like you wanted and put Magiver in charge of the armed forces, none of the troops would follow him” Finally when criticizing the logic behind your argument and said > [@Benghazi Attack for Dummies.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benghazi-attack-for-dummies/673466/254): > > You are starting to remind me of the woman discussed in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=708090) who uses the fact that a medical organization advises against a certain diet as proof that such a diet is safe and effective. it was not an [ad-hominem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem) fallacy. It was an insult certainly (one which got me justly admonished by the Mod) but I wasn’t attacking your argument based on the characteristics you shared with this woman, it was rather the fallaciousness of your argument that led me to claim that you shared a characteristic with her. So please for all our sakes take some time to review the definitions of the logical fallacies before you start throwing them around willi nilli. ETA:Note to self: always check the title before posting. There should be a “time to” between take and learn in the title. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acewiza-please-take-learn-what-a-latin-phrase-means-before-you-use-it/674459/2 "2013-11-21T18:48:45Z")
It’s about fucking time. I’m only popping in to read that thread every once in awhile and it’s driving me crazy. Hey, dufus, the thread title did not mean: \*Dummies, post here about Benghazi. \* ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acewiza-please-take-learn-what-a-latin-phrase-means-before-you-use-it/674459/3 "2013-11-21T18:58:12Z")
Also, neither selective thinking nor communal reinforcement are logical fallacies. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acewiza-please-take-learn-what-a-latin-phrase-means-before-you-use-it/674459/4 "2013-11-21T19:03:30Z")
That Benghazi thread reads like performance art. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acewiza-please-take-learn-what-a-latin-phrase-means-before-you-use-it/674459/5 "2013-11-21T19:16:09Z")
Let’s get real, the Tea Party Fallacy Troll isn’t long for this board. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acewiza-please-take-learn-what-a-latin-phrase-means-before-you-use-it/674459/6 "2013-11-21T20:07:32Z")
You guys are just ad hoc hypothesizing against Acewiza. Ad hocer jerks! ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acewiza-please-take-learn-what-a-latin-phrase-means-before-you-use-it/674459/7 "2013-11-21T20:23:26Z")
Acewizzer, pro tempore, you semi-literate parens patriae mouth-breathing fuckwit. Nota bene a priori douchebag ad infinitum et cetera. This guy’s just another dumbass piece of shit, indistinguishable from the last dozen that have been left floating in our little pool. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acewiza-please-take-learn-what-a-latin-phrase-means-before-you-use-it/674459/8 "2013-11-21T22:24:12Z")
I liked how he was going to count instances of fallacies twice. Interesting score-keeping technique. Do we get to play? We could count his fallacies, oh, five-hundred times per instance. He’d soon outstrip **adaher** himself! ---
**Author:** ![sylmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@sylmar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sylmar)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acewiza-please-take-learn-what-a-latin-phrase-means-before-you-use-it/674459/9 "2013-11-21T22:38:28Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Acewizzer, pro tempore, you semi-literate parens patriae mouth-breathing fuckwit. Nota bene a priori douchebag ad infinitum et cetera. > > This guy’s just another dumbass piece of shit, indistinguishable from the last dozen that have been left floating in our little pool. You spotted him, you get to go find the little mesh net to fish him out and the bleach… Onay acksiesbay