# Looking for a word or phrase for this posting style

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 14, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592 "2020-09-14T17:17:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 28

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-word-or-phrase-for-this-posting-style/920592/28 "2020-09-15T11:42:12Z")

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In formal debate, the topic to be debated is always introduced as “RESOLVED: \<whatever we’re going to debate\>”. It’s meant as a clear statement of what one side is required to prove and the other is required to disprove.

But for the rest of us who’ve never been on a formal debate team it reads as you thought: an arrogant statement that the controversy is already settled before it even begins. That’s the exact opposite of the technical meaning.

We’ve had more than one thread debating the wisdom of using this technical term when most of the audience misunderstand it. And yet it persists. Perhaps debate team elitism is part of the mix.

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