# Need a Discussion/Debate Label Word **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-discussion-debate-label-word/788550 "2017-06-09T22:14:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-discussion-debate-label-word/788550/1 "2017-06-09T22:14:27Z")
Is there an already agreed upon and generally known label which can be used to refer to any debate statement that is inherently beyond nonsense? What I am specifically thinking of, are all statements to the effect that “liberalism/conservatism is inherently god/bad” and the like. Not just the obvious insulting statements, such as the one which inspired this thread [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=828221](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=828221), but any and all declarations about belief systems or philosophies which are not sufficiently and narrowly defined that broad statements \*\* CAN\*\* be made about them. I was drawn at first to the word “stupid,” because I was raised to understand that what “stupid” means, is NOT “bad,” or “annoying,” as too many people use it to mean today, but rather **“having or showing a lack of ability to learn and understand things.”** But “stupid” isn’t acceptible, because it has come to be nothing more than a mindless insult. The reason I am asking, is that I think the world really does need a single, carefully defined term to us, to point out that a statement is entirely without merit, and without value, and most important, unworthy of any serious consideration of any sort, NOT because we don’t like the person who said it, or the attitudes of the person who said it… … but because the STRUCTURE of the statement itself is inherently unsupportable. If nothing else, a lot of time and effort debating nonsense could be saved, if such a recognized label existed. And by the way, “nonsense” doesn’t work, for the opposite reason that “stupid” fails: no one takes “nonsense” as a label, seriously. Ultimately, I would hope that any statement which qualified for this label, could be simply prohibited from posting, just as personal attacks and insults are prohibited, because the only reason why anyone DOES say such entirely meritless things, IS to annoy one group, and to gather unwarranted adulation from another. Such things are NEVER said or posted in order to advance any discussion or thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-discussion-debate-label-word/788550/2 "2017-06-09T22:19:57Z")
“Not even wrong” immediately comes to mind, attributed to Pauli. > **[Not even wrong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_even_wrong)** > > "Not even wrong" is a phrase often used to describe pseudoscience or bad science. It describes an argument or explanation that purports to be scientific but uses faulty reasoning or speculative premises, which can be neither affirmed nor denied and thus cannot be discussed rigorously and scientifically. > For a meaningful discussion on whether a certain statement is true or false, the statement must satisfy the criterion of falsifiability, the inherent possibility for the statement to be tested ... > **[Not even wrong](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Not_even_wrong)** > > Not even wrong refers to any statement, argument, or explanation that can be neither correct nor incorrect, because it fails to meet the criteria by which correctness and incorrectness are determined. As a more formal fallacy, it refers to the fine... ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-discussion-debate-label-word/788550/3 "2017-06-09T22:53:11Z")
> [@igor\_frankensteen](#): > > But “stupid” isn’t acceptible, because it has come to be nothing more than a mindless insult. Literally any term you use for this concept is going to be seen as an insult. The only hope is to not use a single term, and instead explain that the statement is unsound, and why. > [@](#): > > Ultimately, I would hope that any statement which qualified for this label, could be simply prohibited from posting, just as personal attacks and insults are prohibited, because the only reason why anyone DOES say such entirely meritless things, IS to annoy one group, and to gather unwarranted adulation from another. Such things are NEVER said or posted in order to advance any discussion or thinking. That would certainly clear out the alternative medicine posters, and people would be looking really hard at the more vocally religious ones, as well.