# Proposed Corollary to Godwin's Law **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 4, 2017, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926 "2017-10-04T06:56:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/1 "2017-10-04T06:56:46Z")
I’m noticing an increase in the usage of certain terms, to the extent that I am now proposing a corollary to [Godwin’s Law](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law) to account for modern terrors. If Hillary Clinton is introduced into a thread or debate that has nothing to do with Hillary Clinton, I hereby declare that thread Godwinized. I’m getting really tired of hearing “Clinton” or “Hillary” every time someone runs out of arguments and wants to pivot to their new version of the ultimate evil. Any other people, beliefs, or topics that you believe should also get a corollary? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/2 "2017-10-04T07:43:50Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > If Hillary Clinton is introduced into a thread or debate that has nothing to do with Hillary Clinton, I hereby declare that thread Godwinized. No, I call a fowl on that play. quack. If you need to do that, at least create a new name for it and see if it catches on. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/3 "2017-10-04T09:01:02Z")
Hillarized? Rodhambottomed? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/4 "2017-10-04T09:25:41Z")
I thought that had already happened with Obama. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/5 "2017-10-04T09:36:09Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I thought that had already happened with Obama. That’s so 2016, get with the times. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/6 "2017-10-04T10:00:20Z")
Benghaziized ? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/7 "2017-10-04T10:33:24Z")
Hitleryed? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/8 "2017-10-04T13:47:24Z")
You know who I would have voted for before Hillary? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/9 "2017-10-04T13:50:25Z")
Godwin’s Law is called that because it was proposed by Godwin. So, per our OP, when a thread is trainwrecked by gratuitous reference to Hillary Clinton, we should say it got Sunnydazed. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/10 "2017-10-04T13:53:53Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Godwin’s Law is called that because it was proposed by Godwin. > > So, per our OP, when a thread is trainwrecked by gratuitous reference to Hillary Clinton, we should say it got Sunnydazed. Sounds good to me. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/11 "2017-10-04T14:19:17Z")
The contemporary memes are “Thanks, Obama!” and “But her emails!”. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/12 "2017-10-04T16:04:30Z")
> [@Is there a version of "Godwin's Law" in Europe?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-version-of-godwins-law-in-europe/796425/6): > > Godwin’s Law isn’t a law as much as an observation. > > It’s the observation that when one or both sides are resorting to _literally the most inflammatory insults they can think of_, the discussion is over and it’s now just a shouting match. He just used “Nazis” as a convenient example of a group which was, in his mind, universally loathed in his social context. In other contexts, it could be “gays” or “Christians” or “Muslims” or “cishets” or any other identifiable category. > > **The group doesn’t matter. The intense vitriol matters.** So mentioning Clinton, or Obama, or anyone else in the same fashion is already Godwin’s Law as it was originally intended. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/13 "2017-10-04T16:20:01Z")
You know who else used to like to make new rules? But there’s always someone waiting to interject something political and hyperbolic into any conversation: Clinton Obama Trump the religious right Atheists Muslims Immigrants **If we call Godwin’s Law on everything, then we’ll have Godwinized Godwin!** ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/14 "2017-10-04T21:04:20Z")
I think the most appropriate modern Godwins law is when you make any argument and the reply is “Well would you rather Hillary/Trump/Republicans/Democrats be in power?!” since it makes the entire conversation into an “You’re either with us or against us” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/15 "2017-10-04T21:40:16Z")
You know who else proposes corollaries to Godwin’s Law? ---
**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:** [October 4, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/16 "2017-10-04T21:53:13Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > You know who else proposes corollaries to Godwin’s Law? Mrs. Godwin? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/17 "2017-10-04T23:13:22Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > You know who else used to like to make new rules? Bill Maher? > [@Derleth](#): > > So mentioning Clinton, or Obama, or anyone else in the same fashion is already Godwin’s Law as it was originally intended. I had understood that to be true, but a quick scan last night didn’t lead me right to what I wanted, so I didn’t include it in the OP. Thank you for posting. I am sure there are a lot of other terms that fall into this bucket. I’ve been thinking about the Clinton one for a while. Yesterday police shootings came up in one of the LV threads, which is what really pushed me over to starting this thread. I think Clinton gets the first nod from me just because of the sheer scale of when it happens now. Everything is her fault, or her cabal is behind it. Gets old and usually has no connection to the actual topic at hand. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/18 "2017-10-04T23:49:01Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > That’s so 2016, get with the times. 😛 So. Somebody says something occurring in 2017 is something new, it is so 2016 to say it is not new? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-corollary-to-godwins-law/797926/19 "2017-10-05T02:29:07Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > You know who else proposes corollaries to Godwin’s Law? Brush with fame time. A friend of mine posted something Godwiny on Facebook and I threw in a silly “You know who else…” comment. The next comment was from Michael Godwin. I haven’t realized he was friends with my old high school friend.