# Searching for a word

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-a-word/251514>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 21, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-a-word/251514 "2004-06-21T22:01:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dancefan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@dancefan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dancefan)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-a-word/251514/1 "2004-06-21T22:01:31Z")

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that means: a highly opinionated statement phrased as a question.

For Example: Don’t you realize that abortion is murder!!!

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**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-a-word/251514/2 "2004-06-21T22:10:24Z")

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Assertion?

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**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-a-word/251514/3 "2004-06-21T22:11:41Z")

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Wait, phrased as a question. That rules out assertion.

Is there a word for a jackass that doesn’t fully read the OP?

My bad.

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**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-a-word/251514/4 "2004-06-21T22:13:55Z")

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The question in the OP is a _leading question_. But a leading question is not necessarily “a highly opinionated statement.” Perhaps what the OP is looking for is _rhetorical question_, which assumes a proposition so strongly that it doesn’t really expect an answer.

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**Author:** ![jacksen9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jacksen9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacksen9)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-a-word/251514/5 "2004-06-21T22:54:36Z")

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How about epiplexis? [Link](http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/epiplexis)

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**Author:** ![Spiriting\_Lightly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Spiriting\_Lightly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiriting_Lightly)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-a-word/251514/6 "2004-06-21T23:05:43Z")

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Hello **dancefan** :

**brianmelendez** is on a good track. Your example can be called a [complex question](http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/badmovesprint.php?num=37), also known as a [loaded question](http://www.fallacyfiles.org/loadques.html). The classic example of such a question is, “Have you stopped beating your wife?” One nicely noncommittal response to this type of question is, “[Mu](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=mu)”.

As I understand your OP, you were hoping to find a single-word answer. To find the linked websites, I used Google with the quoted term, “complex question” and the unquoted term, “fallacy”; perhaps you can refine the search and find a single, precise word.

On preview, **jacksen9** has weighed in with _epiplexis_. Wow! Nicely done! On re-reviewing your OP, this looks like a good choice.

That was an interesting question, and thank you for posing it.

Peace.

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**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searching-for-a-word/251514/7 "2004-06-22T01:11:55Z")

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The example in the OP is also a _rhetorical question_, as would be most “highly opinionated statements phrased as questions.” But that term may not quite have the connotations sought by the OP. Certainly not all rhetorical questions are HOSPAQs.

And, on the other hand, although I’m thankful to **jacksen9** for epiplexis (I hope I can remember it when the need arises), I don’t think all HOSPAQs would necessarily be examples of epiplexis.