# The SDMB overused argument list

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 19, 2002, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914 "2002-12-19T22:36:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Plavacek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Plavacek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plavacek)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/1 "2002-12-19T22:36:03Z")

</div>

I’m posting this here because, quite frankly, I have no idea where else to put it. Also, forgive me if it has been proposed/done before. I searched, but I couldn’t find it.

I am generally a lurker. This means I spend more of my time here reading other people’s words of wisdom, and less time posting words of wisdom of my own. However, in the course of my lurking, I have found that certain arguments have been used far beyond the Point of Excess, past the Point of Near-Argument Death, right up to the point of Outright Death of Argument, Right Here and Now.

This does a great disservice to all involved. It causes well-thought-out debates to quickly degenerate into name calling and badgering, as more original posters are (for some odd reason) utterly compelled to savagely browbeat their more mundane counterparts. It bores the old-timey lurkers, and makes the baby lurkers cry. It needlessly wastes space in the Great SDMB Storage Banks, and causes one in every three hamsters to commit suicide by inhaling from their waterbottle instead of drinking from it.

Therefore, I propose the creation of a list, numbered and indexed. This list will contain as many of the thoroughly dead arguments as we can come up with. Henceforward, anyone wishing to use one of these hackneyed arguments can simply say “Index #2, with ‘Islam’”, and save us all time and space. Sort of like “ordering by number” at McDonalds or your local Chinese food establishment of the fast variety.

Note that I am not making any claim as to the validity of the argument, or the nature of poster of these arguments, with two (noted) exceptions: 1) The arguments are overused. 2) The posters of the arguments are very focussed individuals.

Without further ado, the list. Items in \<\> are placeholders, designed to be replaced at post time (like ‘Islam’ in the example).  
Please feel free to add items to the list, and begin using it immediately.

\*\*1. \*\*Because God said so.

\*\*2. \*\*Because your \<religion-name\> God is a(n) \<idiot/sham/demon spawn/other\>

\*\*3. \*\*Because you, dear \<sir/madam/other\> are, in fact, an idiot.

\*\*4. \*\*Because you misspelled \<word\>.

\*\*5. \*\*Because all \<profession\> are \<liars/cheats/cowards/Founding Members of the Illuminati/other\>.

\*\*6. \*\*Because all \<race, possibly epithetical\> are \<lazy/slack-jawed/good at sports/terrorists/smart/other\>.

\*\*7. \*\*Because all \<sexuality\> are \<afraid/promiscuous/dangerous/unsure of their true sexuality/flamboyant/derisive/the cause of AIDS/other\>.

\*\*8. \*\*Because property ownership is \<good/a crime/other\>.

\*\*9. \*\*Because it’s in the Constitution.

\*\*10. \*\*Because that’s in the Declaration of Independance, not the Constitution, and \<Index #3\>.

\*\*11. \*\*Because you have explicitly violated \<Occam’s Razor/Hanlon’s Razor/Godwin’s Law/Opal’s Law of Threes/some other logical “law”\>.

\*\*12. \*\*Because \<I/you\> \<was/were\> \<drunk/stoned/temporarily insane/other\> at the time.

\*\*13. \*\*Because if I replace \<word\> with \<other word\> throughout your post, the insult becomes clear.

\*\*14. \*\*Because all members of \<political party\> are \<racists/rich/stuck-up/Founding Members of the Illuminati/unconcerned/owned by corporations/other\>.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/2 "2002-12-19T23:30:27Z")

</div>

**15.** Because I have a higher post count than you do, twerp.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/3 "2002-12-19T23:31:35Z")

</div>

I am _not_ a member of the Illuminati, thank you very much. 🙂

Tripler  
But most people say that I am a bright guy.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/4 "2002-12-20T00:15:19Z")

</div>

**16.** Because you implied that you had \<minority group\> friends, you’re using the lamest argument ever.

Because, you know, nobody ever _really_ has friends who belong to minority group.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TVGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@TVGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVGuy)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/5 "2002-12-20T00:29:15Z")

</div>

**17.** How are we to take you seriously when you can’t even get the most basic {b)CODING[i){/b\> correct??

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/6 "2002-12-20T01:44:32Z")

</div>

Clearly, having confessed to feelings of severe posting inadequacy in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=150214) has given you renewed strength and vigor. This latest thread is long overdue. Hearty congratulations! 🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/7 "2002-12-20T01:50:30Z")

</div>

1. I already said that!

2. That was a thread 3 years ago (and we all know everything that could possibly be said about it was said then.)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/8 "2002-12-20T02:04:36Z")

</div>

1. It wasn’t offensive, you’re all just PC.

2. This is The Pit, I’m supposed to behave that way.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Plavacek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Plavacek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plavacek)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/9 "2002-12-20T02:11:37Z")

</div>

\*\*22. \*\* You obviously have no sense of \<humor/irony/fashion/good taste/self esteem/how hurtful your remarks are to others/other\>.

Some very good ones, can’t believe I forgot post count 🙂 And it took me awhile to get the joke, **TVGuy**. Guess I’m just slow.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TVGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@TVGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVGuy)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/10 "2002-12-20T05:07:16Z")

</div>

**23.** Cite? Linkety-link? Verification? Proof? Convince us why you’re not pulling this out of your arse!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/11 "2002-12-20T05:34:12Z")

</div>

**24.** Because the U.S. ruling class is evil!

Oddly, most of these arguments come from a single source.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/12 "2002-12-20T09:06:45Z")

</div>

1. …and since this is the pit, I guess I should say \<insert colorful metaphor(s) here\>

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/13 "2002-12-20T11:08:42Z")

</div>

We _have_ to get this put somewhere that it will stay visible. This is too good to vanish into the mists of Prior Threads.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![airdisc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e19adc/32.png) [@airdisc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/airdisc)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/14 "2002-12-20T11:48:39Z")

</div>

1. Your source is biased!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/15 "2002-12-20T12:33:59Z")

</div>

**27.** Whooosh!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/16 "2002-12-20T15:56:24Z")

</div>

[Schopenhauer’s 38](http://coolhaus.de/art-of-controversy/)

1. You wouldn’t understand/ you had to be there.

2. The pity ploy.

3. The race/gender/orientation/faith card.

4. Douglas Adams references.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/17 "2002-12-20T16:02:03Z")

</div>

I have yet to see a political arguement that hasn’t turned into an arguement around whether GWB actually won the election, or if the illuminati in concert with the Knights who say Ni (obligatory python reference) stole it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![PatrickM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@PatrickM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickM)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/18 "2002-12-20T16:10:46Z")

</div>

1. Because you’re not one of (insert name of group (ie Women, Gays, Catholics, American Tackle Football fans, etc.)), and only people in that group are (insert self congratulatory phrase here) enough to understand.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/19 "2002-12-20T16:34:38Z")

</div>

I don’t know, I’ve found number 12 has proven to be legitimate a few times…

1. You obviously don’t know what you’re talking about, because your post count is under 1000.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914/20 "2002-12-20T17:46:24Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \*  
> \*\ ***27.** Whooosh! \*\*

My particular, personal favorite. 😃

Tripler  
Go ahead. Ask me why.

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-overused-argument-list/143914.md?page=2)