Godwin's law
See also: Godwin's Law
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Named after American attorney and author Mike Godwin (1956–).
Proper noun edit
- (Internet, usually humorous) The adage that any Usenet discussion will eventually mention the Nazis or Adolf Hitler.
- 2012, Cory Doctorow, Charles Stross, The Rapture of the Nerds, Tor Books, →ISBN, page 296:
- The power to be a being of pure thought, the unlimited, unconstrained world of imagination, and we build a world of animated gifs, stupid sight gags, lame van-art avatars, stupid “playful” environments, and brain-dead flame wars augmented by animated emoticons that allowed participants to express their hackneyed ad hominems, concern-trollery, and Godwin's law violations through the media of cartoon animals and oversized genitals.
- 2018, Scott F. Aikin, Robert B. Talisse, Why We Argue, Routledge, →ISBN:
- His article urges people not to be “afraid” of being charged with confirming Godwin's law. But who would be afraid of that charge when you believe that the Nazi analogy is apt?
- (usually humorous) An adage that states that the first person in an argument (usually in an online comment thread or forum) to mention the Nazis or Adolf Hitler has lost.
Usage notes edit
- Mentioning Godwin's law as having been fulfilled in a particular discussion is often deemed sufficient grounds for ending that discussion.
See also edit
Further reading edit
Godwin's law on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
