Argument by gibberish

Part of the series on Logic and rhetoric

Key articles

Logical fallacy Syllogism Argument

General logic

Ad hoc Appeal to flattery If-by-whiskey Intuition pump Pragmatic fallacy Ultimate end

Bad logic

Affirming a disjunct Appeal to confidence Argumentum ad nauseam SeekFind Wronger than wrong دوگانگی مرتن v - t - e

An argument by gibberish is one that relies on nonsense, inscrutable words, or impenetrable jargon, i.e. gibberish. An argument by gibberish is a formal fallacy and is a type of non sequitur. Because the argument by gibberish is a nonsensical argument, it may also try to rely on an appeal to emotion by verbal inflection, shouting, or use of emotive phrases (e.g., "Hell, I was born here!") that are tangential to the argument.

The syllogistic form of the argument by gibberish is:

P1: X is true.

P2: [A random set of gibberish]

C: Therefore, X is true.

The argument by gibberish differs from word salad in that word salad may or may not be part of an argument, however word salad can form the second premise of an argument by gibberish.

Example

“”There ain't no way that nobody is going to leave this town! Hell, I was born here and I was raised here… and goddamn it, I'm going to die here! And no sidewinder, bushwhacking, hornswoggling… cracker croaker, is going to ruin my biscuit-cutter!"

—Gabby Johnson from the film Blazing Saddles

In syllogistic form:

P1: (unstated from previous discussion): We are not going to be driven away from this town.

P2: Hell, I was born here…

C: No one is going to leave this town.

External link

• Argument by Gibberish — Logically Fallacious

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