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The Magic of Words
Feb 25, 2010
This week's theme
Latin terms in English
This week's words
locum
ex cathedra
de jure
ad hominem
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg
ad hominem
PRONUNCIATION:
(ad HO-mi-nuhm, HOM-uh-nuhm))
MEANING:
adverb, adjective:
Appealing to one's prejudices, emotions, or other personal considerations
rather than to intellect or reason.
Attacking an opponent personally instead of answering the argument.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin, literally "to the person".
USAGE:
"The New Israel Fund backers unleashed ad hominem attacks against the
student group."
Anne Herzberg; Hey, NIF! Criticism is a Democratic Right; The Jerusalem
Post (Israel); Feb 3, 2010.
Explore "ad hominem" in the Visual Thesaurus.
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Men rarely (if ever) managed to dream up a god superior to themselves. Most
gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child. -Robert A. Heinlein,
science-fiction author (1907-1988)
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