Lesson 6.3 Everyday Latin

AD HOMINEM

It’s a common bad-faith trick to respond to a point by attacking the speaker, rather than the substance of the point. This is called an ad hominem argument. Ad means to, and hominem is the accusative singular form of homo, meaning a person.

Other logical fallacies include the Tu, quoque. This literally means You too, and is an attempt to counter an argument by asserting that the speaker is equally guilty.

An argumentem ad antiquitatem is an appeal to antiquity, the dodgy proposition that the old way is necessarily the best.