Ad nauseam: Encyclopedia - Ad nauseam

Ad nauseam

Ad nauseam is a Latin term used to describe something that has been continuing "to the point of nausea." For example "This topic has been discussed ad nauseam": it has been discussed extensively and everyone has tired of it. It is a form of proof by assertion.

Argumentum ad nauseam or argument from repetition is the false proof of a statement by (prolonged) repetition, possibly by different people. This logical fallacy is commonly used as a form of rhetoric by politicians, and it is one of the mechanisms of reinforcing urban legends. In its extreme form, it can also be a form of brainwashing. Though a logical fallacy, nonetheless it is convincing to people because, as one of history's main practitioners of this propaganda technique, Lenin, observed, if something is repeated as true often enough, people will eventually come to believe it is true.

Modern politics is fraught with examples of argumentum ad nauseam, and wide acceptance of many policies and perspectives is driven in part by the endless repetition of slogans. The exercise of argumentum ad nauseam can be widely observed in the distribution of "talking points," which are collections of short phrases that are issued to members of modern political parties for recitation to achieve maximum message repetition.

This phrase is often misspelled "ad nauseum".

See also

• List of Latin phrases
• Ad infinitum
• Chewbacca Defense

Categories: Logical fallacies | Latin logical phrases | Latin phrases

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Ad nauseam", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki