ad hominem. Ad hominem charges make a personal attack rather than focusing on the issue at hand.

Who cares what that fat loudmouth says about the health care system?

guilt by association. Guilt by association involves attacking someone’s credibility by linking that person with a person or activity the audience considers bad, suspicious, or untrustworthy.

She does not deserve reelection; her husband had extramarital affairs.

false authority. False authority is often used by advertisers who show famous actors or athletes testifying to the greatness of a product about which they may know very little.

He’s today’s greatest NASCAR driver—and he banks at National Mutual!

bandwagon appeal. A bandwagon appeal suggests that a great movement is underway and the reader will be a fool or a traitor not to join it.

This new phone is everyone’s must-have item. Where’s yours?

flattery. Flattery tries to persuade readers by suggesting that they are thoughtful, intelligent, or perceptive enough to agree with the writer.

You have the taste to recognize the superlative artistry of Bling diamond jewelry.

in-crowd appeal. The in-crowd appeal, a special kind of flattery, invites readers to identify with an admired and select group.

Want to know a secret that more and more of Middletown’s successful young professionals are finding out about? It’s Mountainbrook Manor condominiums.

veiled threat. Veiled threats try to frighten readers into agreement by hinting that they will suffer adverse consequences if they don’t agree.

If Public Service Electric Company does not get an immediate 15 percent rate increase, its services may be seriously affected.

false analogy. False analogies make comparisons between two situations that are not alike in important respects.

The volleyball team’s sudden descent in the rankings resembled the sinking of the Titanic.

begging the question. Begging the question is a kind of circular argument that treats a debatable statement as if it had been proved true.

Television news covered that story well; I learned all I know about it by watching TV.

post hoc fallacy. The post hoc fallacy (from the Latin post hoc, ergo propter hoc, which means “after this, therefore caused by this”) assumes that just because B happened after A, it must have been caused by A.

We should not rebuild the town docks because every time we do, a big hurricane comes along and damages them.

non sequitur. A non sequitur (Latin for “it does not follow”) attempts to tie together two or more logically unrelated ideas as if they were related.

If we can send a spaceship to Mars, then we can discover a cure for cancer.

either-or fallacy. The either-or fallacy insists that a complex situation can have only two possible outcomes.

If we do not build the new highway, businesses downtown will be forced to close.

hasty generalization. A hasty generalization bases a conclusion on too little evidence or on bad or misunderstood evidence.

I couldn’t understand the lecture today, so I’m sure this course will be impossible.

oversimplification. Oversimplification claims an overly direct relationship between a cause and an effect.

If we prohibit the sale of alcohol, we will get rid of binge drinking.

straw man. A straw-man argument misrepresents the opposition by pretending that opponents agree with something that few reasonable people would support.

My opponent believes that we should offer therapy to the terrorists. I disagree.