Thought-terminating cliché

A form of loaded language that can be used to stop arguments from proceeding and end debate.

Sep 13, 2023

“Person 1 makes claim Y.

Claim Y sounds catchy.

Therefore, claim Y is true.”

Bo Bennett - Logically Fallacious

Thought-terminating clichés can be used to prevent arguments from proceeding by providing a speaker with a largely meaningless phrase they can recite as a false conclusion.

UK example of a thought terminating cliche:

Much of the British public are familiar with thought-terminating clichés due to the political campaigning for the UK to leave the EU. “Brexit means Brexit”, “red, white and blue Brexit”, “no deal is better than a bad deal”, “let’s take back control” etc.

US example of a thought terminating cliche:

“DEI” is an acronym that stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It was used in corporate, educational, and non-profit settings to refer to initiatives or policies aimed at fostering diverse perspectives, equitable treatment, and an inclusive environment. More recently it’s being used as a “magic word” to close down debate.

As Luke Wesley Pearson points out:

”If you oppose “DEIA” you should have to use the full phrase instead of the letters. Be brave and say, “I oppose diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.”

“Bonus points if you admit which part of that you don’t like. Making it an acronym transforms it into a thought-terminating cliche.

“From now on, be proud of your opinions, but be specific. Let everyone know if it’s diversity you don’t like, or if it’s equity, or if it’s being inclusive, or if it’s the accessibility, you patriots!!”

Why thought terminating cliches are effective:

According to memory scientist Lisa Fazio, from an article by Amanda Montell:

“Unfortunately, mere awareness of such tricks is not always enough to help us resist their influence. For this, we can blame the “illusory truth effect” – a cognitive bias defined by the unconscious yet pervasive tendency to trust a statement simply because we have heard it multiple times.

“… we are so primed to confuse a statement’s familiarity with veracity that the bias persists even when listeners are warned to look out for it, even when they are explicitly told the source was untrustworthy.

““Some of these cliches catch on not necessarily because we believe them to be true but because they feel comfortable and are easy to understand””