Newmanspeak
A dishonest rhetorical device in which one accuses one's interlocutor of having said something objectionable which they never, in fact, said. Related to Newspeak in George Orwell's 1984, it is named after British broadcaster Cathy Newman following a notorious interview in which she repeatedly used this approach against Canadian academic Jordan Peterson, usually introducing her comments with "So basically you're saying...?".
Peterson: There's multiple reasons for the pay gap. One of them is gender but that's not the only reason. If you're a social scientist worth your salt you never do a univariate analysis. You say women in aggregate are paid less than men. OK, well then, we break it down by age, we break it down by occupation, we break it down by interest, we break it down by personality ...
Newman: So basically you're saying it doesn't matter if women aren't getting to the top, because that's just a fact of life.
Peterson: Newmanspeak, bucko!
Newman: So basically you're saying it doesn't matter if women aren't getting to the top, because that's just a fact of life.
Peterson: Newmanspeak, bucko!
Newmanspeak by kxthazaqboq June 1, 2018
