The Gish Gallop is a a debating/rhetorical technique that involves barraging an opponent with a haze of falsified statements, outright lies, and straw-man arguments. The unsuspecting opponent typically feels defenseless and frustrated against the attack and is unable to deflect it on the spot. It is named after creationism activist and professional debater Duane Gish.

Newt Gingrich is a notorious gish-galloper. In an exchange with Howard Dean he grossly distorted the facts concerning the number of Americans who would be forced into a government health insurance plan by making up the random number of 131 million:

"The way the bill in the House -- and we're talking about a specific bill -- the way the bill in the House would work, if your company didn't offer any insurance, they would pay an 8 percent tax on their personnel cost.

For most companies, that would be a net savings of 3 percent, 4 percent or 5 percent. One estimate by Lewin Associates (sic) is 131 million Americans will lose their private insurance and be pushed into a government plan."

gish-galloper by savagewo December 1, 2011

Related Words

gallobe • galloed • Gallbert • Galloper • galloween • galoobert • garden galloper • gish-galloper

garden galloper

A person with a horticultural background who likes to garden with young men.

That Bob Audet is one helluva garden galloper!

garden galloper by Chuck Butler May 2, 2007

galoobert

This is when an eskimo inserts his penis into a male seal for warmth.

The galoobert is now complete and my penis is warm

galoobert by schloopie March 10, 2008

galloed

When you convince a young hipster girl that she needs to blow you for your film.

I galloed this girl at NYFA this afternoon

galloed by nsh1212 March 7, 2008

Galloper

Derived from the film 'Ong Bok' - A galloper is one who behaves in a certain unbridled manner in respect to any situation. It's obviously a reference to the stiff gait of a wild stallion clopping across the land. One who is acting outside of the realm of proper demeanor is a galloper.

Did you see what that galloper Jermaine did last night?

Galloper by Matthew Pryce July 3, 2006

galloed

When you convince a young hipster girl that she needs to blow you for your film.

I galloed this girl at NYFA this afternoon

galloed by nsh1212 March 7, 2008

Whale

In sales terms, a whale is a prospect that is significantly larger than an organization’s average customer.

Whales are large and extremely difficult to close. Due to their immense size, they are highly sought-after.

A whale is typically identified at first by a whale hunter on the sales team, but often requires cross-discipline participation in order to close; this includes assistance from operations, engineering, creative, client success, and business development teams.

"Shit...the sales director chewed me out on the sales call this morning. He's totally pissed that I have nothing in my pipeline. I've been focused on this one whale for so long that I haven't had time to prospect for normal-sized deals."

Whale by FQ_GFY February 3, 2020

Word of the Day on September 21, 2026

Concrete cowboy

A guy who thinks he's a country kinda guy, but in reality lives a comfortable city / suburban life.

Eugene: Look at that dude in the cowboy hat!
Todd: He's just a concrete cowboy.

Concrete cowboy by EugeneJohnson42000 March 16, 2024

Word of the Day on September 20, 2026

hobo loko

any hard liquor that is cheap & potent.. eg. relska, popov, potters, evan williams, kamchatka, fireball, rumpleminze, southern comfort, everclear

hey let's get a drink of that?

go ahead
*takes drink* ugh wtf is that?

everclear & bepsi
fucking hobo loko eeessshh

hobo loko by d i z k o 2 0 8 September 14, 2026

Word of the Day on September 19, 2026

God Shot

A chance happening with profound meaning, an unexpected blessing, a "sign".

Dr. Drew on Celebrity Rehab said "All of a sudden what had been just another Hollywood proposal became for him an unexpected blessing, an opportunity for growth. In drug recovery language, that's called a "God shot."

God Shot by Imogen1564 February 25, 2011

Word of the Day on September 18, 2026

city chicken

A food native to Pittsburgh/Western Pennsylvania in which cubes of pork and/or veal are put on a short, wooden skewer, breaded, then baked and/or fried.

I've heard that city chicken originated during the Great Depression, when folks didn't have enough money to buy full cuts of meat, so they assembled meat scraps on a wooden skewer, creating a make-shift drumstick. Hence the name.

Are yinz havin' city chicken for dinner?

city chicken by TRF August 31, 2006

Word of the Day on September 17, 2026

Is that cake?

Another way to say is this fake? Like the show real or cake

“Slayyyter just announced another album last night”
“No way, is that cake?”
“Yeah whoops this isn’t real”

Is that cake? by Sexyyred September 15, 2026

Word of the Day on September 16, 2026