For those not acquainted with Godwin's Law, here it is, from the Jargon File
Godwin's Law /prov./ [Usenet] "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one." There is a tradition in many groups that, once this occurs, that thread is over, and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress. Godwin's Law thus practically guarantees the existence of an upper bound on thread length in those groups.
I submit Nick's corollary to Godwin's Law:
Godwin's Law applies to discussions in other electronic forums, including, but not limited to: IRC, E-mail, Web bulletin boards, etc.Further, in addition to mention of Nazis or Hitler, the probability of one of the following phrases being used approaches one:
Godwin's Law applies to these cases as well; the thread ends, and whoever used the phrase has automatically lost the argument. It should be noted that some discussions start out this way, and those should be considered unworthy of response from the beginning.
- Get over it
- Grow up (or Get a clue)
- I feel sorry for you
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| Wed Nov 19 16:19:05 PST 2008 | rants/godwin.src | Updated: Thu Aug 18 2005 9:32.01 | Viewed: never |