Get it straight, people, and get it straight NOW

[IAmZamzam]

"Ad hominem" has never, ever meant "insult" and no matter what popular usage does with it I will never stop shouting from the rooftops that it never will. I am so sick and tired of defining the term for people who cheerfully and deliberately ignore me that I can't even bring myself to do it again save by copying and pasting:

Ad hominem does not mean making insulting remarks, as you seem to think. My saying you are an anti-Mormon is not an ad hominem. If I were to say, "you are an anti-Mormon, therefore your views are wrong", that would be an ad Hominem. Ad hominem is a logical fallacy. It occurs when one argues as follows:

X is a Mormon
Mormons are evil
Therefore, X's argument is wrong.

It ignores the evidence and analysis that X presents for his case. Even if X is evil, it does not mean his evidence and analysis are incorrect. This is the ad hominem fallacy. The classic example in the anti-Mormon world is: "Show me a non-Mormon archaeologist who believes in the Book of Mormon." The ad hominem is that Mormon archaeologists, *because they are Mormon* cannot present evidence and analysis on this matter. Only non-Mormon views are permissible. In fact, you engage in the ad hominem when you dismiss all the analysis of modern scholars *because* they are [allegedly] liberals.

(source)

You can check it at Wikipedia if you still don't believe it.

Just making a personal attack is mudslinging. An ad hominem attack is a personal attack MADE TO REFUTE AN ARGUMENT THAT CANNOT BE REFUTED BY THE ALLEGATION EVEN IF THE ALLEGATION IS TRUE.

I have shown too much mercy to this in the past and God willing I will now show none toward any board members in the future. From now on every time I see anyone ever misusing the term they're getting negative rep points immediately. Count on it. If you want to talk about put-downs or personal remarks, don't resort to a pointlessly and pretentiously obscure misuse of a term in a dead language to mean it. Just say "put-down" or "personal remark". I can tolerate only so much wrongheadedness and affectation from people who have already been repeatedly corrected. Misuse the term, get negative reps. Count on it.

[Trumble]

An ad hominem attack is a personal attack MADE TO REFUTE AN ARGUMENT THAT CANNOT BE CONFIRMED BY THE ALLEGATION EVEN IF THE ALLEGATION IS TRUE.

Erm... don't you mean "a personal attack MADE TO REFUTE AN ARGUMENT THAT CANNOT BE REFUTED BY THE ALLEGATION EVEN IF THE ALLEGATION IS TRUE"?

[IAmZamzam]

Thank you. Don't know how I did that.