Meanings
alternative logic chopping
- derogatoryuncountableThe practice of engaging in excessively subtle, pedantic, or specious argumentation; the use of overly fine or trivial distinctions in reasoning .
Let the Almighty step in and arrange things in a proper way. No more logic-chopping!
1931, Bhagat Singh, Why I am an Atheist1 more example
Contemptuous logic-chopper "sophist, person who uses subtle distinctions in argument" .
1846, Merry England, page 234Synonyms: chop logic, casuistry, sophistry, quibbling
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe practice of engaging in excessively subtle, pedantic, or specious argumentation; the use of overly fine or trivial distinctions in reasoning .
Origin
From the phrase chop logic, attested from the early 16th century . The element chop originally meant "to bandy, exchange" (as in chop logic, i.e., to exchange logical arguments) . Later chop was wrongly understood as "to cut, split" .
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
logic-chopping. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/logic-chopping
“logic-chopping.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/logic-chopping. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “logic-chopping,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/logic-chopping.
Source: logic-chopping on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.