hortatory

Pronounced: HAWR-tuh-tawr-ee (alt: HAWR-tuh-tore-ee), adj

Notes: I’ve been mis-pronouncing this word, and possible also misspelling it… I think I’ve been influenced by hearing others mis-pronounce it (see tomorrow’s comments)

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Yesterday’s word

The word whataboutery is “the practice of responding to an accusation by making a counter-accusation, real or imaginary, relevant or irrelevant”

First usage

This word came into being in the 1970s

Background / Comments

This seems like such a ridiculous word to exist; I thought “really!?!?” when I saw the definition and whence it came. Speaking of which, it comes from the response of “what about…” It is also called whataboutism. It is a popular way to deflect criticism.