How to Spot an Abusive Analogy

Abusive analogy is the use of language and logic to bring someone into disrepute by way of delivering a fallacy that elicits an unfavorable reaction to the person's argument during the course of a debate.

If the meaning of this is not quite clear, consider the following statement:

If science admits no certainties, then a scientist has no more certain knowledge of the universe than does a Hottentot running through the bush.

This is a true statement, but when someone uses it to discredit an argument, according to which male birth control shots are safe because of the sophisticated science behind them, it becomes an abusive analogy. In this case, the statement is intended to get the listener's sympathy for the possibility of a certain knowledge.

Another example of abusive analogy is when you describe a forced smile for the purpose of a photo as:

... a smile like the silver plate on a coffin.

This may be true and it is funny, but it takes a simple forced smile and uses it to give us the impression that there is someone rather cold behind it, which might not be the case at all. Abusive analogy!