Confusing or illogical argumentation that relies on splitting hairs and making unnecessary distinctions.
From chop (to cut or divide) + logic; emerged in English around the 16th century meaning to cut up or divide logic into trivial arguments, influenced by the idea of cutting something into small, meaningless pieces.
Medieval scholars actually used this term to mock their colleagues for making arguments so detailed they lost all sense—essentially calling someone a master of the pointless distinction, kind of like how we might say someone's 'technically correct' in a way that misses the whole point.
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