Debate Vocabulary - By Lili L.L.

Common terms in every debate…

Theme The category of the motion (i.e. social, politics, science and technology, etc)

Motion Topic of debate (This house believes that… This house would… This house supports….)

Context Background information and current situation of the debate issue; given by the Prime
Minister

Definition The interpretation of the motion in your words; given by the Prime Minister

Justification Reasons why this definition is fair and debatable

Scope The area of issue covered by this definition

Team line A short, catchy line said by every member to strengthen your team consistency; like slogan
for your team

Stance Your team's position on this issue; what your team believes in

Sign Post The outline of your speech

Model / Counter Model / Case Your team's proposal for the motion

Split The division of arguments between the first and second speaker

Argument A key statement of the reason to support/oppose the motion

Analysis / Elaboration The explanation and logical reasoning, with supporting examples, of the
argument, and how it links back to the motion

Rebuttal Pointing out loopholes and flaws of the previous speaker of the opponent team, and reason
of disagreement

Recap A reminder of the key issues stated by the previous speaker of your team

Point of Information (POI ) A 15-second statement or question that can be given by the opponent team
member during the speech

Point of Clarification A question that can be given by the opponent team during the first few
minutes of debate to clarify the definition/case.

Clash point The direct engagement from both teams on the key issues of the debate

Dire Need The urgency to make a change the current situation in order to solve the problem stated in
the motion

Status Quo The current situation is acceptable with no need to change

Feasibility The capability of the model/case being implemented and effectively solve the problem in the
motion

Moral High Ground Everything argued in the debate should be based on an ethical and moral standard

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Things you should do…

Speaker Role Fulfillment Completing the list of things you should include in your speech and how well
you say it

Consistency The stance and flow of logic that is carried out by every member of the team

Engage / Tackle Throughout the debate, listen to the opponent team, attack their arguments and
defend yours

Link The logical connections among motion, arguments and examples

Stakeholder Analysis Identify the people/parties directly involved and how they are affected by the
model/case

Cost-Efficiency Analysis Whether the outcome of the model/case is worth the investment costs and
sacrifices involved

Harm-Benefit Analysis Compare the harms and benefits resulting from the model/case, and argue
which one outweighs the other

Things you should NOT do...

Assumption Something (not necessarily true) taken for granted or presumed without logical proof

Contradiction A statement, proposition or example that denies another or itself; inconsistency

Shift in Stance A change in position of the second speaker from the first speaker

Nitpicking Focus too much on non-key issues or statistic differences

Slippery Slope A dangerous and irreversible action that will initiate a series of undesirable events
(usually refers to the model/case)

Hung Case A case proposed by the first speaker but not supported by the other members of the team

Rebuttal Case A case only focused on rebutting the opponent team without providing positive
matter to strengthen your own arguments

People in the debate room and words they often say…

Government / Proposition Team supporting the motion

Opposition Team opposing the motion

Prime Minister First speaker of the government team

Leader of Opposition First speaker of the opposition team

Deputy Prime Minister Second speaker of the government team

Deputy Leader of Opposition Second speaker of the opposition team

Member of Government / Opposition (Whip) Third speaker of the government/opposition team

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Reply Speaker Last speaker of the team, can be either first or second speaker, but not third speaker

Mister/Madam Speaker The man/woman that invites the speakers to the floor (usually the chair
adjudicator but not always); debaters can address their speeches to
"Mister/Madam Speaker"

Mister/Madam Chair The chair adjudicator of the room; the debaters can also address their speeches to
"Mister/Madam Chair"

This Motion Should Stand A line often used by the government team at the end of the speech to show
their support on the motion

This Motion Should Fall A line often used by the opposition team at the end of the speech to show
their dissension on the motion

Chair The adjudicator involved in the decision making who is also in charge of the order in the room

Panelist The other adjudicators involved in the decision making, have equal voting power as the chair

Order / Out of Order The signal given by the chair to maintain the order of the room; usually when a POI
exceeds its time limit or is given at the 1st or 6th minute, or when a disturbance to
the speaker occurs

Here Here The only line allowed to be used by the audience to show their agreement with the speaker's
statement

Shame Shame The only line allowed to be used by the audience to show their disagreement with
the speaker's statement

The decision making…

Unanimous Decision All adjudicators have the same decision

Split Decision Adjudicators have different decisions

Assenting Adjudicators The majority of adjudicators that give the debate to the winning team

Dissenting Adjudicator(s) The minority of adjudicators that give the debate to the losing team

Margin The score difference between the two teams

Close Debate A very competitive debate with small margin of 0.5-3

Clear Debate An obvious debate with margin 3.5-7.5

Thrashing Debate A debate in which one team destroyed the other team with big margin of 8-12

Oral Adjudication Adjudicator's reasons of giving the win/loss based on what happened during the
debate (matter, manner, method), without stepping into the debate

Oral Feedback Adjudicator's personal suggestions to the teams as on what could have been done to
improve the debate; must not be involved in the decision making process

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When a bad definition is given…

Definition Challenge The Leader of Opposition rejects the definition of Prime Minister, and provides a new
definition

Squirrel The definition is totally irrelevant to the motion

Time Set The definition is based on the past or a certain period of time that makes it undebatable

Place Set The definition is based on a location that is irrelevant to the motion or requires personal
knowledge, thus making it undebatable or unfair for the opposition

Truism The definition is an undebatable truth recognized by the majority of population

Tautology The biased definition that allows little or no arguments for the opponent team; a repetition of
model/case that has already been proven to work

Even-If Case Two parallel debates (rebuttal & positive matter) on both definitions given by the two teams,
except in the case of truism or tautology

Terms you would encounter during tournament…

Tab / Match Up The systematic sorting of teams that will debate against each other in each round

according to their stand point

Chief Adjudicator (CA) / Deputy Chief Adjudicator (DCA) The heads of all adjudicators in the
tournament; the ones to approach to when you have a problem with the adjudication

Preliminary Round (Prelims) The first few rounds of debate that would decide the ranking of each team;
all teams and adjudicators must participate in every round

Silent Round The rounds that the decision of debate will not be disclosed in order to build suspense of the
break announcement, usually the last rounds of prelims

Elimination Round Only breaking teams will participate in these rounds, and you only proceed to the
next round if you win the debate

Breaking Team / Adjudicator The top ranking teams and adjudicators of the tournament that would
proceed to the elimination rounds

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