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Glite Dictionary
Chewbacca defense

Chewbacca defense

9.9
A legal argument that tries to confuse people by giving silly points not related to the case
  • noun
  • /ˈtʃuːbɑːkə dɪˈfɛns/
  • Literature
translation icon : defensa Chewbacca
  • The lawyer's Chewbacca defense left the jury more confused than convinced.

Examples

  • In his closing remarks, he employed a Chewbacca defense, throwing around nonsensical ideas to avoid addressing the evidence.

  • Critics claim the company is using a Chewbacca defense to distract from the real issues.

  • Trying a Chewbacca defense in court rarely leads to success.

  • The Chewbacca defense is absurd.

  • Don't use the Chewbacca defense!

  • The lawyer resorted to a Chewbacca defense during the trial, hoping to confuse the jury with irrelevant arguments.

  • Many commentators criticized the politician's speech as a Chewbacca defense that obscured the important issues at hand.

Synonyms

casuistry
vsChewbacca defense
1 9.9

Using clever but wrong reasoning to avoid giving a clear answer

uses absurd or irrelevant arguments to distract from the main issue
pilpul
vsChewbacca defense
  • Jargon
9.9

A way of arguing that focuses on small unimportant differences and confuses the issue

relies on absurd or irrelevant claims to confuse rather than subtle detail

Surface Forms

Chewbacca defense singular
Chewbacca defenses plural

Morphology

Chewbacca + defense

Knowing 'Chewbacca' (a fictional character name) and 'defense' (a legal plea) does not allow a B1 learner to infer that the phrase means an intentionally confusing or absurd legal tactic. The term is a culture-specific, idiomatic reference (from popular-media satire) whose meaning is not compositionally derived from its parts, so it requires prior exposure to understand.

Etymology

Chewbacca defense comes from a funny TV episode where a lawyer started talking about Chewbacca, a big, hairy space creature, to distract the jury. One popular story says the lawyer used that silly talk as a defense, so today the term means using nonsense to 'confuse' or 'distract' from the real issue.