chink in someone's argument
- idiom
- /tʃɪŋk ɪn ˈsʌmˌwʌnz ˈɑrɡjʊmənt/
- Informal
:
debilidad en el argumento
- During the debate, she deftly exposed a chink in his argument.
Examples
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The lawyer searched for a chink in their argument to challenge the prosecution's case.
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His presentation revealed a chink in their argument on economic policy.
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Even the most solid theories can have a chink in someone's argument if examined closely.
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There was a chink in her argument about climate change.
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During the debate, she deftly exposed a chink in his argument.
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The lawyer searched for a chink in their argument to challenge the prosecution's case.
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His presentation revealed a chink in their argument on economic policy.
Synonyms
9
7.6
A mistake in thinking that makes an argument wrong or weak
Antonyms
How Weak
Surface Forms
Morphology
chink + in + someone's + argument
The literal noun 'chink' means a small slit or gap, and applied to an 'argument' it metaphorically signals a gap or weakness in the reasoning. This physical-to-abstract metaphor is fairly direct and common across languages, so a learner who knows the constituents can usually infer the intended 'weakness or flaw' sense, but because it relies on metaphorical extension rather than purely compositional meaning it is not fully transparent.
Etymology
Chink in someone's argument comes from the old image of a suit of armor with a small crack or gap: a chink where a sword could get in. So a chink became a word for a small 'weakness', and for an argument it means a point you can attack or disagree with, a 'weakness in someone's thinking'.