Here's some easy and humorous examples of equivocation:


  • Hot dogs are better than nothing. There's nothing better than steak. So hot dogs are better than steak.
  • An aspirin will make noisy children go away because noisly children are a headache and aspirin makes headaches go away.
  • Everything that runs has feet. The river runs. Therefore the river has feet.
  • Some birds are domesticated. My parrot is domesticated. Therefore, my parrot is some bird!

More interesting examples of equivocation:


  • The publication ban in the Paul Bernardo case ought to be lifted. After all, there is a great public interest in the case and the courts always ought to act in the public interest.
  • I ought to do what is right. And I have the right to publish my pacifist opinions concerning the American actions in Afghanistan. Hence, I ought to publish them.
  • We are told that discrimination is morally wrong. But how can that be the case? We praise people all the time for being discriminating -- in their taste for good wine, books and friends, for example. From now on, I'm not going to be inhibited against discriminating  against women when they apply for jobs in my department.

Pick out the key concepts (in the specific words or phrases) which shift meaning in the above examples. Can you explain precisely how the equivocation happens? More cases of equivocation as well as detailed analyses can be found at Equivocation by Professor Charles Ess: