Canard

While reading the judge's Memorandum Opinion in the Dover Intelligent Design School Board case, I learned some new words. Canard, which in English I'd seen and understood in context, but never looked up. In French, I knew it meant "duck" but didn't know what that had to do with falsehood. From Webster's:

Etymology: French, literally, duck; in sense 1, from Middle French vendre des canards à moitié to cheat, literally, to half-sell ducks

I found this really funny. Another word, arguendo, was brand new to me and so fancy, Webster's makes you pay for it in the unabridged version. I went to a law dictionary.

arguendo prep. Latin meaning "for the sake of argument"

I've had an enjoyable time thinking of sentences and situations in which I could use arguendo and innuendo together.

Judge Jones is a clear and thorough writer, and doesn't pull any punches. The opinion is lengthy but worthwhile read and minimizes law jargon. My favorite bit is the highlighting of the Platiniff's complete discrediting of Michael Behe's testimony.

Here's the canard quote in context from Judge Jones:

After this searching and careful review of ID as espoused by its proponents, as elaborated upon in submissions to the Court, and as scrutinized over a six week trial, we find that ID is not science and cannot be adjudged a valid, accepted scientific theory as it has failed to publish in peer-reviewed journals, engage in research and testing, and gain acceptance in the scientific community. ID, as noted, is grounded in theology, not science. Accepting for the sake of argument its proponents’, as well as Defendants’ argument that to introduce ID to students will encourage critical thinking, it still has utterly no place in a science curriculum. Moreover, ID’s backers have sought to avoid the scientific scrutiny which we have now determined that it cannot withstand by advocating that the controversy, but not ID itself, should be taught in science class. This tactic is at best disingenuous, and at worst a canard. The goal of the IDM is not to encourage critical thought, but to foment a revolution which would supplant evolutionary theory with ID.