Dictionary

go Godwin en · VERB

Etymology

Refers to Godwin's law.

Meanings

1. (Internet) To invoke Adolf Hitler or Nazism in an argument, thereby fulfilling Godwin's law.
   • Godwin's Law is important because it shows the cost of attaching baggage to your arguments. I think that if you can argue that something is bad by invoking Hitler, you can argue that something is bad without invoking Hitler. It's not just that going Godwin is tacky. It is, or should be, a sign of rhetorical weakness. 2013 December 30, beat, “Archived copy”, in Hacker News, archived from the original on 08 Dec 2025:
   • For his June 24 column, Lively went full Godwin on Obama, likening him to Hitler and staging the then-upcoming debate as a way to take President Biden out of the picture a la Hitler’s “Night of the Long Knives”: 2025 January 27, Terry Krepel, “The Gays, Nazis and Gay Nazis Inside Scott Lively's Brain”, in ConWebWatch, archived from the original on 27 Jan 2025:
   • In 20-plus years online, I don't believe I've ever seen someone go Godwin on the very first post. 2008 December 16, Ed Bott, “A new record for Godwin's Law”, in ZDNET, archived from the original on 08 Dec 2025:

Forms