Anytime you bring up Hitler or the Nazi Party in an internet discussion, the indignant internet nerd will yell "Godwins!" and instantly you are presumed to lose the argument. Sometimes, however, making comparisons to Hitler or the Nazi Party are relevant, and the mere utterance of their names aren't cause enough to denigrate an entire argument, is it? Is it?!

Hitler says, "Hellz no!"



The whole definition has been perverted by the internet community. It's original meaning, according to wiki is "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."

The "law" (I loosely use that term) means the longer the discussion, the more likely the argument will involve a comparison to Hitler or Nazis. What the "law" does NOT imply is the use of Hitler or Nazis in a comparison defaults in an instant loss of the discussion.

People who invoke Godwin's Law in discussion tend to reference the second sentence on the wiki page that reads: "References to Godwin's Law often actually refer to a corollary of it which determines that the person who first makes an unwarranted reference to Nazi Germany or Hitler in an argument loses that argument automatically."

Let's break that sentence apart. The first part of the line reads, "References to Godwin's Law often actually refer to a corollary of it." Corollary of it meaning consequences of the Godwin's Law, thus Reference to the law often refers to a consequence of the law, not the original intention of the law itself.

The second part of the line is the "consequence" which reads, "which determines that the person who first makes an unwarranted reference to Nazi Germany or Hitler in an argument loses that argument automatically." It's obvious that any unwarranted use of any reference will ultimately lead to a loss of any argument (e.g., guy 1: "I love flowers." guy 2: "Whatever Hitler").

But, I'd argue that most people in internet discussions count your argument as a loss whether the use of Hitler or Nazis was warranted or not. If you give in to this colloquial thought, then soon the use of Mussolini or Stalin in comparisons will be lumped into Godwin's Law. Don't let the internet Nazis win!