Conservapedia:Parthian shot

From RationalWiki

A Parthian shot is a criticism made by an individual at the moment they leave a group or walk away from an argument.

The name comes from the ancient warriors of Parthia, who used the innovative cavalry tactic of first pretending retreat so as to encourage their enemies to pursue them, and then twisting around and shooting arrows at their opponents.^[1] (They even won a lot of battles with the Roman army this way.)

It is sometimes claimed that "parting shot" was derived from "Parthian shot" - but see our controversy section below.

They are a a subject of much fascination to Andrew Schlafly^[2], owner of Conservapedia, who eagerly looks forward to new additions to his collection - which we humbly catalog below.

1 Classic Parthian shots
2 Controversy
- 2.1 Differences between "Parthian shot" and "parting shot"
3 Footnotes

[edit] Classic Parthian shots

Auld Nick - 24 May 2007
Porthos - 27 September 2007
Graham - 29 September 2007
Stryker - 27 December 2007
MexMax - 22 February 2008
DanH - 19 June 2008
Daphnea - 30 June 2008
Humblpi - 21 July 2008
Iduan - 29 Aug 2008
DirkB - 13 September 2008

[edit] Controversy

Although it often repeated that "parting shot" is a derivation of "Parthian shot"^[3] this is by no means clear, and may be an example of a folk etymology.

The first example of "parting shot" in the literal sense of "a final shot" appears in the literature in 1818 and the first figurative use in 1828.

The first literal use of "Parthian shot" occurs in 1832 and the first figurative use in 1842.

This would suggest that the two phrases entered English independently and that "parting shot" came first.^[4]^[5]^[6]

[edit] Differences between "Parthian shot" and "parting shot"

It is sometimes claimed that there is an actual difference in meaning between "Parthian shot" and "parting shot" - but it seems to be difficult to find references which support this.