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'''Claptrap''' is pretentious but insincere or empty [[language]]. It can refer to any nonsensical [[rant]]s that purport to argue a valid point.
'''Claptrap''' is defined by Webster's Dictionary as 'pretentious nonsense'<ref>http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/claptrap</ref>. It is used to describe pretentious but insincere or empty [[language]]. It can also refer to any nonsensical [[rant]]s that purport to argue a valid point.
'''Claptrap''' is often used in the phrase "[[liberal]] claptrap," which describes how a liberal statement is often lacking in substance and sincerity.
The origins of the term are in the theater, where it originally referred any device intended to elicit applause (to trap a clap)<ref>http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=claptrap&allowed_in_frame=0</ref>.
'''Claptrap''' is often used preceded by a qualifier to associate it with a particular standpoint, as in the phrases "[[liberal]] claptrap", "[[atheist]] claptrap", "[[religious]] claptrap", "[[right-wing]] claptrap" etc. In some circumstances this can be a useful shorthand to clarify why the statement in question is nonsense, in others it is merely an attempt to condemn the statement as invalid without going to the effort of any in-depth analysis.
=References=
<references/>
[[Category:Rhetoric]]
[[Category:Rhetoric]]