British journalist Peter Hitchens is always a delight to read.
His newspaper articles are always eye-catching and good reading.
(And he is the author of a brilliant book called The Rage Against God—about his swing from left wing politics to conservatism, and from atheism to belief. Look for it in your local library.)
It was Peter Hitchens who drew my attention to this strange word ‘whataboutery.’
At first, I thought it was something new he had coined—but no, it’s been around since 1974 and is now in the dictionary, with the following definition: ‘The practice of responding to an accusation or difficult question by making a counter accusation or raising a different issue’ (Oxford).
An example might make this clearer.
If someone says, ‘The treatment of women in Islamic societies is appalling’—the ‘whataboutery’ response might be, ‘Ah, yes, but what about the toxic masculinity and patriarchy in western societies?’
If someone points how absurd it is for people to march under a banner of ‘Gay for Palestine’ because Islam prescribes the death penalty for homosexuality—the ‘whataboutery’ response might be, ‘Ah, yes, but what about the gay bashings in the streets of our cities?’
In other words, the ‘whataboutery’ response can be totally irrelevant—sometimes trying to justify bad behaviour by other sorts of bad behaviour.
I heard a real of example of this some time ago, when someone raised the evil horror of Palestinian terrorists kidnapping hundreds of Israelis on October 7, 2023.
The response was, ‘Yes, but what about all those Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons?’
Which was (of course) totally irrelevant—since those prisoners were terrorists and bombers and not civilians.
So, this word is a warning about a fraud, a dishonesty, that is perpetrated in debates.
Look for it.
Notice the ‘what about’ example is completely irrelevant, point that out, and drag the debate back to the real issue.
Be on the lookout for ‘whataboutery.’
There is a new episode of the podcast 'Words with Kel Richards' now out (with the dateline September 2026). To listen to it either scroll further down this page -- or go to wherever you usually get your podcasts.
My latest column (about the decline of the Liberal Party) is now available at News24 online. Here's the link: Next month marks 11 years since the Liberal Party began its slow decline into electoral irrelevance | News24
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BOOKS:
* My latest book is called Pray Like This. To look at prayer I do what I do in these Ozword columns: I go through the most famous prayer in the world (The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father) and unpack it word by word—each chapter being a short word-study on a key word in that prayer. There is a total of 21 words studies in all. To find out more, here’s a link to the publisher’s website (where you can buy a copy if you wish): Pray Like This – matthiasmedia.com.au
* My book is Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries -- containing 50 new stories I have written about the great detective. You can find it on Amazon. Just go to Amazon and type in Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries in the search panel. Or use this link: h Amazon.com.au : Sherlock Holmes 5-Minute Mysteries Kel Richards
* My book "Defending the Gospel" is now in a second, fully revised, edition. You can find it here: Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au
* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonis
hing story of the convict fraudster who wrote Australia's first dictionary by Kel Richards | 9781460759769 | Booktopia
* You can find all Kel's books currently in print here -- Booktopia Search Results for 'kel richards'. We sell books, hardback, paperback, audio, CDs.
* And also here -- Amazon.com.au : Kel Richards
* And you'll find more here -- Search: 4 results found for "Kel Richards" – matthiasmedia.com.au
* Many of Kel's out of print books can be found at ABE Books -- Kel Richards - AbeBooks explaining words explain the term
BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
