Year Hosts Winners
1994 Melbourne, Australia Glasgow
1993 Oxford, England Harvard
1992 TCD, Ireland Glasgow
1991 Toronto, Canada McGill
1990 Glasgow, Scotland Yale
1989 Princeton, USA Sydney
1988 Sydney, Australia Oxford
1987 UCD, Ireland Glasgow
1986 Fordham, USA UCC
1985 McGill, Canada King’s Inns
1984 Edinburgh, Scotland Sydney
1983 Princeton, USA Glasgow
1982 Toronto, Canada Auckland
1981 Glasgow, Scotland Toronto
Adjudication Panel the people who judge a debate.
Adjudicator a person who judges a debate.
Analysis the process of developing an argument, introducing and assessing evidence. Adjudicators often ask for more analysis.
Analysis debate a debate that asks what the world is like, rather than what should be done about it.
Argument a point made logically.
Audience people listening to a debate.
Back-tabbing a process by which debaters try to work out the results during closed adjudication rounds.
Ballot the formal record of results in each room.
Bottom half Closing Government and Closing Opposition.
Break (n.) the point at which the elimination rounds are announced; (v.) to progress to the elimination rounds.
Breaking on speaks progressing to the elimination rounds on the basis of speaker points, having achieved the same team points as one or more teams that failed to progress.
Break rounds See Elimination rounds
Bubble round one of the debates, in the final preliminary round of a compe-tition, in which one or more teams has an arithmetical chance of breaking.
Glossary
Terms you need to understand, words debaters like to say.
Case a policy, course of action, or state of affairs supported by a team and the reasons for which they support it.
Casefile a file containing notes, articles, and information compiled by a debater to help her or him prepare for debates.
Chair the presiding adjudicator who chairs the adjudication panel and holds the casting vote in the event of a tie.
Challenge a formal challenge to the current definition; it seeks to replace current definition with another.
Chief Adjudicator (CA) the person responsible for overseeing the organiza-tion of debates at a tournament.
Circular argument an argument that assumes what it is trying to prove.
Clash the points of disagreement in a debate.
Closed adjudication the situation where results and feedback cannot be given to teams by adjudicators after their debate.
Closing half collectively, the Closing Government and Closing Opposition teams.
Constructive (n.) arguments, as opposed to rebuttal.
Contradiction an inconsistency between two arguments.
Core Adjudication Team together, the Chief Adjudicator and Deputy Chief Adjudicators.
Counteropp a case, made by Opening Opposition, that posits a specific alternative course of action to that proposed by Opening Government.
Definition the policy, course of action, or state of affairs supported by the Opening Government team.
Deputy Chief Adjudicator (DCA) person appointed to help the Chief Adju-dicator oversee the organization of debates at a tournament.
Deputy Leader of the Opposition second speaker on the Opposition.
Deputy Prime Minister second speaker on the Government.
Dichotomy division of something into two discrete parts, but used by some debaters to mean “contradiction.”
Draw assignment of specific teams to debates.
Dummy team see Swing team.
EFL English as a foreign language.
Engagement showing points of agreement and disagreement with other teams in the debate.
Elimination rounds the octofinals, quarterfinals, semifinals, and final.
Equity Officer person responsible for ensuring fair treatment of participants at a tournament.
ESL English as a second language.
ESL break the break open to ESL teams.
EUDC European Universities Debating Championships.
Euros the European Universities Debating Championships, also known as EUDC.
Extension a new argument or arguments.
Floor debate debate between audience members continued after the main debate and before the result is announced.
Framing using labels and vocabulary that are helpful to your side.
Gov Government.
Government the side in favor of the motion.
Government Whip fourth speaker on the Government.
Harm results that would occur if the issue being debated were not solved.
Debaters are often eager to prove the presence or absence of harm to oth-ers, usually invoking J. S. Mill’s famous principle from On Liberty, to estab-lish whether a course of action is justified.
Intervarsity competition tournament between teams from different universities.
Iron man (v.) to speak in two positions, thus replacing a whole team, in order to make up the numbers at a competition where a swing team is not available.
IV intervarsity competition.
Knife (n.) statement that contradicts a definition, case, or argument previ-ously accepted by that side, team, or speaker; (v.) to utter such a statement.
Knockout rounds See Elimination rounds.
Ladies and Gentlemen traditional opening for a speech, sometimes used as a time filler by debaters.
Leader of the Opposition first speaker on the Opposition.
Long diagonal Opening Government and Closing Opposition. Used by some adjudicators when referring to the interaction between these two teams.
Main break (where a tournament has ESL and/or EFL categories) the teams progressing from the preliminary rounds to the (ESL and/or non-EFL) elimination rounds.
Manner presentation of a speech, including its style and structure.
Matter content of a speech, including Points of Information.
Mechanism account of how the definition will be implemented.
Member of the Government third speaker on the Government.
Member of the Opposition third speaker on the Opposition.
Minus 1, 2, 3, etc. expression of the degree by which the number of team points possessed by a team falls short of the number obtained by a hypo-thetical team finishing second in every round to date.
Model definition.
Motion the topic for debate, worded “This House . . .”
Negative externality a cost imposed on others.
Open a tournament open to all.
Open adjudication the situation where results and feedback can be given to teams by adjudicators after the debate.
Opening half collectively, the Opening Government and Opening Opposi-tion teams.
Open motion motion that allows Opening Government to introduce a topic of their choice for debate.
Opp abbreviation of Opposition.
Opposition the side against the motion.
Opposition Whip fourth speaker on the Opposition.
Oral adjudication see Verbal adjudication.
Othering currently fashionable term used by debaters to describe division into “them” and “us,”
Panacea originally the Greek goddess of healing, often used to characterize a case as unrealistic.
Plan definition.
Platform debate where there is a floor debate involving members of the audience, the term platform debate can be used to denote the main debate (which comes before it).
Plus 1, 2, 3, etc. expression of the degree by which the number of team points possessed by a team surpasses the number obtained by a hypothetical team finishing second in every round to date.
POI Point of Information.
Point of Information (POI) brief comment or question put to a speaker on the opposing side to which they must respond directly.
Positive externality a benefit conferred on others.
Positive matter new arguments.
Prep or prep time the period (usually 15 minutes) between the announce-ment of the motion and the start of the debate; used by teams to prepare.
Prime Minister first speaker on the Government.
Prop (1) an abbreviation of Proposition, an alternative term for Govern-ment; (2) an abbreviation of proposal, meaning definition.
Proposal an alternative word for definition; the policy, course of action, or state of affairs supported by Opening Government.
Proposition an alternative word for Government.
Rebuttal arguments that counter those previously made by the other side.
Role individual or team position in the debate.
Roll (v.) for the wing judges to outvote the Chair.
Seconds number of team points equivalent to those gained by a hypothetical team finishing second in every round to date.
Self-actualization term frequently used by debaters meaning the realization of one’s potential.
Short diagonal Opening Opposition and Closing Government. Used by some adjudicators when referring to the interaction between these two teams.
Side every debate has two sides: Government and Opposition.
Side Government the Government.
Side Opposition the Opposition.
Signposting telling people what you (and your partner) are going to say.
Social utility a term preferred by some debaters to “affecting other people.”
Speaker (a) person responsible for keeping order in a public debate; (b) the debater speaking.
Speaker tab league table showing the rank order of speakers based on indi-vidual points.
Split division of points between two speakers on a team.
Squirrel a definition with no clear and logical link to the motion.
Status quo the current state of affairs. The phrase “in the status quo” is often preferred by debaters to the word now.
Straw man a weakened version of an argument, expressed by a speaker in an attempt to make rebuttal easier. Not recommended.
Structure organization of the content of a speech to aid the effectiveness of presentation.
Style eye contact, voice modulation, hand gestures, language, the use of notes, and anything else that affects effective presentation.
Substantive new arguments.
Substantive case new arguments.
Swing team team of debaters formed to make up the numbers at a tourna-ment; this team cannot break to the elimination rounds.
Sweep where first and second place are awarded to teams on the same side of the table —called a “prop sweep” or “opp sweep” as appropriate.
Tab formal record of results across a tournament.
Tangible a word favored by debaters over harm and benefits; it is used for emphasis.
Team line case.
Team tab league table showing the ranking of teams.
Timekeeper person, usually a wing, responsible for keeping time and signal-ing both protected time and the end of each speech.
Tournament director person responsible for running the tab at a competition.
Top half Opening Government and Opening Opposition.
Trainee an adjudicator who plays no part in the adjudication panel but learns from witnessing its operation.
Utopian a word, derived from Sir Thomas More’s novel, used by debaters to dismiss a case as unrealistic.
Verbal adjudication formal session after a debate where the Chair gives the result and feedback to teams.
Wing adjudicator who is not the Chair.
WODC World Online Debating Championships.
Worlds World Universities Debating Championships.
WUDC World Universities Debating Championships.