Debating Terms

Debating is essentially a very simple activity - about arguing the rights and wrongs of policies and ideas. However, like many other activities, it has developed over time its own specialist vocabulary for otherwise simple concepts. This is a comprehensive glossary of the most commonly used debating terms to help clarify what we do.

Analysis: The logical reasoning behind an argument.
Barrack: To offer points of information too quickly in succession and hence being disruptive.
Bin: (Being in) a low-ranked room.
Break: (To reach) the knockout rounds of a competition as a speaker or as a judge.
Break Room: Any room in the final preliminary round from which teams could potentially break.
British Parliamentary: The format of the debating competitions we participate in. Now recognised the international standard.
Burden: The strategic responsibility on a team or side in a debate
Case File: A collection of written material designed to prepare cases for debates.
Chair Judge: The person who controls a debate and manages the adjudication and feedback to teams afterwards.
Chief Adjudicator: The person responsible for ranking judges and setting the motions in the competition. Also known as the CA.
Closed Motion: A motion which involves a clear policy or statement for the debate.
Closed Round: A round where the results of the adjudication is kept secret from teams.
Closing Government: The second team on the government side. Responsible for extending the government case and summating the debate in favour of the government.
Closing Opposition: The second team on the opposition side. Responsible for extending the opposition case and summating the debate in favour of the opposition.
Composite Team: A team including two speakers not from the same university.
Convenor: The person responsible for organising a debating competition.
Counterprop(osal): An alternative policy to that of the definition advocated by the opposition.
Crash: Accommodation for speakers and judges at a competition.
Definition: The policy or interpretation of the motion created by the opening government team in the debate.
Draw: The announcement of team positions, judges and the motion before a debate.
EFL: English as a Foreign Language. A category for speakers at Worlds.
ESL: English as a Second Language. A category for speakers at Worlds, Euros and some IVs or Opens.
Euros: The European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC). Held annually during the summer.
Extension: The new material brought by teams in the closing half of the debate.
Government: The side in favour of the motion. Also known as the proposition.
IONA: Islands of the North Atlantic - used to refer collectively to the UK and Ireland.
IR: International Relations - the interactions between international actors.
IV: A competition involving only teams from universities. Otherwise known as an intervarsity competition.
Knife: When a closing team implicitly or explicitly contradicts the opening team on the same side.
Motion: The statement of the debate.
Open: A competition which allows composite teams along with university teams.
Open Motion: A motion which does not involve a clear policy or statement for the debate and is left to opening government to interpret.
Open Round: A round where the results of the adjudication is announced to teams after the debate.
Opening Government: The first team on the government side. Responsible for defining the motion, presenting arguments in favour of the motion and rebutting opening opposition.
Opening Opposition: The first team on the opposition side. Responsible for presenting arguments against the motion and rebutting opening government.
Opposition: The side against the motion.
Outround: Any knockout round after the break in which only the top teams take part.
Point of Information: A short, quick point of rebuttal made during a speech by a speaker on the opposing side. Also known as a PoI.
Power Pair: When teams on similar team point totals are drawn to debate against each other. The standard format for most British Parliamentary competitions.
Preliminary Round: A debating round where all the teams take part before the knockout outround.
Prep(aration) Time: The fifteen minutes between the draw and the start of the debate during which teams prepare for a debate.
Proposition: The side in favour of the motion. Also known as the government.
Protected Time: The first and last minute of a speech during which points of information cannot be offered.
Pull Up: To be put in a room with teams on higher team points that you.
Rebuttal: The explanation of why the arguments made by the other side is wrong.
Roll: When the wing judges overrule the chair judge in the adjudication.
Room: The physical location of a debate. Also used to describe the rank of the debate (e.g. top room, break room, bin room etc.)
Speaker Points: Points allocated to individual speakers based on their speech in the debate. Usually marked out of 100. Otherwise known as 'speaks'.
Squirrel: An illegitimate and unreasonable attempt by opening government to restrict or shift a motion.
Straights: When teams have the number of team points equivalent to just getting seconds in all their debates. Often used as a reference point for success (e.g. "Plus one" means the equivalent on straights plus a win etc.).
Strike: When a judge is prevented from adjudicating a team due to a potential bias.
Summation: The concluding speech on each side, providing a biased summary of the debate.
Swing Team: A reserve team put into the competition to ensure a multiple of 4 teams or when a team is absent.
Tab: The final ranking of speakers and judges in a competition.
Tabmaster: The individual responsible for creating and maintaining the tab and draw throughout and after the competition.
Team Points: Points allocated to teams based on their perfomance in a debate. Usually 3 for 1st place, 2 for 2nd place, 3 for 3rd place and 0 for 4th place.
Wing (Judge): A person who assists the chair judge in adjudicating the debate.
Worlds: The World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC). Held annually during the winter.