Authors have characterized the fallacy as a form of a straw man fallacy, where an argument is described as inherently worthless or undeserving of serious attention. Some authors have also described the fallacy as the act of "ridicul" an argument as though it were "a myth", and some characterize it as the act of dismissing an argument "with insults without responding to its substance in any way". Other authors describe the fallacy as the act of dismissing an argument "with the wave of a hand". Some sources also suggest the fallacy is an expression that involves "sneer", "ridicule", or "malicious comments about the proponent of the argument".
Origins
According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, the term "pooh-pooh" originated in the late eighteenth century as a "reduplication" of the word "pooh", which was a common expression of disgust. Some authors also suggest the term originated as a "representation of the act of spitting in sign of contemptuous rejection".
Relationship with the term "party pooper"
Some commentators have suggested that the term "party pooper" is derived from the phrase "pooh-pooh". These commentators argue that the "disdain" a speaker has when "pooh-poohing" a subject could also "describe the negative connotation of a party pooper". However, other sources suggest the term "party pooper" is derived instead from "pooped", a slang word for "exhausted" or fatigued" and that the phrase "party pooper" describes an individual who is tired of a party.
Use in comedy
The word is often used in comedy due to the obvious opportunities for innuendo. In the Seinfeld episode "The Chaperone", the exchange "Oh, you're pooh-poohing?", "Yes, I pooh-pooh" between Kramer and Jerry is enough to draw a laugh from the audience. In The Simpsons episode "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?", Homer Simpson is employed as a food critic by an editor who tells him: "We need someone who doesn't immediately pooh-pooh everything he eats." Homer replies: "No, it usually takes a few hours." In the BBC comedy Blackadder Goes Forth episode "General Hospital", the repetition is stretched to its limits:
