[META] Ad Hominem and Thumbs down.

Laconic2 wrote:
[snip]
> Well, if I trace them both back to ancient Rome, I think there's a
> connection. The thumbs down signal was used by the crowds in the
> coliseum to indicate to a victorious gladiator that he should kill
> the vanquished gladiator. It doesn't get any more "ad hominem" than
> that.
[snip]

The NonExperts say, at http://tinyurl.com/5kmsv "But some Latin scholars think that's backwards. They believe 'thumbs up' was a vote for the victor to run through the vanquished man with his sword, while 'thumbs down' was a call for him to lay down his weapon, letting his foe live to fight again."

This actually makes more sense to me; YMMV.

-- 
frosty