why is it called a straw man argument
Straw man The term's origins are unclear. The usage of the term in rhetoric suggests a human figure made of straw that is easy to knock down or destroyâ€”such as a military training dummy, scarecrow, or effigy.[8] A common folk etymology is that it refers to men who stood outside courthouses with a straw in their shoe to signal their willingness to be a false witness.[9]
The man on the Clapham omnibus The phrase was first put to legal use in a reported judgment by Sir Richard Henn Collins MR in the 1903 English Court of Appeal libel case, McQuire v. Western Morning News.[4] He attributed it to Lord Bowen, said to have coined it as junior counsel defending the Tichborne Claimant case in 1871. Brewer's also lists this as a possible first use.[5]