Forum:Is there a name for "reversing the offense" rhetorical device?

Hi,

I'm trying to find a name for a rhetorical device that I see most often as a "reverse victimhood" kind of argument.

Those darn X people are always saying horrible things about people like my fellow Y people, who never cheat, lie, or say bad things about others like those X people do

Is there a formal name for this sort of device?

Thanks !




 * Might be a subset of psychological projection. CamelCasePragmatist (talk) 15:44, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

Yes, that does seem to fit pretty well; although I was thinking of it more cynically, as in the perpetrator doing it as a deliberate device - the psychological projection carries a connotation of doing it unconscioulsy. Though, I suppose, it doesnt make a lot of difference in a practical sense, being unable to peer into a person's soul and all :) Thanks ! Rockygorge (talk) 16:26, 21 September 2015 (UTC)