phrase requests - Word for dismissing someone's opinions as racist, liberal, etc, instead of debating back

I'm looking for either a single word or phrase that would describe either someone or the action of dismissing someone's opinions as something "socially unpopular", without giving any reasoning why, either just to spite them, because they have a poor counter-argument, have been backed into a corner, or something similar.

For example, someone who supports something politically incorrect (like, say, stronger gun control or help for male domestic abuse) might have their views dismissed as racist or sexist or liberal without actually acknowledging and debating against them, thus labeling the former as something they might not be.

I was talking to a friend earlier about politics, and she complained about Germany's immigration problem. She said one issue was that many politicians that try to support stronger immigration laws would immediately be shot down as racist or a nazi and forced to resign, instead of being presented with counter-arguments. Regardless of whether you agree with them or not, what would describe that?

EDIT: Forgot to specify -- the word or phrase I'm looking for would be used in an informal context. And to address further questions, to be used when the person's opinion has legitimate worth and isn't just "being racist" etc, i.e. the dismisser is incorrect, and is only making these accusations because they can't argue further. (Added emphasis to the last sentence of the first paragraph)

Answer

It seems you want a word for someone refusing to engage in discussion, because they regard the subject as not open to debate. To dismiss out of hand is one option which has already been suggested, or more neutrally you might have to disengage from discussion.

In a similar vein I would suggest shut down debate.

I also detail how accusations of trolling were used as a justification for shutting down debates about community expectations ... — Bergstrom, Kelly. "'Don’t feed the troll': Shutting down debate about community expectations on Reddit.com". First Monday, Volume 16, Number 8.

In this quote, it is alleged that users refused to engage in discussion about community expectations and instead just "called troll", which is similar to your example where people "call out racism/sexism" rather than engaging.

I helped shut down an abortion debate between two men because my uterus isn't up for their discussion. — Title of an article by Niamh Mcintyre. The Independent, 18 November 2014.

Here the writer states that she prevented, rather than engaged in, a debate, because she felt the participants lacked relevant standing.

If you want give a more specific reason for the disengagement, rather than just acknowledge that the it occurred, you might like play the race card, or equivalently play the sexism card.

Playing the race card is an idiomatic phrase that refers to exploitation of either racist or anti-racist attitudes by accusing others of racism. — Wikipedia entry for "Race card", as of 3 July 2015.

An example usage from the British press:

Disgraced former mayor Lutfur Rahman (pictured) is said to have played the race card to silence opponents - and his deputy today reiterated claims there is deep seated racism in the borough of Tower Hamlets, in east London. — "Vote rigging party is STILL playing the racism card: Day after mayor is forced out, deputy blames 'Islamophobia'". Daily Mail, 25 April 2015.

And one from the States:

Democrats won't be able to play the sexism card if Republicans pit former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina against Democrat Hillary Clinton, says John Sununu ... — "John Sununu: Carly vs. Hillary Would End Dems' Phony Cries of Sexism". Newsmax, 31 March 2015

Both of these news sources are notoriously conservative: I don't think either card-playing idiom is very likely to be used by a political liberal or centrist except ironically! So these are less neutral terms than "shutting down debate" is.

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton and Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy. In both The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...

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