"The point is moot"

I was recently called out for using the phrase "the point is moot" incorrectly. My intent was to indicate that I felt that the point wasn't really worth debating or discussing. I was then shown that the definition also includes "open to discussion" which left me scratching my head. While the two definitions are not strictly opposing, they do seem to go off in rather distinct yet related directions.

I am left feeling like this discussion is perhaps moot — is it best to just avoid using the word entirely? Is there a proper or accepted way to use it correctly?

Solution 1:

A "moot" point is debatable and open for discussion but may not come to any satisfactory conclusion or whose conclusion may be meaningless.

Some examples from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:

The court ruled that the issue is now moot because the people involved in the dispute have died.

I think they were wrong, but the point is moot. Their decision has been made and it can't be changed now.

Solution 2:

I have always been mystified at the unqualified "open to discussion or debate" meaning of moot, and consider it to be an error (at least if used within the confines of American English). I've never seen it used that way, without the accompanying notion that though the question itself is unresolved, it is not useful to debate in the current context because of lack of relevance. If someone declared that a point was moot, then followed up with "... so let's debate it right now!", I would either seek help for the individual or avoid further contact.

And that's the way it is used in U.S. jurisprudence, at least-- cases are often dismissed for mootness, and a moot point may be defined as an "issue presenting no real controversy", "a subject for academic argument", or "an abstract question that does not arise from existing facts or rights" (example definitions pulled from The Free Online Dictionary). There is accordingly a fairly rich body of case law supporting the legal doctrine of mootness, and outlining its limits and exceptions. Practically speaking, the issue of mootness is not whether the issue is truly just abstract or academic, it's whether the court thinks it can finagle its way out of addressing it in the context of the facts of a specific case. For example, even though a case is initially considered moot, it may be addressed by a court if it is capable of repetition, yet evading review, i.e. though in the case being considered the issue no longer exists (usually because the real-world situation has resolved by the time the case is reviewed), that will keep happening if the court doesn't agree to resolve the legal issue.

Solution 3:

"The adjective moot is originally a legal term going back to the mid-16th century. It derives from the noun moot, in its sense of a hypothetical case argued as an exercise by law students. Consequently, a moot question is one that is arguable or open to debate.

But in the mid-19th century people also began to look at the hypothetical side of moot as its essential meaning, and they started to use the word to mean "of no significance or relevance." Thus, a moot point, however debatable, is one that has no practical value. A number of critics have objected to this use, but 59 percent of the Usage Panel accepts it in the sentence The nominee himself chastised the White House for failing to do more to support him, but his concerns became moot when a number of Republicans announced that they, too, would oppose the nomination.

When using moot one should be sure that the context makes clear which sense is meant." (AHD)

Solution 4:

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the North American use of moot as ‘Of a case, issue, etc.: having no practical significance or relevance; abstract, academic.’

Not being a speaker of American English, I can comment no further.

Solution 5:

The American meaning, which is "we can debate this but whatever conclusion we reach is immaterial" has, even in England, largely superseded the original English meaning which was "we need to debate this". A moot was a meeting to talk over issues - hence the original meaning of a moot point - from thefreedictionary.com: "2. An ancient English meeting, especially a representative meeting of the freemen of a shire."