= Poisoning the well = It is the same as one bad apple spoils the basket, for the apples are next to each other, and pass the germs. If someone takes a dump in the well, everyone else will get sick too! = = Poisoning the well is a logical fallacy where adverse information about someone is pre-emptively presented to an audience, with the intention of discrediting or ridiculing everything that person is about to say. Poisoning the well is a special case of argumentum ad hominem.