the verbal similarity between the words "ridiculous" and "ridicule"?
It's not just verbal similarity - one is derived from the other. It indeed seems merely definitional that the ridiculous ought to be ridiculed, though not necessarily that it is 'the best' way of dealing with it.
Arguments from etymology are not normative.
A monthly thread for posting rationality-related quotes you've seen recently (or had stored in your quotesfile for ages).