by Kim Pederson…….

It’s a phrase that gets bandied about often, especially with regard to politicians and extraspecially during times of presidential campaigns: “weasel words.” In case it slipped your mind, a “weasel word,” according to Merriam-Webster, is “a word used in order to evade or retreat from a direct or forthright statement or position.” I knew that but I did not know where this derogatory originated.

Merriam-Webster helps out here also:

Some people believe that weasels can suck the insides out of an egg without damaging the shell, so that an egg thus weasel-treated would look fine on the outside but would actually be empty and useless. It was this supposed behavior on the part of the weasel that led people to start using weasel word to refer to any term intended to give the impression that everything is fine when the speaker is really trying to avoid answering a question, telling the truth, or taking the blame for something.

Advertising is also a much weaseled realm. In that arena, the weasel appears in many forms, as noted in this essay by Jeffrey Schrank:

-The Weasel Claim – “Helps control dandruff symptoms with regular use.” It does not, notably, stop dandruff.
-The Unfinished Claim – “You can be sure if it’s Westinghouse.” Sure of what?
-The “We’re Different and Unique” Claim – “Cougar is like nobody else’s car.”
-The “Water Is Wet” Claim – “Mobil: the Detergent Gasoline.” Any gasoline acts as a cleaning agent.

Schrank goes on to describe the “So What?” claim, the vague claim, the endorsement or testimonial, the scientific or statistical claim, the “compliment the consumer” claim, and the rhetorical question. All involve weaselocities that advertisers employ to create the necessary illusion of superiority.

These same practices happen in politics. If there were a “weasel word” drinking game where you downed a shot every time a politician says something like “uncompromising integrity” or “the simple truth” or “yes we can,” we would all be in a constant state of alcoholic blackout (perhaps mercifully).

Sadly, weasels have overrun our country, indeed the world. The actual weasels, lucky for them, have no idea this is happening. If they did, they would no doubt chuck our planet en masse in righteous anger. Should this happen, their parting words would likely be these: “So long. No hard feelings. We left you some really unique eggs like nobody else’s eggs. No one deserves them more than you do.”

Visit Kim Pederson’s blog RatBlurt: Mostly Random Short-Attention-Span  Musings