Thursday, April 14, 2011

Euphemisms, Loaded Words, & Persuasion

A euphemism is a word or phrase used in place of another word or phrase.  Often euphemisms are used in order to mislead, to confuse, or to neutralize the reaction of an audience.  

Loaded words are words used to engage the emotions of the reader or listener.  These are words that have strong connotations.  Some loaded words (especially the ones with positive connotations) are also euphemisms.

Using a thesaurus such as Thesaurus.com is one way to generate lists of words that have similar meanings but different connotations.

If you have used any loaded words or euphemisms in your bumper sticker, please explain this in your paragraph on wording in your critique.

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