Weasel Words
Named after the animal
words that suck the life out of the words next to them, just as a weasel sucks the egg and leaves the shell.Examples:
Axis of evil, B2B, Burn rate, Cabinet, Czar, Daddy Mac,
Dysfunctional family, Early adopters, Eyes Only, Fabrication, Gaming,
Gun Control, Hackademy, Hurry sickness, I feel your pain,
Issues, Jack-booted government thugs, Juvenile delinquent,
Kickback, Known knowns, L-word, Lulu, Machers,
My fellow Americans, Nannygate, Nutraceuticals, OBE,
Ownership society, PACs, Purple state. Quaint, Quick and dirty,
Racial Privacy, Rustbelt, Safe house, Synergy, T-group, Type T,
Ugly Americans, Utilize, Vacation Specialist, Voluntary termination,
Wake-up call, Wuss, You can be the proud owner, Youthful figure
Weasel Word Plain English
economically disadvantaged poor episode a bureaucratic term for used by governments
and power companies to indicate a hazardous
condition resulting in illness and death due
to excessive pollution or radiation leaks.negative economic growth recession. mobile home community trailer park o.g.a. "other government agency"
u sites to indicate the C.I.A
used by the military at overseas interrogation sites
Quote from Strunks and White: "The Elements of Style"
'Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place.'Author Watson's book "Weasel Words" offered by Amazon at a low price used has received very positive reviews by buyers.
