Lutz Weasel Words the Art of Saying Nothing at All Summary

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Read "Weasel Words: The Art of Saying Nothing at All" by William Lutz (page 520 in Language Awareness). Follow the prompt below and write a brief comment .

Imagine what it would be like to alive in a globe with no advertisements and no one trying to sell you a product. How would you decide what to buy? How would you lot acquire almost new products? Would you prefer to live in such a world? Why or why not?

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Language Awareness Assignment Due: Fri. April 16 (25) points Read "Weasel Words: The Fine art of Saying Zip at All" past William Lutz (page 520 in Linguistic communication Sensation). Follow the prompt below and write a brief annotate. Imagine what information technology would be like to alive in a world with no advertisements and no one trying to sell you lot a production. How would you decide what to buy? How would y'all learn about new products? Would you prefer to alive in such a globe? Why or why non? 524 CURRENT LANGUAGE CONTROVERSIES xv area, the give-and-take tin can be used longer, and in some instances has been used for equally long as two years. What makes a product "new"? Some products have been around for a long time, yet every once in a while you lot discover that they are being adver- tised as "new." Well, an advertiser can call a product new if there has been "a cloth functional change" in the product. What is "a material func- tional alter," you ask? Good question. In fact it's such a good question it'southward being asked all the time. It's upwards to the manufacturer to prove that the product has undergone such a change. And if the manufacturer isn't chal- lenged on the merits, then there'due south no one to stop it. Moreover, the change does not have to be an improvement in the product. One manufacturer added an bogus lemon odour to a cleaning product and chosen it "new and improved," even though the product did not clean whatever better than without the lemon scent. The manufacturer dedicated the use of the word "new" on the grounds that the bogus olfactory property inverse the chemical formula of the production and therefore constituted "a material functional change." Which brings up the word "improved." When used in advertizing, "improved" does not hateful "made ameliorate." It only means "changed" or "unlike from before." So, if the detergent maker puts a plastic pour spout on the box of detergent, the production has been "improved," and away we go with a whole new advertising entrada. Or, if the cereal maker adds more fruit or a dissimilar kind of fruit to the cereal, in that location's an improved product. Now you know why manufacturers are constantly making little changes in their products. Whole new advertisement campaigns, designed to convince you lot that the production has been inverse for the amend, are based on small changes in superficial aspects of a product. The next fourth dimension yous meet an advert for an "improved" product, ask yourself what was wrong with the erstwhile one. Ask yourself merely how "improved" the product is. Finally, y'all might check to see whether the "improved" version costs more than the unimproved one. After all, someone has to pay for the millions of dollars spent advertising the improved product. Of course, advertisers really like to run ads that merits a production is "new and improved." While what constitutes a "new" production may exist subject area to some regulation, "improved" is a subjective judgment. A manu- facturer changes the shape of its stick deodorant, but the shape doesn't amend the function of the deodorant. That is changing the shape doesn't affect the deodorizing power of the deodorant, then the manufacturer calls it "improved." Another manufacturer adds ammonia to its liquid cleaner and calls it "new and improved." Since calculation ammonia does affect the clean- ing power of the product, at that place has been a "textile functional change", in the product, and the manufacturer can now call its cleaner "new," and "improved" as well. Now the weasel words "new and improved" are plastered all over the package and are the ground for a multimillion-dollar ad campaign. Simply later six months the discussion "new" will take to go, until someone can dream up another change in the product. Perhaps information technology will be WILLIAM LUTZ: Weasel Words: The Fine art of Saying Goose egg at All 525 dripless pour spout, or mayhap a calculation a new The "improvements are "New" is just too useful and powerful a word in advert for adver- up easily. So they employ weasel words that say "new" without "Introducing the stain remover." The outset is merely calculation color to the liquid, or changing the shape of the package, or maybe endless, and so are the new advertizing claims and campaigns. it tisers to laissez passer really saying it. One of their favorites is "introducing," as in, "Introducing improved Tide," or saying, here's our improved soap; the second, hither's our new advertis- ing campaign for our detergent. Some other favorite is "at present," as in, "At present there'south Sinex," which simply ways that Sinex is available. And so there are phrases like "Today's Chevrolet," "Presenting Dristan," and "A fresh way to start the day." The list is really endless because advertisers are always finding new ways to say "new" without really saying it. If there is a 2d edition of (my] book, I'll just call information technology the "new and improved" edition. Wouldn't you lot really rather have a "new and improved" edition of [my] volume rather than a "second" edition? Acts Fast "Acts" and "works" are two popular weasel words in advertising because they bring action to the production and to the advertising claim. When you run into the advertisement for the coughing syrup that "Acts on the cough command middle," inquire yourself what this cough syrup is claiming to do. Well, it's simply claiming to "human action," to do something, to perform an action. What is it that the cough syrup does? The ad doesn't say. Information technology merely claims to perform an action or do something on your "cough control centre." Past the way, what and where is your "cough command middle"? I don't remember learning about that part of the body in human being biology class. Ads that employ such phrases as "acts fast," "acts confronting," "acts to pre- vent," and the like are saying essentially nothing, because "human action" is a word empty of whatsoever specific pregnant. The ads are always careful not to specify exactly what "act" the product performs. Just because a brand of aspirin claims to "act fast" for headache relief doesn't mean this aspirin is any meliorate than whatsoever other aspirin. What is the "act" that this aspirin performs? You're never told. Maybe it just dissolves quickly. Since aspirin is a parity product, all aspirin is the aforementioned and therefore functions the aforementioned. 20 Works Like Anything Else If you don't observe the word "acts" in an advertisement, you will probably find the weasel word "works." In fact, the two words are nigh interchangeable in advertizement. Watch out for ads that say a production "works against," "works similar," "works for," or "works longer." As with "acts," "works" is the aforementioned meaningless verb used to make you call back that this product really does something, and mayhap even something special or unique. But "works," like "acts," is basically a word empty of whatever specific meaning, 526 CURRENT Linguistic communication CONTROVERSIES Like Magic information technology Whenever advertisers desire you to finish thinking near the production and to start thinking nigh something bigger, meliorate, or more attractive than the production, they use that very popular weasel discussion "like." The word Clike" is the advertiser's equivalent of a magician's apply of misdirection. "Like" gets you to ignore the product and concentrate on the claim the advertiser is making well-nigh it. "For peel similar peaches and cream" claims the advert for a skin cream. What is this advertizement really claiming? Information technology doesn't say this foam volition give you peaches-and-cream skin. There is no verb in this claim, and so it doesn't even mention using the product. How is pare ever like "peaches and cream"? Remember, ads must exist read literally and exactly, co-ordinate to the dictionary definition of words. (Remember "virtually" in the Eli Lilly case.) The advertisement is making absolutely no promise or claim whatsoever for this peel cream. If y'all think this cream will give y'all soft, smooth, youthful- looking pare, you are the ane who has read that meaning into the ad. The vino that claims "It's like taking a trip to France" wants you to think near a romantic evening in Paris as you walk forth the boulevard after a wonderful repast in an intimate trivial bistro. Of course, you don't actually believe that a wine tin accept you to French republic, but the goal of the ad is to get you to think pleasant, romantic thoughts about France and not well-nigh how the wine tastes or how expensive The discussion "like" is the may exist. That little word "like" has advertiser's equivalent of a taken yous away from crushed grapes magician's use of misdirection. into a world of your ain imaginative making. Who knows, perchance the adjacent time you buy wine, you lot'll retrieve those pleasant thoughts when you encounter this make of wine, and you'll buy information technology. Or, perchance you weren't fifty-fifty thinking near buying wine at all, only now you just might pick upwards a canteen the side by side time you're shopping. Ah, the ability of "like" in advert. How about the most famous "like" claim of all, "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should"? Ignoring the grammatical error here, you might desire to know what this claim is saying. Whether a cigarette tastes proficient or bad is a subjective judgment because what tastes good to i person may well sense of taste horrible to some other. Not everyone likes fried snails, even if they are called escar- got. (De gustibus non est disputandum, which was probably the Roman dominion for advertizing every bit well equally for defending the games in the Colosseum.) There are many people who say all cigarettes taste terrible, other people who say simply some cigarettes gustation all right, and still others who say all cigarettes taste skilful. Who's correct? Everyone, considering sense of taste is a affair of personal judgment. Moreover, note the utilize of the provisional, "should." The com- plete claim is, "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should taste. should cigarettes sense of taste expert? Once again, this is a matter of personal judg- ment and probably depends near on one's experiences with smoking. Then, the Winston advertizing is simply maxim that Winston cigarettes are merely like any 25 But WILLIAM LUTZ: Weasel Words: The Art of Proverb Null at All 527 other cigarette: Some people like them and some people don't. On that argument R. J. Reynolds conducted a very successful multimillion-dollar advertisement campaign that helped go along Winston the number-two-selling cigarette in the Us, close behind number one, Marlboro. Tin can IT Exist Upward TO THE Claim? Analyzing ads for doublespeak requires that you pay attending to every word in the ad and determine what each give-and-take really means. Advertisers endeavour to wrap their claims in language that sounds physical, specific, and objective, when in fact the linguistic communication of advertisement is annihilation merely. Your job is to read carefully and listen critically and then that when the announcer says that "Crest tin can exist of significant value ... you know immediately that this claim says absolutely nada. Where is the doublespeak in this advertisement? Get-go with the 2d word. Once again, you take to look at what words really mean, not what you call back they mean or what the advertiser wants you to think they mean. The ad for Crest merely says that using Crest "can exist" of "pregnant value." What really throws you off in this ad is the bright use of "significant." Information technology draws your attention to the give-and-take "value" and makes you forget that the advertizement only claims that Crest "tin can be." The advertizing doesn't say that Crest is of value, simply that it is "able" or "possible" to be of value, considering that's all that "tin can" means. It'southward so like shooting fish in a barrel to miss the importance of those little words, "tin can be." Almost every bit piece of cake every bit missing the importance of the words "up to" in an advertizement. These words are very popular in auction ads. You know, the ones that say, "Upwards to l% Off!" Now, what does that claim mean? Non much, because the store or manufacturer has to reduce the price of just a few items by l percentage. Everything else tin be reduced a lot less, or non even reduced. Moreover, don't you lot desire to know 50 pecent off of what? Is it 50 per centum off the "manufacturer'south suggested listing price," which is the highest possible price? Was the price artificially inflated and then reduced? In other ads, "up to" expresses an ideal situation. The medicine that works "up to x times soap that gets faster," the battery that lasts "up to twice as long," and the you "upwards to twice as clean" all are based on platonic situations for using those products, situations in which yous can be certain you lot volition never discover yourself. UNFINISHED WORDS Unfinished words are a kind of "upwards to" merits in advertising. The merits that a battery lasts "up to twice as long" usually doesn't finish the comparison- twice as long as what? A birthday candle? A tank of gas? A cheap battery made in a state not noted for its technological achievements. The impli- cation is that the battery lasts twice equally long every bit batteries fabricated by other bombardment makers, or twice as long as earlier model batteries made by the advertiser,
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Running caput: WEASEL WORDS

Weasel Words
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WEASEL WORDS

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Weasel Words: The Art of Proverb Nothing at All

Adverts are at that place to sell a product or idea to united states of america, and as such, they use a lot of colorful
languages. For this reason, one will spot so many different ads selling off their products equally "new�...