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An illustration of a weasel using "weasel words". In this case, "some people" are a vague and undefined authority. In rhetoric, a weasel word, or anonymous authority, is a word or phrase aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague, ambiguous, or irrelevant claim has been communicated.
According to Daniel Defoe also, meeting a weasel is a bad omen. [10] In English-speaking areas, weasel can be an insult, noun or verb, for someone regarded as sneaky, conniving or untrustworthy. Similarly, "weasel words" is a critical term for words or phrasing that are vague, misleading or equivocal.
The weasel is associated with the destruction of clothing, especially that of brides-to-be, in Southern Greece. The Greek word for weasel is νυφίτσα, which translates to "little bride." Legend goes that the weasel was a bride transformed, and, being jealous of soon-to-be human brides, destroys their wedding dresses. [12]
There are people who say weasel words are words intended to, or having the effect of, softening the force of a potentially loaded or otherwise controversial statement, or avoids forming a clear position on a particular issue. Some people say the quintessential example of weasel words is the phrase "Some people say".
Tag to be placed at the top of an article. Used for articles that employ weasel words too much. Weasel words are are words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful had been said, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated.
Weasel word is an informal term [33] for words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that a specific or meaningful statement has been made, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated, enabling the specific meaning to be denied if the statement is challenged.
The 2002 Geographers A-Z Map of Manchester contains traps. For example, Dickinson Street in central Manchester is falsely named "Philpott St". The non-existent town of Argleton's appearance in Google Maps was investigated by Steve Punt in an episode of the BBC Radio 4 programme Punt P.I. The programme concluded that the town's entry may well ...
"Weasel word" is in dictionaries and usage handbooks; "vague attribution" is less vivid and more vague. That is not progress. - Smerdis of Tlön 15:49, 15 October 2009 (UTC) Support. "vague attribution" is far more precise and less prejorative than the non-standard, narrow meaning that ESP invented for "weasel words".