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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.
The current logic goes like this: Vague phrases are bad. 'Weasel words' are sort of vague, let us call it that. Look, 'weasel words' are in the dictionary. 'Weasel words' in the dictionary says, 'intentionally vague for the purposes of misleading', let us call it that. See the mistake? It is all very well to look up 'weasel words' in the ...
In the locus classicus, one could identify a particular weasel word, and the particular word whose meaning is sucked out (for instance, voluntary negated the meaning of universal in a political phrase of Woodrow Wilson's criticized by Roosevelt in 1916 as an example of weasel words). But in the general case, as user:Ramir points out, it might ...
Avoid weasel words gives examples of some other cases where weasel words are good: When the belief or opinion is actually the topic of discussion. "In the Middle Ages, most people believed that the Sun revolved around the Earth." When the holders of the opinion are too diverse or numerous to qualify.
The advice in this guideline is not limited to the examples provided and should not be applied rigidly. If a word can be replaced by one with less potential for misunderstanding, it should be. [1] Some words have specific technical meanings in some contexts and are acceptable in those contexts, e.g. claim in law.
Most appalling, Colombia’s leftist President Gustavo Petro went even further compared Israel with the Nazis, says Andres Oppenheimer | Opinion
The editors can decide, collectively, what is "generally accepted by them, and then describe that in a guideline, and that is not weasel wording. (Unless the guideline means not generally accepted by editor consensus but by academics at large or something, in which case that WOULD be weasel wording, and indeed be ironically placed).
Trump biographer Tim O’Brien ripped it as “Word Salad” or “The Crazy.” Translation: “I call it ‘The Weave.’ Everyone else calls it ‘Word Salad’ or ‘The Crazy.’” pic ...