Power word

A power word (or power phrase) is a word (or a phrase) that is used to make one's statement stronger. It is a form of a loaded language and is an antonym of euphemism; however, it is not always the same thing as either a dysphemism or a cacophemism which imply the use of harsh or vulgar words.

Note: Many times power words are used in a semantically correct way, but where a synonym would be more appropriate. The choice is made precisely because of the opinion of an individual or a group.

Power words are used often in our lives. They are used in politics to sell ideas, in advertisements to sell products, and in religions to sell beliefs. Power words will often create an impression that any logical argument against the speaker is absurd, when that is not always the case. The use of a power word that also has a more general meaning can result in the No True Scotsman fallacy.

Examples

Political

• Democracy. When used as a power word, the term 'Democracy' often is used to portray a subject as more formal. Some consider its use in the proper names of specific countries to be a 'power word' application. For example, when the Democratic Republic of the Congo first switched its name, it was interpreted as a 'power word' application by some, as an application of the label 'Democracy' to a country that actually bore a greater similarity to a dictatorship.
• Equal. A primary example of the use of the word equal as a power word would be the "Separate but equal" doctrine upheld by Plessy v. Ferguson. The term equal was used in the title of the doctrine so that on first glance one believed that it was fair. This however later proved to be false.
• Freedom. An example of the word freedom used as a power word would be a terrorist group calling themselves 'freedom' fighters, or conversely, the American invasion of Iraq, dubbed 'Operation Iraqi Freedom'. Notice how either side of a war can use such words to their political advantage amongst their proponents.
• God. Often used as a power word because belief in a higher being is such a personal and/or sacred issue.
• Justice. Sometimes used as a power word, because what justice means is subject to interpretation by each person, it can be used to rationalize things that many others would find abhorrent.
• Liberation. Can be used as a power word to explain a display of force in an area of repression
• People Used as a power word to convey the thought that society in general believes something as a whole
• Anarchist Can be used as a power word when applied as a label to demean a person or group of dissenters
• Dissident. Implies that an opponent's view is uncommon and therefore false.
• Nazi or fascist is sometimes used as an adjective to describe any repressive government (or government perceived to be repressive), whether or not it is National socialist or Fascist.
• Politically incorrect. Power words used when discussing potentially offensive matters. Also provides a useful veil for coded racist or discriminatory memes ("illegals," "welfare queens" etc.).
• Racist. May be used in debates which touch on issues of race or immigration policy. May also be used in debates touching on non-racial cultural differences: e.g., criticism of Islam is sometimes called "racist," despite the fact that Muslims are not a race.
• Reactionary is sometimes used to condemn policies or ideologies viewed by the speaker as excessively conservative or liberal.
• Security is a very common way to create a feeling of insecurity in the population. Security means different things to different people: safer roads to some, reduced crime or non-nuclear energy to others. It evokes a direct association with something perceived as insecure and presents the speaker as a provider of a safer existence without ever being specific. In that sense, terrorism is a quite similar expression.
• Un-American (Anti-American) or Un-Soviet (Anti-Soviet), etc. Used in respective countries to describe an opponent to the government or any undesirables.
• Unconstitutional. Beyond the normal sense of the word, it is often used to describe a proposed or actual law that the speaker disagrees with.

Religious and spiritual

• Christian. Can be used to describe a person in a positive light, as in "She is a true Christian." But can be used an a negative sense, such as "the Christian States of America" to indicate religiously-influenced, socially-conservative political leanings (In this case). In the same way, Islam and Muslim are sometimes misused to refer to fundamentalist religious radicalism, or any action against that of "Christian" nations.
• Faith. Such as U.S. Senator Bill Frist's portraying Democrats as "against people of faith" for blocking President Bush's nominees.
• Godless. Used to describe both atheists and those who support a highly secular state, or are openly hostile to organized religion or religious faith, or those possessed of a different (and perceived wrong) faith, or even of a 'wrong' sect of the same faith.
• Enemy of Islam. Used against those who want to keep Islam out of politics and support secular government.
• Myth or Legend. When one uses it to describe other religions, it is commonly contrasted with "scripture" or "belief". "Pagan mythology" while "Christian belief". Or vice versa, "Pagan belief" and "Christian mythology".
• Pagan, Cultist, Sect, infidel, blasphemer, Non-believer, heretic, Unfaithful. Describing all individuals of different religious or spiritual views.
• Moral and Immoral. Used to describe people or behaviours with which one agrees or disagrees, but lacking any consensus and subject to change. In 2000 it was considered immoral for blacks to marry whites in some States. In 1900 it was thought moral to hang blacks for less.

Debate specific

Abortion Debate

• Anti-Choice, Anti-Life, Pro-Abortion, and Anti-Abortion. Used by political opponents to refer to those opposed to and in favor of legal abortion, respectively.
• Blastocyst, instead of human embryo
• Multiple-Choice. Used primarily by staunch defenders of abortion rights to describe a political opponent whose views on abortion are either (somewhat) more conservative or were in the past more conservative.
• Partial-birth abortion. Describes a particular family of techniques for performing a late-term abortion. Though normatively accurate the medical term for this is "intact dilation and extraction". Anti-abortion activists and abortion opponents argue that the medical term is euphemism.
• Pro-Choice, Right to Choose, Women's Issues, or Women's Rights, rather than "opposed to criminalizing abortion."
• Pro-Life, or "opposed to abortion" and/or "opposed to euthanasia."
• Unborn or baby from the pro-life side, and fetus from the pro-choice side. It should be noted that though "fetus" is a power word when used in ethical and moral discussions on abortion it is appropriate when used as a medical term.

War

• Occupant. Negative for soldier assigned to a foreign country, or a territory demanding independence.
• Peacekeeper. Same as above; just positive.
• Pro-War, when used to describe being in favor of a specific war.
• Terrorist. Used in place of a more neutral term such as combatant or guerrilla, when the speaker opposes the subject.
• Freedom fighter. Used as above, but when the speaker supports the subject.
• Insurgent. On the face of it a neutral word between the extremes of terrorist/militant/guerrilla and freedom fighter/minuteman. However, some claim the term insurgent is biased in favor of these aggressors as it implies rebellion against an illegitimate government.

Environmental Issues

• Cooler Heads Coalition
• Conservation, usually signifying "opposed to non-renewable energy sources"
• Earth, supportive of environmental causes
• Environmentalist wacko, Econazi and Ecoterrorist
• Global, same as Earth
• Green, usually the same as conservationism.
• tree hugger, originally in the Chipko movement

Other

• Care. "We care."
• Children. Politicians and political advocates find phrases like "to help the children" or "think of the children" useful power phrases when proposing (or opposing) certain legislation or spending.
• Family. Used in a similar way to "children," often as part of the terms "pro-family" or "family values."
• -friendly. Supportive or helpful, as in "Environment-friendly" and "User-friendly"
• Love. "I love my country." Can be used almost everywhere.
• Naturally. Meaning "Who wouldn't have thought of that" as in "Naturally, Protestant critics have jumped on this bandwagon", or meaning "without a doubt" as in "The point of Brahms's work has naturally been lost by critics"
• So-Called. Commonly used to smear another person. "So-called feminists are commonly engaging in..."
• Technically. Used to indicate that another way of looking at things will present that the speaker is objectively correct, even though he/she may not seem to be correct. "Technically, we only see the light bouncing off the tree, not the tree itself." Also, when a critic points out that a speaker has uttered a falsehood, the speaker can use "technically" in a rebuttal to try to make the critic appear to be a mere pedant, in order to win back the sympathies of the audience. For example, if a critic points out that the speaker has just claimed that two plus two equal five, the speaker can say "Well, technically, two plus two equals four" or "Sure, if you want to get technical about it, two plus two equal four."
• Tough. Used to vaguely describe an attitude towards an undesirable element, such as "tough on crime".
• Epidemic. Used to describe anything widespread. It began as a term to describe a quickly-spreading disease. It has progressively become more vague into "anything that is widespread, regardless of nature or time period". For example, an epidemic may be used to describe people who play video games and watch TV, when in fact both have been around for decades.

See also

• Doublespeak
• Cliché
• Code word (figure of speech)