The Guardian • WEASEL WORDS
Issue #2061
WEASEL WORDS
Vicious No, not the old Lou Reed song. “Vicious” is how how 9 Newspapers describe Paul Keating’s description of Jens Stoltenberg the secretary general of...
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Issue #2037
WEASEL WORDS
plans (plænz) – we’ve got … Everyone has plans. Like “arguing for,” having plans can be a weaslish way to distract you from a total...
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Issue #2073
WEASEL WORDS
The centre Simply the half-way point of something, or the job description of a sportsperson who plays near there; ‘the centre’ enters weaseldom when used...
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Issue #2045
WEASEL WORDS
(special AUKUS edition) Uncomfortable reading / əˈnkmfərtəbəl ˈrdɪŋ/ A lot of weasel words are an attempt to pre-emptively shield something awful from criticism. If something is...
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Issue #2040
WEASEL WORDS
Restraint (rɪˈstrnt) Our first word comes from the very weasely team at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who would like the government to...
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Issue #2079
WEASEL WORDS
Independent This shouldn’t be a weasel word. It’s good to be independent, and the Communist Party of Australia supports an independent Australia – kind of...
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Issue #2059
WEASEL WORDS
the job (getting on with) The Labor government doesn’t have time for empty talk, you’ll be surprised to hear. That’s because they are “getting on...
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Issue #2063
WEASEL WORDS
Pressure How can “pressure” be a weasel word? Surely there is either pressure or there isn’t. That’s true if we’re talking about car, bike, or...
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Issue #2067
WEASEL WORDS
Nuclear energy Wait a minute, nuclear is just a thing, isn’t it? How can that be a weasel word? Nuclear energy is a way of...
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Issue #2035
WEASEL WORDS
TAX tæks/ We all know what a tax is, don’t we? The government needs money, so they take a slice of your salary, or maybe...
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Issue #2043
SZEL WORDS
Complexities /kəmplˈɛksɪtiz/ Readers who lived in a share house during their student days may remember instant tidying for parties. One top tip for student house-dwellers...
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Issue #2021
WEASEL WORDS
What does it mean to be “resilient”? Is “wellness” a good thing? Well it depends on who you ask in this fortnight’s edition of Weasel...
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Issue #2029
WEASEL WORDS
CARBON-NEUTRAL /ˌkɑː.bən ˈnjuː.trəl/ This is a good thing, right? It means that the thing which has been so described at least doesn’t add any more...
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Issue #2031
WEASEL WORDS
SOVEREIGN /ˈsɒv.ər.ɪn/ A sovereign country, Wikipedia tells us, is “a political entity […] that has supreme legitimate authority over territory.” Unless you’re one of those...
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Issue #2033
WEASEL WORDS
RESPONSIBLE /rɪˈspɒn.sə.bəl/ A very useful word this one. You can be responsible for something, for example all governments claim to be responsible for good economic...
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Issue #2071
WEASEL WORDS
Self-made Absolutely nobody is really ‘self-made’. If you think you are, just ask your parents to give you a little talk about the Facts of...
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Issue #2047
WEASEL WORDS
Warrior /ˈwriər/ (for) What comes to your mind when you hear the word “warrior?” Conan the Barbarian? Boadacea, with cool pagan woad painted on her...
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Issue #2049
Weasel Words
Hitler (just like) By now, everyone has heard of “Godwin’s law”, an internet saying amounting to this: if you compare someone to Hitler or the...
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Issue #2017
WEASEL WORDS
Will politicians stop “playing politics”? Do think tanks do any actual “thinking”? How “strong” is Australia? Well it depends on who you ask in this...
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Issue #2025
WEASEL WORDS
Are you an “activist”? Is “stability” a good thing? Who in this society is “shrill”? It depends on who you ask in this Weasel Words!...
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Issue #2027
WEASEL WORDS
CONTROVERSIAL /ˌkɒn.trəˈvɜː.ʃəl/ You can probably guess the weaselly use of this word. Controversial and controversy are easy to use weaslishly because they’re so open-ended. Strictly...
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Issue #2065
WEASEL WORDS
Worker-centric A British Labour Party shadow trade secretary has said that when Labour gets into power, they’ll get on really well with the Biden administration...
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Issue #2075
WEASEL WORDS
Risky Michaelia Cash repeatedly described a proposition for Indigenous people to have a democratically elected body that could represent them, aka the Indigenous Voice to...
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Issue #2077
WEASEL WORDS
Focussed on One of many weasel words designed to avoid questions while sounding active. When a politician is asked why they haven’t done something they’ve...
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Issue #2015
WEASEL
Are we “piling-on” our politicians? Who has a “mandate” in parliament? Are people “virtue signalling” too much these days? Well it depends on who you...
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Issue #2023
WEASEL WORDS
BOLD /bəʊld/ A good thing to be! Superman is bold. Action heroes are bold. Used weaselly, “bold” means that a politician is going to do...
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Issue #2019
WEASEL WORDS
Are we really a “judeo-christian” society? Does our society really “empower” us? Well it depends on who you ask in this fortnight’s edition of Weasel...
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Issue #2053
WEASEL WORDS
Working poor This term comes to us from whatever combination of spin doctor and focus group that gets words into Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s mouth....
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Issue #2081
WEASEL WORDS
Exchanges and debates (valuable) Former Australian PM Tony Abbott, always in search of far-right figures to be relevant to, has dropped in on the ‘Danube...
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Issue #2055
WEASEL WORDS
Speculate (not wanting to) Some words are weasleish not because they are misleading in themselves, but because they are selectively and dishonestly applied. Speculating, in...
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Issue #2057
WEASEL WORDS
Certainty Like many other weasel words, certainty is used to ask for things it would be impolite to ask for directly. The gas industry are...
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