WEASEL WORDS

The Guardian • WEASEL WORDS

Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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Weasel Words heading 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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