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

(Note: Remember, power words and power phrases are ways of "dressing up" one's message to make it more likely that people will take the speaker seriously, and, hopefully, agree with him or her. In politics, this often means trying to embellish the positive aspects of, and cover up the negative aspects of a politician's own schemes, while embellishing the negative aspects of, and covering up the positive aspects of, the plans of his or her opponents. As such, these should all be taken with a grain of salt!

Positive

• Association, instead of labor union
• Democracy. This word is used to make one's actions and beliefs to be seen as more acceptable, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which used the word as part of the country's name. (The modern-day Democratic Republic of Congo was preceded by the so-called "Congo Free State". In reality, this was a brutal tyranny, in which the despised King Leopold II of Belgium and his cronies forced the native Africans into de facto slavery harvesting the Congo's natural resources largely for the Europeans' direct personal profit.)
• Equal. "All men are created equal" by Thomas Jefferson, "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" of the French Revolution or the "Separate but equal" doctrine upheld by Plessy v. Ferguson.
• Freedom. Effectively the same as "democracy" and "equal", especially when used to describe the aims of United States foreign policy. Many use the word to contrast American goals with those of terrorists (in the War on Terror) and Communists (in the Cold War). Notably, supporters of the 2003 invasion of Iraq have supported the action as a defense of "freedom."
  • Shortly before the 2003 war against Iraq, many critics of French opposition to the invasion started calling French fries "freedom fries," French toast "freedom toast," and so on. The United States House of Representatives cafeteria began using those names at the behest of several House Republicans.
• God. As in the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance's "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all".
• Justice. Sometimes used to justify actions that many would consider injustices or crimes].
• Liberation. Was used by USSR and China as mirror image of Western use of "Freedom". Thus, Poland was "liberated" from capitalists and Tibet was "liberated" from imperialist forces of the West. Ironically, by the beginning of the 21st century, term had gone through the dysphemism treadmill and has been frequently applied by the United States of America in reference to its military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan). Militant groups also include the word in their names (Palestine Liberation Army, Palestinian Liberation Organisation), or many of the various Zapatista movements thoughout Latin America who use the name Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional.
• Majority, to imply widespread support of a principle; e.g., the Moral Majority movement in the U.S.
• National security: If a politician wants to enact a policy that erodes personal freedoms and liberties, he or she might argue that the policy is essential for "national security". Often this argument goes without substantial debate because generally everyone wants their nation to be secure and safe from enemy attack, especially after 9/11, and meaningful debate is often not possible because the many salient facts and figures are classified.
• People, as ancient as the "chosen people" or as recent as "We the People", People v. ____, "People's Republic", "People's Liberation Army". The names of a great many ethnicities, cultures, tribes and nations (as divergent as the Dineh and the Deutsch), in their own languages, simply translate as "The People". Aside from quietly implying that any outsider is not a person, with rights or liberties worth respecting, this attitude is also frequently used in propaganda art, in which the enemy is caricatured as grotesque and inhuman.
• Republic. Cf. democracy. Aside from the Republican Party of the United States and other countries, communist and other regimes frequently couple this word with other power words, as in the aforementioned Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the People's Republic of China. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Lao People's Democratic Republic go even further.
• United. The United States of America (United We Stand), the United Mexican States or the United Nations.

Negative

• Anarchist, Communist, Hippy, etc. Used to describe demonstrators and others on the left.
• Antisemitism or "New" antisemitism is used to describe many who are critical of Israeli policy or of Jewish culture.
• Dissident. Implies that an opponent's view is uncommon and therefore false. Neutral alternative would be "Alternative" (as an adjective) or "Opponent" (as a noun). May sometimes be used in a positive sense, given the high regard that many in the Western World had for Soviet dissidents.
• Extreme. Frequently used by one side of the extreme to call the other side of the extreme. A believer of religion A may call an opponent an extremist of religion B and vice versa.
• 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. It is also commonly used on individuals or groups perceived to have far right policies. Also used to describe many who are critical of Israeli policy or of Jewish culture.
• Politically incorrect: Often used to avoid calling something 'offensive' because the speaker does not find it personally offensive. Used to imply that concern to avoid offence stands in the way of truth. This term is now transiting to a positive one, implying that the person described thinks for themselves.
• 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 right-wing or elitist.
• Un-American (Anti-American) or Un-Soviet (Anti-Soviet). 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 by some on the left as well, such as "the Christian States of America"
• 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.
• 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 and Pro-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. 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 anti-abortion side. And fetus, blob of tissue, or product of conception from the pro-abortion side. It should be noted that "fetus" is a medical term, whereas "unborn," "baby," "blob of tissue," and "product of conception" are not.

Anti-War

• Occupant. Negative for soldier assigned to a foreign country, or a territory demanding independence.
• Peacekeeper. Same; just positive.
• Pro-War, to describe being in favor of a specific war.

War on Terror

• 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. Facially 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.

Environmental Issues

• Cooler Heads Coalition
• Conservation, usually signifying "opposed to non-renewable energy sources"
• Earth, supportive of environmental causes
• Eco- as a prefix such as eco-tourism.
• 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."
• 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 quickly-spread outbreak of a viral 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
• Cliche
• Code word (figure of speech)

Figures of speech

扣帽子