|
A weasel word (also, anonymous authority) is an informal term for words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that a specific and/or meaningful statement has been made, when only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated, enabling the specific meaning to be denied if the statement is challenged. The use of weasel words to avoid making an outright assertion is synonymous to tergiversate.〔Merriam-Webster, "(Weasel, verb )"〕 Weasel words can imply meaning far beyond the claim actually being made.〔Yonghui Ma (2007), "(Language Features of English Advertisement )", ''Asian Social Science'', March 2007, p 109 〕 Some weasel words may also have the effect of softening the force of a potentially loaded or otherwise controversial statement through some form of understatement, for example using detensifiers such as "somewhat" or "in most respects".〔Jason, Gary (1988) ("Hedging as a Fallacy of Language" ), ''Informal Logic'' X.3, Fall 1988〕 Weasel words can be used in advertising and in political statements, where encouraging the audience to develop a misleading impression of what was said can lead to advantages, at least in the short term (in the longer term, systematic deception is likely to be identified, with a loss of trust in the speaker). ==Origin== The expression ''weasel word'' may derive from the egg-eating habits of weasels.〔Theodore Roosevelt Association, (Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia ) 〕 An article published by the ''Buffalo News'' attributes the origin of the term to William Shakespeare's plays ''Henry V'' and ''As You Like It'', in which the author includes similes of weasels sucking eggs.〔E. Cobham Brewer, (''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'' )〕 The article also claims that this is a misnomer, because weasels do not have a mandible suitable for sucking eggs or blood. Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' provide an earlier source for the same etymology. Ovid describes how Juno orders the goddess of childbirth, Lucina, to prevent Alcmene from giving birth to Hercules. Alcmene's servant Galanthis, realizing that Lucina is outside the labor room and is preventing the birth by magical means, emerges to announce that the birth has been a success. Lucina, in her amazement, drops the spells of binding and Hercules is born. Galanthis then mocks Lucina, who responds by transforming her into a weasel. Ovid writes (in A.S. Kline's translation) "And because her lying mouth helped in childbirth, she (a weasel ) gives birth through her mouth."〔Ovid, Metamorphoses (tr. Anthony S. Kline), (Book IX, 273-323 )〕 Alternatively, definitions of the word 'weasel' include: n. a sneaky, untrustworthy, or insincere person; v. to manipulate shiftily,〔Merriam-Webster online dictionary def'n: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/weasel〕 both of which suggest deception. Finally, the phrase "to ''weasel out''", meaning "to squeeze one's way out of something" or "to evade responsibility".〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/weasel+out )〕 The expression is first known to have appeared in Stewart Chaplin's short story "Stained Glass Political Platform" (published in 1900 in ''The Century Magazine''),〔According to ''The Macmillan Dictionary of Contemporary Phrase and Fable''〕 in which they were referred to as "words that suck the life out of the words next to them, just as a weasel sucks the egg and leaves the shell". Theodore Roosevelt attributed the term to Dave Sewall, claiming that Sewall used the term in a private conversation in 1879.〔''New York Times'', Sept 2, 1916, ("Origin of 'Weasel Words'" )〕 Winston Churchill wrote: "The reserve of modern assertions is sometimes pushed to extremes, in which the fear of being contradicted leads the writer to strip himself of almost all sense and meaning." In another early usage (1916), Theodore Roosevelt argued that "one of our defects as a nation is a tendency to use ...'weasel words'; when one 'weasel word' is used ... after another there is nothing left".〔 p. 199〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Weasel word」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|