Weasel words are mostly used by politicians and journalists. As a result, most of us treat weasel words with the same contempt we normally reserve for politicians.

There are 2 kinds of weasel words…

1. Words carefully designed to mean nothing
2. Words that leave room for doubt

Words carefully designed to mean nothing

An excellent example of the first variety of weasel words was uttered by former US President, Bill Clinton, on a tour of New Zealand in 1999. In one of his many speeches he uttered the immortal phrase…

Example 1:
We are building a bridge to the 21st Century

Let’s take a look at this sentence. A bridge is a physical entity that spans 2 points in space. It makes it possible to get from one point to the other.

How on earth do you build a bridge between 2 points in time?

The sentence in example 1 contains nothing but feel-good nonsense. It sounds good, but is designed merely to have unthinking people overlay their own interpretation and respond in agreement with rapturous applause.

Weasel words of this variety should not be used by people in business.

Your business is more important than anything a politician does. You create wealth and opportunity with your business, and it’s vital you don’t waste your time wallowing in this type of language.

Words that leave room for doubt

The second variety of weasel words are also used by politicians, but the best practitioners are product reviewers. For example…

Example 2:
This could well be the best computer game I’ve ever played

At first glance you might think this is glowing praise. And coming from a journalist, it’s probably as close as he or she will ever get to glowing praise.

The words ‘could well be’ introduce an element of doubt into the sentence. The writer is saying that he or she isn’t prepared to fully endorse the game.

It’s an idiotic thing to say, anyway. Isn’t the reviewer sure? Then why say the sentence in the first place? And please do note the doubts this type of wording raises.

It doesn’t really matter in a computer game review. It does matter when it comes to your advertising.

The following examples demonstrate the difference…

Example 3:
This is the best computer game I’ve ever played

Example 4:
This is the single best computer game I’ve ever played

Examples 3 and 4 show you how to strengthen an endorsement even further by adding a single word (the word single).

It’s vital that you eliminate both kinds of weasel words from your advertising.

Now you’ll look at specific weasel words, and see how to replace them with words that increase the power of your advertising.

Up to

The phrase ‘up to’ occurs a lot in advertising. The following example shows a typical use…

Example 5:
Up to 50% off everything in store this week only

The phrase ‘up to’ has lost its power in advertising through over-use. You and I know that ‘up to 50% off’ includes the entire range of possible discounts from 1—50%!

Most of us will automatically assume that the item we’re likely to be interested in is one of the ones with the smallest discount.

The other problem with the phrase ‘up to,’ is that it describes an abstract concept. It’s left to the reader to apply the unspecific ‘up to 50% off’ to the specific item he or she actually wants.

That’s probably not going to happen. It’s far more powerful to list the items that you’ve discounted.

Make sure you contrast the original price against the discounted price. You inject more power by mentioning the specific amount saved. For example…

Example 6:
Huge savings on these items this week only…

• 2-person UltraLite tent. Was $195. Now only $125. You save a whopping $70!
• 4-season UltraLite down sleeping bag. Was $98. Now only $76. You save $22!

Naturally it works best when you list your biggest discount first, and your next biggest last.

Might or could

The word ‘might,’ when used to mean ‘maybe,’ immediately drains a sentence of its power. As shown in these examples…

Example 7:
This experience might change your life

Example 8:
This experience will change your life

Most of us wouldn’t cross the street for something that might change our lives, because we’re too busy to waste time on something that may or may not make a difference.