Home Donate New Search Gallery Reviews How-To Books Links Workshops About Contact
Weasel Words
© 2013 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.
This free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live — but I receive nothing for my efforts if you buy elsewhere. I'm not NPR; I get no government hand-outs and run no pledge drives to support my research, so please always use any of these links for the best prices and service whenever you get anything. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.
October 2013 Better Pictures Nikon Canon Fuji LEICA All Reviews
Adorama pays top dollar for your used gear.
|
Weasel words are words used by marketing people to limit the scope of any claim. They're used to allow the person making the statement to "weasel out" of what he's saying, but still say it.
For instance, when Kodak's PR about Ektar 100 says that it has the "finest, smoothest grain of any color negative film available today," the weasel words "color negative" just allowed Kodak to ignore the black-and-white and slide films that have finer grain, and by adding "available today," chooses to ignore that discontinued Ektar 25 had finer grain.
If you understand weasel words, Kodak is saying that other kinds of film have better grain today, and that some discontinued older films were better, too.
Otherwise Kodak would simply say that Ektar 100 has "the finest, smoothest grain of any film," but they can't because it's not true.
When I say the Mamiya 7 is the world's best camera, I mean it.
When I say the Nikon D700 is the world's best digital camera, notice how the word "digital" just limited the field of cameras to which I'm comparing it. The Mamiya 7 is a better camera, but it's not digital. When I say "world's best digital camera," I just removed all other cameras from consideration.
Nikon's 13mm f/5.6 is the world's widest non-distorting professional SLR lens. There are three weasel words in that sentence, and the only reason I use them is so that I can pitch the 13mm lens as being something special.
The world's widest lenses are Nikon's 6mm 220º fisheyes. Other ordinary fisheyes see 180º. By using the phrase "non-distorting," I just took all the fisheyes out of competition.
By using the word "professional," I just threw out the Sigma 12-24mm zoom, which is wider, but not professional grade. (Some might say I can ignore the Sigma as a lens, because it's not a lens, it's a zoom lens.)
By using the acronym "SLR," I eliminated the Cosina 12mm lens from the pack. That Cosina (branded as Voigtländer) is a rangefinder, not SLR, lens.
Anytime you see a claim with added words, those words are telling you that there is some other product which is superior, and that the person making the claim is using weasel words to exclude them from consideration.
Help me help you top
I support my growing family through this website, as crazy as it might seem.
The biggest help is when you use any of these links when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. It costs you nothing, and is this site's, and thus my family's, biggest source of support. These places have the best prices and service, which is why I've used them since before this website existed. I recommend them all personally.
If you find this page as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone.
If you've gotten your gear through one of my links or helped otherwise, you're family. It's great people like you who allow me to keep adding to this site full-time. Thanks!
If you haven't helped yet, please do, and consider helping me with a gift of $5.00.
As this page is copyrighted and formally registered, it is unlawful to make copies, especially in the form of printouts for personal use. If you wish to make a printout for personal use, you are granted one-time permission only if you PayPal me $5.00 per printout or part thereof. Thank you!
Thanks for reading!
Mr. & Mrs. Ken Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.
Home Donate New Search Gallery Reviews How-To Books Links Workshops About Contact