Loaded language
“I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them.”
—Adlai Stevenson

In rhetoric, loaded language is wording that attempts to influence an audience by appealing to emotions or stereotypes. Such wording is also known as high-inference language.

Loaded words and phrases have strong emotional implications and involve strongly positive or negative reactions beyond their literal meaning. For example, the phrase tax relief refers literally to changes that reduce the amount of tax citizens must pay. However, use of the emotive word "relief" implies that all tax is an unreasonable burden.

Emotive arguments and loaded language are particularly persuasive because they exploit the human weakness for acting immediately based upon an emotional response, without thinking the issue through.

The appeal to emotion is often seen as being in contrast to an appeal to logic
and reason.

We expect politicians and advertisers to study the use of Loaded Language but litigation lawyers can also be fond of using it as a way to persuade the judge to act quickly and to demonize the board's opponents.

Conversational English	Loaded language
asked questions	interrogated, harassed
a group of owners	a mob
walked into the office	stormed the office
argued	verbally attacked
saying "you're going to be fired"	intimidated the manager
an owner argued with the manager	a disturbing incident
election campaign	battle
watching contractors work in the building	interfering with management
asking unexpected questions	unprovoked attack
owners	innocent owners

These are all a few examples of "Loaded Language" that I have read in court affidavits.

Keep records
In return, keep good records of the directors, management, employees and their supporters using loaded language against the owners who oppose them. Your lawyer may need to counter their shocking tales of woe with even more shocking outbursts from their side.

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