Saturday, January 06, 2007

Weasel Words

I majored in Advertising and Communications in college, and one term I remember learning was "weasel word." It's a phrase or word meant to trick you into believing something. Example: "Enriched Cereal." Sounds like something full of vitamins, but in actuality they've sprayed on a few goodies after they removed the real good stuff! (And I love cereal--but this isn't about that.) I'm not sure they use the term any more, but I've noticed something a lot lately that fits the description perfectly. Didja ever notice that those credit card applications always say: "You've been pre-approved?" Uhmmmm...isn't that like something that's pre-cooked? As in NOT? I think those envelopes should say something like: "Maybe we'll give you a credit card, and maybe we won't...but you have to fill out the annoying form inside to find out!" Me...I just put the darned things through the shredder...

4 comments:

Ami said...

Thank you for leaving a comment on my blog. Maybe we should each write the makers of Skittles with the successes of our sons! :) We might even get some free Skittles out of it!

Mom2fur said...

Ha, ha, Ami, that would be funny if we did!

Julie Julie Bo Boolie said...

I remember my brother being so upset when we was declined for a pre-approved credit card.. He totally didn't get why since he figured he's been approved already.. silly boy.

Gotta love those weasels huh?

Ms. Kathleen said...

And they also don't tell you how filling them out HURTS YOUR CREDIT SCORE! And getting excepted hurts your credit score because that mean you have been given xx amount of bucks to borrow. Hubby and I learned so much when we took a home buying class and wanted to get our credit scores even higher. Also, if you get declined it super hurts your credit score. I no longer own a credit card, just a debit card.