§   DEFINITION

Loaded Language – diction that carries with it a heavy emotional charge.
 

Loaded language usually contains words with strong positive or negative connotations that unfairly frame words into limited or biased contexts.  The words you choose should clarify the truth of a situation, not misdirect your audience by unfairly describing or biasing the audience’s  interpretations.
 

EXAMPLE 1

1. Fair Language: “You have asked for my views on the man named Mr. Smithers.  He has been a valued employee here for years.  If you can find a position for him in the management sector of your company, I will be pleased.”

Loaded Language: “You have asked for my views on that creature named Smithers.  He has been a clinging nuisance here for ages.  If you can find a crevice for him in the woodwork of your sweatshop, I will be relieved.”

Using words like “crevice” and “relieved” imply meanings that might otherwise not be evoked with more fair language.  A person may despise his opponent’s views, but he still has the responsibility to communicate the opponent’s points fairly.  After all, if everybody argued using lies and misrepresentations, we would not get very far, now would we?

 
EXAMPLE 2

A Clinton basher says: “That filthy draft-dodger can’t whack himself out of a paper bag, let alone run the country.”

Many Americans used arguments like this one to vent frustration at President Clinton.  The fact that Bill Clinton went to college instead of Vietnam made a lot of people angry.   To be fair, Clinton did not do anything illegal – he earned a position as a Rhodes Scholar, a prestigious institute in England for the brightest English-speaking students.  American law stated that Americans who are enrolled as full-time students would not have to answer the draft into Vietnam.  So, did Clinton “dodge” the draft?  That word suggests that Clinton did something wrong by choosing college over war.