[_jal]

Pretty sure manipulation with loaded language is not unique to modern discourse. There seems to be an assumption that folks who predate modern tech were somehow unsophisticated or innocent. Not so - if anyone finds modern political antics entertaining, I highly recommend them Roman history.

While spotting rhetorical techniques, I'd throw out that my synonym-choice is more something that I've been trying to train myself out of - I tend to unconsciously take a step 'up' in generality when rephrasing elements of others' arguments, and it isn't a great habit. Sometimes it can be useful, but oftentimes muddies the waters. Been trying to retrain myself, obviously with mixed results.

[cjjuice]

Yeah, maybe I phrased my comment wrong. By "modern" I mean "contemporary" meaning the loaded words are only effective on people contemporary to the speaker who grasp the hidden context behind the words.