NEVER REPEAT LANGUAGE REPUBLICANS USE
“Consider the phrase “tax relief.” The world “relief” frames the word “tax” as an affliction or form of suffering. We generally need “relief” from things that are painful or unpleasant…Another example: Consider the phrase “forced birth.” It frames abortion bans with a negative word, “forced,” which frames abortion bans as aggressively stripping women of their freedom.” Moral Warfare 101: Frames and Your Brain, Frame Lab, February 5, 2024
“…when environmental issues are reframed in terms of the conservative value of purity – emphasizing the importance of keeping our forests, drinking water, and skies pure – conservatives are much more likely to support this cause.
The power of framing: It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it
The Guardian, July 20, 2017
Climate change? Global warming?
“David Fenton, a longtime PR specialist for progressive causes…urges the climate community to speak of pollution – a word everyone gets – and to settle on the image of a ‘blanket of pollution trapping heat on Earth’. Every oil and gas emission makes that blanket thicker – and all that trapped heat helps cause floods and start fires, he says.” As heat records break, the climate movement has the right answers – but the words are all wrong The Guardian, July 14, 2023
Frame Lab explains:
“Much of politics is a struggle to define how certain key words are framed — words like ‘tax,’ ‘freedom,’ ‘rights’ and ‘truth.’
“If you oppose an issue, you must try to frame it in negative terms. If you support an issue, you must try to frame it positively.”
Cognitive scientist Dr. George Lakoff and journalist Gil Duran share their political messaging expertise at
Frame Lab on Substack.