Word Magic

The fallacy of word magic involves the use of emotionally "loaded" words, that is, those we tend to respond to with unwitting value judgment. An advertisement for a perfume named "Tigress" might read, "Tonight become a tigress. He'll love you for it." The partially stated proposition is that if you wear this kind of perfume, you will become an aggressive, highly sensual creature and the man of your dreams will fall in love with you. The choice of words tends to influence the listener's thinking in much the same way that magical phrases and incantations do.