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Years ago I came across a word that described the manipulation of words. It was a weird title for this talent – do you know what it is?

As a follow-up question: would this be the same talent as Frank Luntz has? A master at changing talking points from a negative to positive with one word manipulation.

Thank you for any insight, its been driving me crazy for years.

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Welcome to ELU. I'm afraid you have given us far too little to go on: the word might be anything from "poet" to "acrostician" to "transformational grammarian". I am accordingly voting to close this question - but that just means it can't be answered until you have edited it to provide the information we need. I have taken the liberty of removing the personal information you included; it's not necessary for us, and could expose you to unhappy consequences. – StoneyB Dec 9 '12 at 6:43

closed as not a real question by Jasper Loy, StoneyB, MετάEd, tchrist, Barrie England Dec 9 '12 at 8:27

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

1 Answer

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Spin? That's kind of a pejorative. Did the word you hear have that sense? From the sound of Frank Luntz's Wikipedia article, he could be described as a spin doctor. Thefreedictionary.com says,

spin doctor n. Slang A person who publicizes favorable interpretations of the words and actions of a public figure, especially a politican.

Hope that helps.

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I, of course, am not implying that Frank Luntz is a spin doctor. I don't know anything about him. – Dave Ohlman Dec 9 '12 at 6:54

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