I guess I can call them 'politician words' but....
What do you call a word/phrase that has a lot of emotion behind it, but doesn't necessarily have any specific meaning. E.G.: Freedom, Liberty, Terrorism, Patriotism, etc. Speech words doesn't quite get it. Rhetorical dynamite words? Nahh. Sending vague messages to your medulla oblongata to scare you into voting for me is highly accurate, if unwieldy.
I present words and phrases separately as they influence the emotional charge that is delivered in different ways - words are building blocks, but they are perceived in the context of speech figures:
1) word that has a lot of emotion behind it
the first candidate I found are:
They quote Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language":
The word Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies "something not desirable." The words democracy, socialism, freedom, patriotic, realistic, justice have each of them several different meanings which cannot be reconciled with one another. In the case of a word like democracy, not only is there no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides. It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it: consequently the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using that word if it were tied down to any one meaning. Words of this kind are often used in a consciously dishonest way.
However it seems I rushed over the definition; wikipedia states that the term is used for words with two characteristics: vague and positive (see also virtue word)
Following related links you will find: ideograph
- ideograph
the use of particular words and phrases as political language in a way that captures (as well as creates or reinforces) particular ideological positions.
examples: liberty, religion, patriarchy, property, family values, equality
Following Orwell's essay, he refers to such words regardless of if they have positive or negative connotation as: meaningless words. This is, of course in general context much too wide, so rhetorical or political context has to be specified.
The whole article of loaded language (especially related links) might be interesting to you.
If you are looking for a common word, not intending to repeat what others wrote let me list synonyms for the word inflated, just to illustrate how a lot of words might be applicable: blown, blown up, bombastic, declamatory, distended, exaggerated, flatulent, flowery, grandiloquent, incrassate, magniloquent, overloaded, plethoric, pompous, portentous, rhetorical, swollen, tumescent, tumid, turgescent, turgid, tympanic, tympanitic, wordy. This is only to illustrate, inflated is not even my first choice.
Each of these words can describe words that are emotionally charged in some way.
2) phrase that has a lot of emotion behind it
When talking about phrases we should talk about figures. The words mentioned above (democracy, etc) can be very effective in rhetorical figures, but furthermore rhetoric actually can make some of the words emotionally charged by repetitive use of certain themes (which is common in politics).
If you look at classical rhetoric, you will find that all appeals are either:
Pathos, which studies the appeal to emotion, there are many figures, some of which appeal specifically to fear ("sending messages to your medulla oblongata to scare you into voting"):
these are figures from classical rhetoric but maybe the subject of propaganda is more pertinent for your question. I see rhetoric as "the art and study of the effective use of language" i.e. something that everyone does, where propaganda is type of communication that chooses any means to "influence the attitude of a community".
The techniques employed in propaganda are often based on fear. To illustrate let me list a few:
Maybe I have expanded the phrases section too much and it can be seen not relevant to the question, however I wanted to stress the idea that for glittering generalities, ideographs and meaningless words their loaded or charged aspect is actually created through rhetoric overly appealing to emotions (or through propaganda).
NOTE: Not directly related, but potentially interesting read is also the godwin faq.
Charged words.
That's the term.
You are talking about inflammatory rhetoric, which describes vague, emotionally charged, but essentially empty words and phrases that are used to influence or persuade an audience.
There is also a word like emotive or undescriptive that means that a term is just an empty word (or phrase). I know this word; I have used it to describe "fundamentalism" and "terrorism," but I cannot for the life of me think of it. I have been wracking my brains for hours. Maybe this teaser will help someone else think of it. I shall continue to think on it.
Edit: I think it may be "trivial label" that I'm trying to think of, but this seems to be missing the provocative, inflammatory aspect. I'll keep thinking.
Edit: A "contrived" or "spurious" is closer to what I'm trying to remember, but I don't think that is quite it either.
Edit: I've just remembered that "baseless" or "unfounded" was the adjective I used, but I'm still trying to think of the noun.
Edit: I've finally remembered the phrase I used to describe "fundamentalism" and "terrorism." I had described them as weasel words. This phrase doesn't have the meaning you are looking for, but for the sake of completeness (and my own peace of mind), I include it here since I mentioned it earlier.
I normally call them loaded words in informal contexts, or value-laden terms if I want to sound more knowledgeable than I really am.
When I think of words like that, what comes to my mind is Dog-whistle politics:
a term for a type of political campaigning or speechmaking which employs coded language that appears to mean one thing to the general population but has a different or more specific meaning for a targeted subgroup of the audience. The term is invariably pejorative, and is used to refer both to messages with an intentional subtext, and those where the existence or intent of a secondary meaning is disputed. The term is an analogy to dog whistles, which are built in such a way that the high-frequency whistle is heard by dogs, but appears silent to human hearing.
(Wikipedia)
These words are evocative
Bringing strong images, memories, or feelings to mind
Not a term for the words themselves, but this type of speech I call demagoguery.
Another common term would be trigger words. The only online definition I can find is not very apt, but this article on the psychology of Word Association suggests that is a reasonable match to the question.
How about abstractions?
Check out this definition of abstraction from Century Dictionary via Wordnik:
The act of abstracting or concentrating the attention on a part of a complex idea and neglecting the rest or supposing it away; especially, that variety of this procedure by which we pass from a more to a less determinate concept, from the particular to the general.
