Weasel Phrases
Dan Scorpio
Suggestive Predicates (or 'Weasel Phrases')
The following list comprises a group of predicates designed for use in
the construction of suggestive sentences. The suggestion proper will
ordinarily immediately follow any of the given predicates, the purpose
of the latter being to 'set up' the structure for the words that
follow. As an example, the predicate that heads the list below can be
fused onto a tailing phrase as follows:
'Are you curious about why your feet are on the floor?'
The listener may or may not have been curious before the question was
put, but one thing is for certain now - that they have to audit the
position of their feet in order to make the question meaningful: the
question thus unobtrusively directs the listener's attention at their
feet.
Such suggestive predicates as these, which have attracted the
unfortunate name of 'weasel phrases', were one original technique
developed by Dr Milton H. Erickson in his seminal work on
conversational hypnosis.
A further detailed discussion as to how these powerful structures work
in NLP terms follows the list.
After you come to....
After you've...
And the more you (X)...the more you (Y)
And as you...
Are you curious about...
Are you aware that...
Are you still interested in...
As you hear these words they...
As you... ...then...
As you consider this...
Be aware of what you can sense...
Before you think...
Can you imagine...
Can I ask you to...
Can you visualise...
Can you...
Can you remember...
Could you...
Do you think that...
Do you remember when...
Do you...
Do you ever...
Don't think of...
Has it ever occurred to you that...
Have you noticed that...
Have you ever wondered...
Have you...
Have you ever...
How would you feel if...
How do you know that...
How do you feel when...
I don't want you to be...
I want you to learn...
I know you are curious...
I saw someone do this in minutes once...
I wonder if...
I don't know how soon...
I wonder could you...
I would like to suggest that...
I want you to bear in mind...
I want you to become aware...
I can remember...
I'd like you to pretend that...
I'm wondering...
I'm curious to know...
If you could...
In my experience...
Is it that you are...
Is it possible...
Is it that you have...
Is it that there is...
It is useful that...
It's just like...
It's impossible...
It's good to know that...
It's useful that...
It's good that...
It's either (A) or (B); which is it...
It's not important that...
It's as if...
People can loosen up easily...
Perhaps you are...
Perhaps you can...
Perhaps you could...
Perhaps you're wondering...
This can be learned easily...
What do you think would happen if...
What would happen if...
What's it like to...
When you notice... ...then...
Will you...
Would you...
You come to...
You are learning to anticipate...
You can become aware that...
You know about these things...
You will feel...
The Effect of Suggestive Predicates in a Live Environment
A 'weasel phrase' is a predicate that sets up the material that
immediately follows it as a powerful suggestion. When a particular
type of sentence is constructed one of these such phrases, a sentence
which refers to the immediate environment of the listener (especially
to the physical being or ongoing activities of the listener), it can
offer communication on more than one level since there is:
a) an apparently 'normal' abstract word string that requires decoding
and interpreting in the ordinary manner of everyday oral communication
b) a non-ordinary content of the word string referring to immediate,
ongoing events that demands attention and verification in modalities
other than the auditory (Ai)
Accordingly, an astute operator can use such a sentence to pace - by
use of content that refers to the obvious BUT AN 'OBVIOUS" THAT THE
LISTENER IS DIRECTED INTO VERIFYING BY NON-VERBAL MEANS - or to lead,
by directing by means of subtle suggestion the non-verbal attention in
a given direction of the operator's choice - and subtle suggestions
are all that is needed in order to get the thought train rolling.
Additionally, and the author of this paper found this difficult to
comprehend at first, single, suitably constructed sentences with
suggestive predicates can present a system of complex verbal signals
AND both a pace and lead simultaneously, such is their power.
Let us examine a couple of examples of this dark(?) art. In number 1,
it is assumed that the listener has both feet resting on the floor and
that this fact is obvious to the operator - and anyone else who cares
to notice.
The basic sentence to be explored is:
Example 1: 'Are you aware that/your foot/is resting on the floor?'
Breaking this down into the three constituent parts we have:
'Are you aware that...' (the suggestive predicate)
'...your foot...' (reference to a physical part)
'...is resting on the floor?' (query about what is obvious... to the
operator)
This appears to be such a trivial question, but it really causes the
listener to work hard and fully process it in order to understand what
is going on. The processing might be viewed thus:
i) listener has to carry out normal linguistic processing on the
sentence to determine the basic meaning. Words are checked for
context, basic meaning, syntax, and what they might mean in the
present setting.
ii) listener has to process the meaning in depth. Does he/she have a
foot? Which foot is it (the original question was ambiguous in that it
didn't specify)? Where is that foot (feet)? Am I aware of what it is
doing?
In order to actually process the meaning as in ii) above, the listener
must become (kinesthetically) aware of the foot, that there is a foot,
and determine what it is currently doing. Additionally, and since the
foot is a priori resting on the floor as the operator knew, the
implication by the operator that the foot is resting on the floor is a
very subtle pace, ONE THAT IS VERIFIED KINESTHETICALLY AND IS THUS
ACCOMPANIED BY LEADING ATTENTION INTO KINESTHETIC MODALITY It is no
ordinary question that is being put in those eleven innocent sounding
words, it is a powerful pacing question that simultaneously contains a
covert kinesthetic lead: the listener has to 'respond' or work in Ai
and K modes together in terms to make sense of what is going on.
Example 2: 'Are you aware that/ you can become aware that/ you are
blinking?'
'Are you aware that...' (the suggestive predicate)
'...you can become aware that...' (convolute the predicate into an
ongoing process)
'...you are blinking?' (statement of the physically obvious... to the
operator)
The end result of this question is that the listener becomes aware
of - has their attention directed towards - something that was ongoing
yet previously outside their awareness... and they don't have a lot of
choice in the matter. Again there is a pace (the listener is
blinking), and a lead (the listener was made aware of the fact by the
question), In addition to the lead caused by the search for
verification - this time in V and/or K modalities - the more complex
question structure "how does one process if one is aware that one can
become aware?" is immediately resolved in the performance of the act
itself - another pace.
Example 3: 'I want you to become aware of the process that takes place
when you become aware of your left hand'
This puts the listener in an almost impossible position since the
process - by being suggested - will occur in a trice as the operator
enunciates the sentence and the listener will probably miss it. Once
they are aware of the left hand they will find it impossible to become
unaware of it and start again (any attempt to do so will have them
trying to be aware of how a awareness arises of the left hand - which
is awareness of the left hand. An astute listener could observe how
awareness of some other body part comes into being of course).
Once again the complex word form - becoming aware of becoming aware -
is present along with the kinesthetic lead to the left hand and the
pace indicating that a process of becoming takes place.
Example 4: 'Has it ever occurred to you that...'
Whatever follows this phrase may or may not have occurred to the
listener: one thing is for sure, it is going to occur to them now. The
suggestion that follows the phrase will have to be processed by the
listener in order to make sense out of it. In other words whatever is
said, if it is said in terms of a certain physical sense or modality,
will lead the listener in that modality whether they like it or not.
If pacing statements are made, they will become immediate
self-fulfilling prophecies insofar as the listener is concerned and,
if they are made to refer to a particular mode, they will lead in that
mode.
http://www.angelfire.com/nd/danscorpio
Noodles
Hi Dan...
We sell phrases ? ;-0)
I'm curious to know
Where did the expression
(weasel phrases)originate....?
Hats off to you Dan you're in deep !
All the best.
shine_ola
describe language patterns that can cause a person (chick) to go into
an altered state.
> I'm curious to know
> Where did the expression
> (weasel phrases)originate....?
>
> Hats off to you Dan you're in deep !
>
> All the best.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
shine_ola
describe language patterns that can cause a person (chick) to go into
an altered state.
> I'm curious to know
> Where did the expression
> (weasel phrases)originate....?
>
> Hats off to you Dan you're in deep !
>
> All the best.
nrosa1
Good job!!! Thanks for taking the time to post "weasel phrases"/embedded
messages. Have you considered posting it on the alt.hypnosis n.g. as many
subscribers there would likely be interested in and benefit by it.
Nick
--
Nick Rosa
Peak Performance Psychology for Athletes
nro...@msn.com
nichol...@villanova.edu
http://www.PeakPerformancePsych.com
"Dan Scorpio" <zen...@globalnet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:8u1a91$hh4$1...@gxsn.com...