Weaseling is a form of informational misdirection. You get your audience to agree to a very weak version of a commitment, then proceed as if they’ve agreed to a stronger version. The greatest weasel ever was in Dumb and Dumber when unattainable romantic interest in the film says that one of the dumb guys only has a one-in-a-million chance of ever having something with her, and he giddily replies “So you’re telling me there’s a chance!” (See the clip HERE)
Beachbody, the giant exercise company that has brought you the Sunday morning infomercials about P90X and Insanity!, has a product called HipHopAbs (don’t click the link if you hate frenetic pop music). They have all the perfunctory before and after photos, but this awesome weasel caught my eye:
Jump-start your weight loss with this easy-to-follow plan that will help you lose up to 3 inches off your waist in your first week!
Up to 3 inches. Now, that means: no more than 3 inches. But you hear: 3 inches. Now you own HipHopAbs. So you’re sayin’ there’s a chance!
My husband sent me a link to this. I’m not sure if he is trying to tell me to exercise, sharing a witty post, or explaining why his abs are still less than perfect after a year of the Insanity Work Out. On the off chance his intent was the first of those options, then let me tell him that there is NO CHANCE (and I’m not talking about me exercising).
🙂