Some words are powerful. ‘War,’ ‘peace,’ ‘death,’ ‘terrorist,’ and ‘security’ are but a few of the innumerable terms that we read or hear every day, and these words clearly lead us to draw a judgment, or feel uncomfortable with, or be attracted by a certain situation. When we encounter words of this kind, we do not simply interpret the message. We do not simply acquire new information. We do not simply modify our systems of belief. We feel an emotion toward what the word is depicting. We fear a war. We are afraid of terrorists. We desire peace. We love children. These words are emotive because they trigger our emotions. They influence the way we regard the reality they represent. They affect our decisions concerning their referents. The emotive power of these words can make them extremely effective instruments to direct and encourage certain attitudes and choices. But at the same time, the very emotions that they evoke make them subtle tools to manipulate the other’s decisions and feelings. Names can be used to conceal reality instead of representing it, to distort the facts instead of describing them, and to omit qualities and particulars instead of depicting them. Names have meanings that can be changed and modified, so that they can be used to classify what they otherwise could not mean. Their definitions can be altered and the emotions they carry directed toward new objects. For these reasons, ever since the ancient studies on rhetoric, emotive words have been regarded as crucial instruments for persuasion and manipulation. The first step to understand what lies beneath them is to analyze how they are used and the effects they can cause.