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Loaded words

Reader question:

What is a loaded word? Please give examples.

My comments:

Loaded words, by definition, are those that have "more meaning, especially a negative meaning, than you first think" (Longman).

Like a loaded truck, a loaded word or statement is heavy with subtle connotations. And like a loaded gun, it can be hurtful.

When Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney last month likened electing Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, to putting an "intern" in the White House, he used a loaded word.

Yes, you guessed it. "Intern" has become a loaded word in US politics thanks (and no thanks, according to Hillary) to the well-documented rendezvous in the Oval Office involving then President Bill Clinton, Hillary's husband, and Monica Lewinsky, an intern.

In China, "Party member" is said to have become a loaded word, especially among non members. People, for example, no longer list "Party membership" as a primary consideration for marriage, as they used to do in the 1960's and 70's. In fact, people these days are said to bristle at the question: "Are you a Party member?" That sounds an innocuous question, I know, but somehow some people sometimes get offended by it. To them, it's a loaded question. Perhaps they have something to hide. At any rate, it's no use asking me that question. I'm not a Party member. I'm not even a dancing party member.

Anyways, a loaded question, sometimes known as a leading question, is one that's designed to lead people to a certain answer. It's unfair. The most well-known loaded questions are of the type that lawyers ask in court, such as: "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?" It's the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't question that has the defendant pinned and framed. It's unfair.