Verbs that criticise the person while describing what they did, and when you have earned the right to use them.
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Two sentences reporting the same transaction. One of them is an accusation.
Companies sell dietary supplements to older consumers.
Companies peddle dietary supplements to older consumers.
The transaction is identical. Same product, same buyers, same money changing hands. Nothing about the event has changed.
What has the second sentence asserted?
Twenty-four objects, three verbs, one box for the leftovers. The leftovers are the point again.
Sort each item into the correct category
Why these verbs are so efficient, why that makes them dangerous, and the one in the set that is usually fair.
Each of these does not simply disapprove. Each one accuses the subject of a particular thing, and you should be able to name which:
| Verb | The accusation |
|---|---|
| peddle | they knew it was worthless or false and sold it anyway |
| tout | they promoted it in their own interest, on claims not yet proven |
| churn out | they produced in quantity without caring about the individual item |
| cling to | they are holding on past the point of reason, usually out of fear |
| pander to | they flattered a group's existing preferences against their own better judgement |
| resort to | they fell back on a lesser means because the better ones failed |
Read the middle column of that table as a sentence you would have to defend, because that is what it is. Writing the industry peddles these products commits you to the claim that the industry knew.
Eight verbs, eight accusations. Match each verb to the claim you would have to defend if a reader challenged it.
Terms
Definitions
Six paragraphs. Choose the verb the evidence has actually paid for — which three times is the neutral one.
Each item tells you what the paragraph has already established. Then pick the verb.
The test is not is this criticism true — it is has this paragraph shown the specific thing this verb accuses them of? In three of the six, it has not, and the neutral verb is the answer.
The paragraph has established: a supplement manufacturer's own internal trials, disclosed in litigation, found no effect; the company continued to advertise the product as clinically proven for another two years. Which verb?
Three chains. Name the accusation before you name the verb, and check the paragraph has paid for it.
Chain 1
The paragraph so far: The agency issued 240 reports last year, against 60 the year before. An independent sample found that 190 of them reproduced the same four paragraphs with only the place names changed.
Candidates: produced / churned out
Step 1 — What exactly does the charged verb accuse them of, and is it shown?
Step 2 — Therefore the expert writes: The agency 240 reports last year.
Chain 2
The paragraph so far: A charity has continued to run its literacy programme in the same form for fifteen years. Nothing has been said about evidence against it.
Candidates: maintained / clung to
Step 1 — What would the paragraph have to establish before the charged verb is fair?
Step 2 — Therefore the expert writes: The charity has the programme in its original form.
Chain 3
You are opening a paragraph that will go on to test a claim. The claim has been made loudly by many people and no evaluation exists yet. You do not want to accuse anyone of dishonesty.
Candidates: peddled as / widely touted as
Step 1 — What does the passive construction let you signal that the other verb does not?
Step 2 — Therefore the expert writes: The scheme has been a solution to the problem.