The paper provides evidence that linguistic strategies based on the implicit encoding of information are effective
means of deceptive argumentation and manipulation, as they can ease the acceptance of doubtful arguments by distracting
addressees’ attention and by encouraging shallow processing of doubtful contents. The persuasive and manipulative functions of
these rhetorical strategies are observed in commercial and political propaganda. Linguistic implicit strategies are divided into
two main categories: the implicit encoding of content, mainly represented by implicatures and vague expressions, and the implicit
encoding of responsibility, mainly represented by presuppositions and topics. The paper also suggests that the amount of
persuasive implicitness contained in texts can be measured. For this purpose, a measuring model is proposed and applied to some
Italian political speeches. The possible social usefulness of this approach is showed by sketching the operation of a website in
which the measuring model is used to monitor contemporary political speeches.
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