The Use and Misuse of Language Patterns

by Greg White

I've had a real problem over the last 17 years or so putting this information down on paper for public consumption. The reason is that it can be misused so easily.

Don't ask me why I'm providing it to copywriters now. I may or may not withdraw this blog at some point in the future for that very reason. But I see and hear the media misuse these patterns, seemingly intentionally everyday.

So I guess I'm going to go ahead and give it a start and see what happens.

There are too many of these patterns for me to count, and I've been collecting them for about 17 years. Some NLP Practitioners, Copywriters, Politicians, Hypnotists, Sales people and others are already familiar with SOME of these. I've never seen a list as comprehensive as the one I have collected made available.

So I'm going to begin sharing them 1 or a few at a time.

Pay attention, because you may hear these coming at you in the future, from someone who may or may not have your best interest at heart. If you listen carefully, you can't NOT hear them. Forewarned is forearmed!

Here's an example:

I'm reminded of the story of 2 priests, both avid smokers, who each wrote a letter to the same bishop requesting permission to smoke. The 1st priest wrote the following:,

"Dear Your Eminence,

Is is alright if I smoke while I pray?"

The response.....

"Dear Priest,

Not just no, but *!@#$ NO."

The Bishop

The second priest's letter, (The priest who understood language patterns), went like this:

"Dear Your Eminence,

Is is alright if I PRAY, while I smoke?"

The reply.....

"Dear Priest,

Yes. You may pray ANYTIME.

The Bishop

Examining the two questions, the first priest was asking for "Permission to SMOKE."

The second priest was asking for "permission to PRAY," PRESUMING he was GOING TO smoke.

Both priests used exactly the same words, but the order/sequence of the words was different.

This type of pattern revolves around the word WHILE. It is a class of patterns called a Subordinate Clause of Time. It is just a regular old clause used in English every day. But the impact of the use of this pattern of speech is STRONG for someone that uses it with intent. The word 'while' is just one example of a word that triggers a subordinate clause of time. There are many more. This was also just one way in which it can be used.

When it is used as in the above example, it PRESUPPOSES the TRUTH of what follows WHILE.

Experiment with this in your copy...