All Episodes

March 16, 2025 13 mins

Send us a text

Today I’m diving into a linguistic trick that’s been used for centuries to manipulate meaning: affixes. You know, those little prefixes and suffixes that get slapped onto words and suddenly change everything? Politicians, lawyers, and marketers have mastered the art of twisting language with these subtle additions—sometimes to create loopholes, sometimes to obscure the truth.

In this episode, I break down how affixes add unnecessary complexity, why they make contracts and legal documents a nightmare, and how simplifying your language can make you a clearer, more persuasive communicator. Plus, we’ll take a fascinating look at how languages like Mandarin cut through the clutter by skipping affixes altogether.

If you want to sharpen your communication skills, avoid linguistic traps, and say exactly what you mean, this episode is for you. Tune in now, and let’s strip language down to its clearest form!

Visit BooksThatGetLeads.com for more resources on crafting persuasive messaging.

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.