Catchphrase?

Posted by ESC on September 28, 2005

In Reply to: Catchphrase? posted by Tammy Krivanek on September 28, 2005

: I've been having this debate with a friend about what you would call word groupings that sound grandiose but upon further scrutiny are almost non-sensical such as: "Stand strong in the face of adversity", "cease the moment". A tangible action with a intangible foe. "War on Terror". Something which uses key words to evoke a familiar emotional reaction with something intangible.
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: What is the linguistic term which would describe it? I think it would be a type of phrase i.e.: catchphrase. He thinks it should be something like superlative.

: Any help you could offer would be greatly appriciated.

This isn't exactly what you're looking for, but it makes me think of jingoism -- www.phrases.org.uk bulletin_board 5 messages 561.html