Logical Fallacy of Accent / Accent Fallacy / Accent by Emphasis / Emphatic Fallacy

The Logical Fallacy of Accent / Accent Fallacy / Accent by Emphasis / Emphatic Fallacy occurs when a word or a phase is emphasized by any means to change what the statement actually says. The logical fallacy of accent is a type of misquote, though the words of the quote stay the same. Some may be left out. Some words may be said slower or in a louder voice or an unpleasing voice. (This is only a fallacy when it changes the meaning of what is said as opposed to making clear what is being said.) A small portion may be repeated while commenting on "what it really means." Twitter is actually a great place to see this fallacy in action because the restriction on the length of message creates some opportunities to re-tweet a small part of a conversation and create a false impression. There are many ways to commit the emphatic fallacy.

Examples of the Logical Fallacy of Accent / Accent Fallacy / Accent by Emphasis / Emphatic Fallacy

"What do YOU think people NEED about THIS BOOK?"

Translation: "You need this book." This is very subtle, but it is used.

An actress wears a low cut dress.

She is emphasizing a part of herself but ignoring her purpose for existing.

Often, when a quotation is given with some words highlighted, the author will add a phrase, "emphasis added," to indictate that the emphasis didn't exist in the original quote. This is done to avoid accusations that the author is using the logical fallacy of accent, but the words that are quoted are important to the point that the author is trying to make.