ABSTRACT
Evaluation is clearly the very basis of persuasion, in politics as in life. Comparatives are an obvious indication of evaluation. Evaluation can also be expressed by the particular positioning or ordering of 'blocks' of language in certain places in a text. Probably the most obvious signs of evaluation are contained in the lexis, that is, the words and phrases a speaker or writer uses. The modality bears the weight of various evaluations; a positive evaluation of the nation state, a less negative evaluation of the EU or 'Europe' and a negative evaluation of EU managers. 'Hooray' words in modern English-language politics are too many to list but include items like modernisation, justice, equality, diversity, initiative, fairness, sustainable, freedom, choice, respect, efficiency, hope and democracy. Many boo words are the simple antonyms of hooray words, derived from them by a prefix; for example, inequality, unfairness, unsustainable, injustice.
