Abstract

The strong belief in the primacy of the Word upheld by the holy writings has shaped human destinies for thousands of years. However, contemporary society seems to have entered the imperialism of numbers. All aspects of everyday life are controlled and affected by exact or variable numbers, figures, percentages, which are most often made prominent by superlatives. Advertising via mass media and, more recently, social media, represents the perfect means of proliferation for “lucky” and profitable numbers, heralding epic promotions and connoting fulfillment of all buyers’ dreams. What really lies behind these numbers: a fulfilled promise or a false linguistic representation?

Our paper attempts to demonstrate, through both quantitative and qualitative research tools, that most of the figures and percentages which are randomly established and devoid of experimental evidence craftily combine with other loaded language forms that are liable to be manipulative rather than persuasive.