Weasel words
Vague, unsourced authority — 'experts agree', 'studies show', 'widely regarded as' — that borrows credibility without naming a source.
What it looks like
The phrases and patterns that give it away:
experts agreestudies showresearch suggestswidely regarded asmany argueit is widely believed
In the wild
A real one, quoted verbatim — the underlined words are the tell.
“Experts believe this debate will dominate the workplace in 2024 as leaders look for a healthy balance.”
Forbes ↗ — opinion article
Why AI produces it
The model mimics the confident register of journalism and marketing, which lean on anonymous authorities, so it asserts a consensus it can't attribute.
How UnSlopIt handles it
UnSlopIt flags weasel words and rewrites around it — cutting the tell while keeping your meaning, facts, and voice. You see exactly what changed, as a redline plus a clean version.
Related tells
Knowing the tell is half of it. The five-step method covers how to fix a whole draft, not just one pattern.