The Semantically loaded reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Semantically loaded

An instance of communication is said to be "semantically loaded" if its effectiveness is reduced due to semantic discord between the cultural contexts of the communicators.

For example, suppose you crash your airplane on a desert island inhabited by primitives who believe that fire makes everything better.

You note that you could repair the machine if you could carve a new propeller out of local wood. You attempt to enlist the help of the natives. But as soon as they discover that you are attempting to improve the status of your airplane, they set torches to it -- because "repair," "improve," "fix" and other such words are all semantically loaded.

I have just given a horrible example and I would truly like to see it replaced by a better one.

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