Veiled Threat

They are the preferred weapons of politicians and criminals.

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WotD: Veiled Threat

Veiled threats are the preferred weapons of politicians and criminal gangs.

If you threaten someone, you tell them what you’re going to do to them, but a veiled threat is indirect.

You can hint at the consequences, but as long as you do not say anything explicitly, you are not technically threatening anyone.

Internationally, we could take the Spratly Islands as an excellent example of veiled threats.

The Chinese have taken over these tiny islands or sand bars and turned them into military outposts and airports.

They say it’s to protect their territory.

This militarization can warn any country, especially the United States, not to get too close to China.

As a result of these actions, the Americans have been communicating some ‘warnings’ of their own.

Now and then, an American naval vessel will sail close to the Spratly Islands to exercise its right of navigation in international waters.

Military ships carry guns and missiles.

Of course, the US doesn’t say it will use them, but the fact that they are sailing so close to Chinese territory is seen as a veiled threat.

It shows that if they want to, they can do whatever they want, and there’s nothing the Chinese can do about it.

Making threats is illegal in most countries, but veiled threats are much harder to prove.

On a more personal level, you may want to do something, but if a stranger says, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” you may change your mind.

It’s not that you know you are in danger for sure.

You feel something is not right.

There is just a hint of danger and perhaps unwanted consequences.

That’s a veiled threat, and it’s why you decide to move on.

This post is understandable by someone with at least an 8th-grade education (age 13 – 14).

The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.