Used by pretty much everyone when they want to be vaguely threatening, or to explain why a behavior is wrong. Often used with a variation of "think of the children." "We think Canada's loosening of laws prohibiting medical marijuana sends the wrong message to our children." Or, "our presence in Iraq sends a message to terrorists." What happens when a message is "sent"? How do you know it was received? How do you know it was interpreted as intended? What if someone else was also listening, or not? In most cases, a single well-chosen word would do. In the above examples, "encourages" and "frightens" would work.

submitted by andrew

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