Editing Connotation (section)

===Related terms===
It is often useful to avoid words with strong connotations (especially [[pejorative]] or [[wikt:disparaging|disparaging]] ones) when striving to achieve a [[Objectivity (philosophy)|neutral point of view]]. A desire for more positive connotations, or fewer negative ones, is one of the main reasons for using [[euphemism]]s.<ref>
Not all theories of [[linguistic meaning]] honor the distinction between literal meaning and (this kind of) connotation. See [[literal and figurative language]].</ref>

Semiotic closure, as defined by [[Terry Eagleton]], concerns "a sealed world of ideological stability, which repels the disruptive, decentered forces of language in the name of an imaginary unity. [[Sign (semiotics)|Sign]]s are ranked by a certain covert violence into rigidly hierarchical order. . . . The process of forging ‘representations’ always involves this arbitrary closing of the signifying chain, constricting the free play of the signifier to a spuriously determinate meaning which can then be received by the subject as natural and inevitable".<ref>{{cite book|author=Terry Eagleton|title=Ideology: An Introduction|publisher=Verso|year=1991|page=197|isbn=0-86091-538-7}}</ref>{{Relevance inline |reason=Not completely irrelevant but given undue space here in relation to content that more directly deals with the notion of connotation; consider moving to [[Sign (semiotics)]] |date=January 2023}}