Transfer
Transfer: borrowing a symbol's feeling for an unrelated claim.
How to spot it
Borrowing the feeling attached to a symbol, like the flag, faith, the founders or the troops, and attaching it to a claim that has nothing to do with them. "The founders would be ashamed of this bill" asks you to transfer your respect for the founders to the speaker's view.
What doesn't count
Mentioning a symbol isn't transfer when it's the actual subject: a Veterans Day statement about veterans, a bill about the flag. The technique is the borrowed feeling, not the reference.
Real examples
Each was flagged by Semblen's model, then chosen to stay on this page, so the examples don't change from day to day. A quote in a news article may be the outlet reporting what someone else said, and an ad may be quoting its opponent. Follow each link to check it in context.
In the news
“hunting terrorists and bringing Osama bin Laden to justice”
“They stood up to the Soviet Union”
“compared Ukraine's resistance to Russia to the UK's fight with Nazi Germany”
“gracious protectress of the United States”
In 2026 campaign ads
“George Washington warned us about the dangers of political parties.”
“actually disrespects Jesus”
In government statements
“God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker." So, God gave us Trump”
“the speech that ronald reagan gave at the berlin wall”
“His steadfast Christian faith gave him the conviction to sail into the unknown”
“Thanks to the men and women of America's Armed Forces”
“during the sacred ceremony honoring the victims of 9/11 at ground zero”
“our destiny is written by God”
Related techniques
Something wrong or unclear on this page?
Tell us. A person reads every note. Use Yes / No under any example if it isn't really transfer: two readers saying no takes it off the page.
Check something yourself
Paste an article, a speech or a video link into the analyzer and Semblen marks the words that use transfer or any other technique, and says why. It flags rhetorical techniques, not political tilt.