PFAS-free. There is just another similar chemical in it that hasn't been regulated yet.

Biodegradable

Where it just turns in to smaller and smaller pieces of plastic until it's tiny enough to enter your bloodstream

Real cheese

Free credit report.

"ethically sourced," "free range" amongst others for meat and dairy products.

"Unlimited"

Environmentally friendly

"24 hour odor protection" in deodorants.

"full self-driving"

No artificial flavors

"Natural" and "artificial" flavors are determined by how they're made/obtained, not by what the ingredient itself is. You can have the same ingredient labeled as either artificial or natural.

• "Up to..." when used to describe things like internet speeds
• "Wholesome" when used to describe food. Not really a lie, per se, but "wholesome" has absolutely no meaning when it comes to nutrition and just sounds good
• "Zero calories" or 0 grams of [blank] in the nutrition information. The regulations let them round down if it's less than 1 ~~gram~~ standard unit of measurement for that item (edited from grams).
• Any time you see "free" there's always at least an implied asterisk

"Up to"

It is a company's often-used and workaround way of saying "we're not promising you shit" right upfront. If an ISP decides to give you 20MBps and they say 'up to' 50? Guess what, you're getting that variable 20 - 35 at best connection, not the full 50 or even 49.

Any value that a company puts those two words up against, always expect you're getting lesser than advertised. It's a subtle sneaky bullshit lie that is right infront of your face.

"AI increases productivity"

Calorie free. Fat free. Sodium free, etc.

Just means that it has less than a specific threshold of the item per serving. And their servings are often arbitrarily small enough in order to conveniently miss that threshold

I'm looking at you, Tic Tacs

"We respect your privacy"

Stainless steel. Because the common understanding of stainless is not what the stainless in stainless steel means.

Organic foods. Obviously this varies by location, but there are no universally standardized and enforced definitions of what it means to be organic that it comes close to being meaningless. You'd be surprised at what "organic" growers can get away with.

Genuine leather. It's so misleading it's pretty easy to argue that it's essentially a lie.

20% off. When it's the same cost as it was last month, you just upped the price, then put it on sale, so that in the end it evens out.

15 minutes could save you 15% or more. Not will, could. We already knew that it had to be either greater than, less than, or equal to 15% because that covers everything

Microwave safe

Chocolate

In the states, you have to watch for phrases like chocolatey or chocolate flavored. If you see those, it is 0% real chocolate. Even our minimum standard for actual real chocolate (I think 35% cocao) is a joke.

Hypo-allergenic

There is no such technical term. It is all marketing.

Organic