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In these early days of his second term, President Obama isn鈥檛 just promoting legislation on guns and immigration. The president and his surrogates are promoting 鈥渃ommon-sense proposals鈥� to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill, and a revamped, 鈥渃ommon-sense鈥� immigration system.

Indeed, it is rare in recent Obama administration pronouncements that the terms聽鈥済un measures鈥澛燼nd 鈥渋mmigration reform鈥� appear without the words 鈥渃ommon sense鈥� nearby.

At a campaign-style event on gun violence in Minneapolis on Monday, for instance, Mr. Obama used the phrase five times in a 15-minute speech.

鈥淚 need everybody who's listening to keep the pressure on your member of Congress to do the right thing,鈥� Obama said at the Minneapolis Police Department Special Operations Center. 鈥淎sk them if they support common-sense reforms like requiring universal background checks or restoring the ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.鈥�

The use of 鈥渃ommon sense鈥� to woo the public is as old as the nation. In 1776, activist Thomas Paine wrote the best-selling pamphlet 鈥淐ommon Sense鈥� to promote the idea of colonial independence from Britain 鈥� and the term has been deployed regularly for political use ever since.

鈥淚t has been a hallmark of populism on both the right and left,鈥� says Sophia Rosenfeld, a historian at the University of Virginia and author of 鈥淐ommon Sense: A Political History.鈥� 鈥淚t was used to argue for abolition and also for slavery, for women鈥檚 suffrage and against women鈥檚 suffrage.鈥�

In the modern era, one way for an interest group to project a hint of populism is to put 鈥渃ommon sense鈥� in its name 鈥� such as Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington-based watchdog group that tracks federal spending (and named Alaska鈥檚 infamous 鈥淏ridge to Nowhere鈥�).聽聽Some tea party groups, like Alabama's Common Sense Tea Party Patriots, have also incorporated the phrase into their titles.聽

Other Republicans have been prone to recent pleas for 鈥渃ommon sense鈥� as well. During the 2012 presidential campaign, GOP nominee Mitt Romney called for repeal of the Affordable Care Act and replacement with 鈥渃ommon-sense, patient centered reforms.鈥� In 2009, the House Republicans鈥� answer to Obamacare was a bill called the聽Common Sense Health Care Reform and Affordability Act. 聽

So what does this 鈥渃ommon sense鈥� rhetorical flourish really convey? And does it work?

It鈥檚 a way of asserting that an issue has been decided 鈥� when in fact, just the opposite is the case 鈥� and of depicting opponents as unreasonable ideologues, say experts on language and political rhetoric.

鈥淧olitical figures say something is 鈥榡ust common sense鈥� when they want to imply that it's obvious to anyone whose thinking isn't fogged by ideology or strained by excessive cleverness,鈥� says Geoffrey Nunberg, a linguist at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Information.

鈥淏oth right and left have appealed to 鈥榗ommon sense鈥� over the years, but in politics the fact that you feel obliged to invoke 鈥榗ommon sense鈥� usually means that the views aren't common to everyone,鈥� Mr. Nunberg adds. 鈥淚t's like saying that an issue is 鈥榥ot political,鈥� which more or less guarantees that it is."

On a practical level, by framing his ideas as 鈥渃ommon sense,鈥� Obama is trying to get the public to take action.

鈥淚t鈥檚 clearly an effort to capture the center, the independents, and moderate voters who did vote for him in the election, or at least a majority of them,鈥� says Martin Medhurst, a professor of rhetoric and political science at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure [Obama] hopes they will put pressure on their elected representatives and somehow conjure a majority on his proposals.鈥�

Indeed, as part of his argument for reform on both guns and immigration, Obama often mentions opinion polls that he says support his positions. Many polls show majority public support for the major elements of his gun legislation 鈥� a renewed ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, and background checks on all gun buyers. 聽

But anybody who has followed the debate over guns knows that the matter is far from settled. Obama鈥檚 other rhetorical turn聽鈥� referring聽to 鈥済un violence measures鈥� and not 鈥済un control鈥� 鈥� shows how mindful he is being of his word choices on a delicate issue. To some gun-rights advocates, 鈥済un control鈥� can signal the beginning of a slippery slope to confiscation.

Still, Republicans aren鈥檛 too worried that the Second Amendment is about to bite the dust. Even Vice President Joe Biden, who chaired Obama鈥檚 task force on gun violence following the Dec. 14 school massacre in Newtown, Conn., played down the proposed ban on assault weapons, saying he thinks access to high-capacity magazines is of greater concern. After all, most gun deaths in the US are caused by hand guns, not assault weapons.聽

Political analysts say the proposed ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines doesn鈥檛 have the votes in Congress and that the most Obama will get is expanded background checks.

But Obama鈥檚 use of open-ended rhetoric 鈥渃ould be a big problem for Republicans down the line,鈥� when deficit reduction and defense spending come back to the fore, says Republican strategist Ford O鈥機onnell. 鈥淟ike the phrase 鈥榩aying your fair share.鈥� I can see the expressions on people鈥檚 faces, they think he鈥檚 being reasonable. Same with 鈥榗ommon sense.鈥� Everyone places their own meaning on it.鈥�