A friend of mine asked me this question and I can't for the life of me think of the word. Do you happen to know if such a word exists?

"...what would be the term one would use if someone made a statement where they generalized like saying 'why doesn't ANYONE do such and such?' when they clearly do not mean everyone but are just positing it as a proposition in general and are speaking to everyone but meaning some people?"

I appreciate any light you can shed.