Sunday, July 15, 2007
Doublespeak
Is it just me or has the art of doublespeak gotten out of control.
I started thinking about this last month when the sheriff of LA county defended his early release of Paris Hilton unapologetically as a "reassignment to home"!!
When people try to disguise their actions or beliefs they seem to find words that are less offensive or less controversial. This is true in all fields of endever especially politics.
Anti abortionists call themselves pro-life. I guess the word anti has a negative connotation to some people. Pro abortionists are not any better. They call themselves pro-choice. Probably because the word abortion has a negative connotation. I don't think people that call themselves pro choice are any more pro choice than the people who call themselves pro life are really pro life.
Here are some recent examples of doublespeak:
redeploy rather than retreat
revenue enhancement rather than tax increase
investment rather than spending
fairness doctrine rather than free speech suppression
rightsizing rather than layoffs
undocumented worker rather than illegal alien
recycle collection area rather than junk yard
negative patient care outcome rather than died
ethnic cleansing rather than genocide
Doublespeak is not new by any means. Here are some historical examples:
pre-owned rather than used
passed away rather than died
sales associate rather than clerk
friendly fire rather than fratricide
mentally challenged rather than retarded
sanatation engineer rather than garbage collector
maintenance engineer rather than janitor
Do you think doublespeak is getting worse?
What are some of your favorite doublespeaks?
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