DOUBLESPEAK
"When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more
nor less." -- Humpty Dumpty, from Through the Looking Glass
"Doublespeak is language that pretends to communicate but really doesn't. It is language
that makes the bad seem good, the negative appear positive, the unpleasant appear
attractive or at least tolerable. Doublespeak is language that avoids or shifts
responsibility, language that is at variance with its real or purported meaning. It is
language that conceals or prevents thought; rather than extending thought, doublespeak
limits it." --William Lutz
Source: Double-Speak by William Lutz
A recurring theme in much of Lutz's work is that when language is used for purposes
other than what it was originally designed for to communicate it is usually not an
accident or a slip-up; in most cases it is deliberate.
Lutz breaks doublespeak down into four major categories: the euphemism, jargon,
gobbledygook, and inflated language.
He describes a euphemism as being "...an inoffensive word or phrase used to avoid a
harsh, unpleasant, or distasteful reality". He makes an immediate distinction between
euphemisms that are not doublespeak and those that are.
Saying someone has "passed away", for example, is not doublespeak because it is said
out of concern for someone's feelings and out of these types of euphemisms are common
knowledge: everyone knows that "passed away" means "died".
But when a euphemism is used to deceive, it becomes doublespeak. Lutz cites an
example of how the State Department announced it was replacing the term "killing" in its
future reports with the phrase "unlawful or arbitrary deprivation of life" in order to avoid
or minimize discussion on CIA-sponsored terrorist groups down in Central America.
Who is saying what to whom, under what conditions and circumstances,
with what intent, and with what results?" -- William Lutz, from Doublespeak
Much like the euphemism, jargon -- the specialized "trade" language within a
professional group -- also has its acceptable and unacceptable forms. If the jargon stays
within the specific professional group, for instance if doctors discuss medical
terminology among themselves, it isn't doublespeak because they all understand the
terms. However, if jargon is used outside of that group it becomes doublespeak because
the intended audience won't be familiar with these terms. He mentions how jargon is
deceptively used to "...make the simple appear complex, the ordinary profound, the
obvious insightful." (4) The act of smelling something becomes "organoleptic analysis",
while if your house is broken into it or destroyed it suffers an "involuntary conversion."
Lutz mentions that gobbledygook, also known as bureaucratese, is unacceptable in any
shape or form. Gobbledygook is probably the easiest type of doublespeak to perpetrate on
an unsuspecting audience, because all that's needed is to endlessly pile on words and
overwhelm whomever is listening. This way the person in question can give the
appearance (a key word!) of authority and creditability of a subject and intimidate his or
her audience into submission. "Awkward, contorted syntax and the use of unfamiliar
technical terms impede the communication of specialized (particularly scientific,
academic and professional) knowledge, both to specialists in other disciplines and to the
general public.
For years, Alan Greenspan a former Nixon official and current Chair of the Federal
reserve, has been doing just that. In his Doublespeak book and on NPR, Lutz gives
Greenspan an enormous pie-to-the-face. For example, in answering a question during a
Senate committee hearing, Greenspan once stated, "It is a tricky problem to find a
particular calibration in timing that would be appropriate to stem the acceleration in risk
premiums created by falling income without prematurely aborting the decline in
inflation-generated risk premium." (5) Any more questions for Mr. Greenspan?
The fourth type of doublespeak, inflated language, is perhaps the most common and is
the opposite of the euphemism. Inflated language is designed to "...make the ordinary
seem extraordinary; to make everyday things seem impressive." In relatively harmless
settings, this is where garbage men might refer to themselves as "sanitation engineers", or
where used cars are called "previously distinguished vehicles." Lutz then points out the
more nefarious uses of inflated language, such as when a fire in a nuclear power plant
was described as a "rapid oxidation."
Doublespeak can be classified into several different types. Being able to recognize the
different forms doublespeak can take can help you spot doublespeak more easily.
Click on links below to get examples of doublespeak!
euphemism examples
jargon examples
gobbledygook example
examples of inflated language