Doublespeak
Jessica Welch – Mini Lesson
Doublespeak
Doublespeak, often called “double talk,” is the
distortion, changing or switching of words to
make an unpleasant, tricky or otherwise
negative situation not sound as awful.
Euphemism
A mild expression substituted for one
considered to be harsh or blunt when referring
to something unpleasant or embarrassing.
Downsizing
Firing people
Using the facilities
Going to the bathroom
Activity
Two teams
Each team has fourteen words
One member from each team will run up to the front and
display the word for his team.
This will continue till all the words have been guessed.
The team who finishes their words the fastest wins.
Remember
Every member of the team has to run up and
participate before team members can run up a second
time.
Card Readers can give context clues or use the word in
a sentence.
If a team gets stuck on a word and is not progressing,
the Card Reader can put the card on the bottom of the
un-guessed pile and sit down so another team member
can proceed.
Doublespeak
Doublespeak, often called “double talk,” is the
distortion, changing or switching of words to make an
unpleasant, tricky or otherwise negative situation not
sound as awful.
Doublespeak has become a malignant art for, creating
words that obscure or distort their actual meaning.
“Similarly, Lutz defends jargon as used by member
of a well-defined group so that they can
“communicate with each other clearly, efficiently
and quickly.” That is, he does not fault lawyers and
tax accountants, in conversations with one another,
for using terms such as “involuntary conversion”
but “when a member of the group uses jargon to
communicate with a person outside the group, and
uses it knowing that the non-member does not
understand such language, then there is
doublespeak.
Example 1
I ordered the vans of group D to be
camouflaged as house-trailers by putting one set of
window shutters on each side of the small van and two
on each side of the larger vans, such as one often sees
on farm houses in the country. The vans became so
well-known, that not only the authorities but also the
civilian population called the van 'death van', as soon
as one of these vehicles appeared. It is my opinion the
van cannot be kept secret for any length of time, not
even camouflaged.
Example 2
I should like to take this opportunity to bring
the following to your attention: several commands
have had the unloading after the application of gas
done by their own men. I brought to the attention of
the commanders the immense psychological injuries
and damages to their health which that work can have
for those men, even if not immediately, at least later
on. The men complained to me about headaches which
appeared after each unloading.
Example 3
The lighting must be better protected against
damage than hitherto....It has been suggested that
lighting should be dispensed with since they are
allegedly never used. However, experience shows that
when the rear door is closed and therefore when it
becomes dark, the cargo presses hard towards the
door....It makes it difficult to latch the door.
Furthermore, it has been observed that the noise
always begins when the doors are shut presumably
because of fear brought on by the darkness.
Justification for Taking
Doublespeak Seriously:
“Even if I cannot prove what I suspect, I would still urge
teachers of English to maintain or create prominent places
within their curricula for matters related to doublespeak.
In so doing, I echo Professor Corbett, who more than thirty
years ago called on English teachers to “regard themselves
as ex officio members of vigilante committees for the
preservation and enhancement of the language” (16). One
important reason why I echo this note is that studying
doublespeak will lead students to examine some fascinating
and powerful samples of language. And once they can
identify, understand, and evaluate these samples, they will
be better positioned to recognize and work against uses of
language that “insult our intelligence, corrupt public
discourse, and ultimately undermine that which holds us
together as a nation” (Lutz, New Doublespeak 5)