"amaze your friends with this incredible item" instead of "you might want to buy this item"."a splendiferous fantabulous vacation getaway" instead of "a great place to vacation".Those who seek to influence public opinions tend to use extreme terminology in a way that's not really accurate. Companies often use inflated language in marketing claims. A person who uses inflated language might be trying to impress others. Sometimes referred to as puffery, inflated language uses over-the-top language to make things seem better than they are. "working on getting caught up" instead of "I'm behind with my work"."what an interesting flavor" instead of "yuck, that is horrible"."sleeping off a big night out" instead of "passed out drunk"."person of interest" instead of a "suspect in a crime"."passed on" or "passed away" instead of "died" or "dead"."he's not the best driver" instead of "he is a terrible driver"."ill-advised" instead of "a terrible idea"."good effort" instead of "that's not right"."a bit shaky" instead of "very poor quality"."alternative facts" instead of "lies" or "misinformation".Calling someone's home "quaint" can be a nice way of saying "small." The speaker is being polite, but not purposefully distorting or evading some major truth. They're evasive, but not usually malicious. They are used to soften a blow rather than to hide the truth.
On the Contrary, when, as Lutz illustrates, words no longer are used to express meaning, but are used merely as devices to conceal and obscure meaning we must question the underlying reasons for this practice.For example, consider the difference between a "freedom fighter" and a "terrorist".Euphemisms are a type of doublespeak that attempts to make certain situations seem more palatable. Perhaps, as a result of these views you may consider William Lutz a bit hypervigilant, in need of enrollment to a labor reform camp for ideological re-education. Whether called propaganda or the manufacture of consent, the effect of the resulting manipulation of public sentiment is primarily the same.
Double speek free#
In Orwell's 1984 the vital role of language in a free society is explicitly investigated and as history as shown the manipulation of language and meaning is a basic tool of modern war. The point of this little exercise is to illustrate the often complex ways that language is becoming increasingly jargon-laden and obscured for the express purpose of concealing and obfuscating its meaning, and thus, managing our reactions to it, be that from our government, corporations, health care providers or media outlets.
Or, to employ current doublespeak we could choose to call this same act: eliminating redundancies in the human resources area or destaffing., Then again, we could also say that the employees were derecruited, deselected, dis-employed, outplaced, non-retained or idled indefinitely. As Lutz points out it is precisely in the realm of meaning that understanding the jargon of doublespeak becomes vital.For example, the word "downsizing" is employed day in day out on the news to express what would be more appropriately described as the firing or laying off of employees. De Saussure pointed out that language is indeed an arbitrary creation, the meaning of which is dependent on little more than the whims of its speakers. Contrary to what some say language and its meaning is never dependent upon neutrality, it is, instead, always the subjective, creation of the speaker/author.
Double speek code#
In the same way, William Lutz seeks to expose the ways in which language is manipulated and transformed from units of meaning into a complex code of evasion and linguistic subterfuge. Thus, the image becomes the preferred tool of domination and the medium of modern propaganda. The spectacle that results from a culture where 24 hour coverage of even the most insignificant of events, such as, Madonna's wedding, Lady Di's death, or the OJ trial-all interspersed with an endless onslaught of Nike ads, sitcom drivel-works explicitly to confuse and sedate the public (consumers)-insulating them from the unpleasant realities of war, famine and environmental destruction. In Society of the Spectacle, Guy Debord delved into the myriad of ways that modern society has been spectacularized through the mind-numbing assault by PR firms, advertisers and the media, in reiterating a culture where capitalism is presented as the only possible means of human existence.
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