Definition and Examples of Doublespeak

Doublespeak is  language  thats intended to deceive or confuse people. The words used in doublespeak can often be understood in more than one way.   Doublespeak in English Doublespeak may take the form of  euphemisms, unsupported generalizations, or deliberate  ambiguity. Contrast with  plain English. William Lutz has defined  doublespeak  as language which pretends to  communicate  but doesnt.The word  doublespeak  is a  neologism  based on the  compounds  Newspeak  and  Doublethink  in George Orwells novel  1984  (1949), though Orwell himself never used the term. Examples and Observations of Doublespeak Political language . . . is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. (George Orwell, Politics and the English Language, 1946)Employing Orwellian doublespeak, the Texas Department of Agriculture issued a press release that simultaneously touted its efforts to combat  child  obesity while also  lifting a decade-old ban  on deep fat fryers in public schools. Because nothing slims a child’s waist faster than a helping of French fries. (Mark Bittman, What We’re Reading Now.  The New York Times, June 25, 2015) William Lutz on Doublespeak Doublespeak  is  language  which pretends to communicate but doesnt. It is  language  which makes the bad seem good, the negative seem positive, the unpleasant seem unattractive, or at least tolerable. It is  language  which avoids, shifts or denies responsibility; language which is at variance with its real or purported meaning. It is  language  which conceals or prevents thought. Doublespeak is all around us. We are asked to check our packages at the desk for our convenience when its not for our convenience at all but for someone elses convenience. We see advertisements for preowned, experienced or previously distinguished cars, not used cars and for genuine imitation leather, virgin vinyl or real counterfeit diamonds. (William Lutz, Doubts About Doublespeak.  State Government News, July 1993) With  doublespeak, banks dont have bad loans or bad debts; they have nonperforming assets or nonperforming credits which are rolled over or rescheduled.(William Lutz,  The New Doublespeak. HarperCollins, 1996)War and PeaceI reminded [the soldiers] and their families that the war in Iraq is really about peace.(President George W. Bush, April 2003) A Dehumanizing Language A  dehumanising  system requires a  dehumanising  language. So familiar and pervasive has this language become that it has soaked almost unnoticed into our lives. Those who do have jobs are also described by the function they deliver to capital. These days they are widely known as human resources. The living world is discussed in similar terms. Nature is natural capital. Ecological processes are ecosystem services, because their only purpose is to serve us. Hills, forests and rivers are described  in government reports  as green infrastructure.  Wildlife and habitats are asset classes  in an ecosystems market. . . . Those who kill for a living employ similar terms. Israeli military commanders described the massacre of 2,100 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians (including 500 children), in Gaza this summer as mowing the lawn. . . . The army has developed a technique it calls  Shake ‘n Bake: flush people out with phosphorus, then kill them with high explosives. Shake ‘n Bake is a product made by Kraft Foods for coating meat with breadcrumbs before cooking it. Terms such as these are designed to replace mental images of death and mutilation with images of something else. (George Monbiot, Cleansing the Stock’ and Other Ways Governments Talk About Human Beings.  The Guardian  [UK], October 21, 2014) Poker-Table Communication During the weeks of negotiations, the usual intercourse of policy deliberation . . . was interrupted. It was replaced by poker-table communication: Instead of saying what they wanted, Europe’s leaders engaged in  doublespeak, saying things publicly to strengthen their negotiating position in Brussels, even if those things were often at odds with their actual intent and thoughts. (Anna Sauerbrey, European Political Poker.  The New York Times, August 9, 2015) Fashionable Doublespeak [Umbro designer David] Blanch has employed an impressive amount of  doublespeak  to talk up the technological wizardry of his design. The shirts boast intelligent ventilation points, which look very much like arm holes to you and me. It incorporates tailored shoulder darts specifically designed to accommodate the biodynamics of the shoulder. Its hard to tell from the official pictures, but this ever-so-clever touch appears to be a seam. (Helen Pidd, New All-White England Kit.  The Guardian, March 29, 2009) President Harry Trumans Secretary of Semantics I have appointed a Secretary of  Semantics--a most important post. He is to furnish me with forty to fifty dollar words. Tell me how to say yes and no in the same sentence without a contradiction. He is to tell me the combination of words that will put me against inflation in San Francisco and for it in New York. He is to show me how to keep silent--and say everything. You can very well see how he can save me an immense amount of worry. (President Harry S Truman, December 1947. Quoted by Paul Dickson in  Words From the White House. Walker Company, 2013) Resisting Doublespeak What can the average  receiver  do about  doublespeak  and related scams, swindles, and deceptions, and what should the average persuader/advertiser/blogger and so on do to avoid engaging in it? The  Doublespeak Homepage  recommends asking the following questions about any piece of  persuasion  being received or planned:  1. Who is speaking to whom?  2. Under what conditions?  3. Under what circumstances?  4. With what intent?  5. With what results?If you cannot answer  all  these questions with ease, or if you feel uncomfortable with the answers, or if you cannot determine any answer to them, you are probably dealing with doublespeak. You had better be prepared to delve deeper, or if you are sending the message, youd better think about cleaning it up a bit. (Charles U. Larson,  Persuasion: Reception and Responsibility, 12th ed. Wadsworth, 2010)      See Examples and Observations below.  Also  see: Pronunciation:  DUB-bel SPEK Also Known  As:  double talk ApoplanesisBureaucrateseA Dictionary of Phony PhrasesGeorge Carlins Essential DrivelGeorge Orwells Rules for WritersGibberish  and  GobbledygookLexical AmbiguityMystification  and  SkotisonSoft LanguageSoggy Sweats Whiskey SpeechUnder the Flapdoodle Tree: Doublespeak, Soft Language, and GobbledygookVaguenessWhat Are Weasel Words?Why Youll Never Be Told, Youre Fired