Doublespeak
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Not to be confused with double talk.
Doublespeak is language that deliberately disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words. Doublespeak may take the form of euphemisms (e.g., "downsizing" for layoffs), making the truth less unpleasant, without denying its nature. It may also be deployed as intentional ambiguity, or reversal of meaning (for example, naming a state of war "peace"). In such cases, doublespeak disguises the nature of the truth, producing a communication bypass.
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[edit] See also
- Aesopian language
- Business speak
- Cognitive dissonance
- Double bind
- Double entendre
- Doublethink
- Nineteen Eighty-Four
- Obscurantism
- Polite fiction
- Unknown unknown
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Baar, James. (2004). Spinspeak II: The Dictionary of Language Pollution. ISBN #1-4184-2742-X
- Lutz, William. (1987). Doublespeak: From "Revenue Enhancement" to "Terminal Living": How Government, Business, Advertisers, and Others Use Language to Deceive You. New York: Harper & Row.
[edit] External links
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Look up doublespeak in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- Business Doublespeak A short essay by William Lutz
- Booknotes interview with William Lutz on Doublespeak: The Use of Language to Deceive You, December 31, 1989.
- DoubleSpeak Homepage by Michele Damron (1998)
- National Council of Teachers of English Doublespeak Award established in 1974
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