Doublespeak is used in today's society to make an uncomfortable or unpleasant topic more likable. For example, in the military world, if civilians were killed in a military operation, they are considered 'collateral damage'. Surrendering is renamed a tactical retreat, and in the US army, killing someone is considered 'servicing the target.' According to an article titled, 'Involuntary Conversions, Preemptive Counterattacks, and Incomplete Success: The World of Doublespeak' there are four kinds of doublespeak. The first being Euphemism, a pleasant replacement for a harsh or unattractive word of phrase. The second type of Doublespeak is 'jargon', a simplified language used by doctors, lawyers, or other professionals. Jargon is a verbal shorthand designed for only people in specific fields to be able to understand. The third type of Doublespeak is 'bureaucratese'. It is a form of speaking used by politicians, and business executives. It is used by piling eloquent sounding words and phrases on top of each other until the true meaning of the sentence is lost, in a way to confuse and overwhelm the audience. The final type of Doublespeak is language to make the un-ordinary seem extraordinary. Using trumped-up language to make something unappealing or distasteful seem incredible or impressive. For example a used car being called an 'experienced car.'
In conclusion, Doublespeak is a way of speaking that pretends to convey a message but really does not and simply misleads and confuses the audience.
Your last sentence kind of made me realize that the whole point of doublespeak is just to confuse the recipient so much that they'd go along with anything, or overlook something horrible if it's more pleasantly worded. Investing in an "experienced car" sounds way better than buying a "used car" right? Even knowing there's no difference, I'd still prefer the former over the latter. This just demonstrates the powerful influence of wording.
ReplyDeleteI'd argue though that the use of 'doublespeak' in the military is supposed to simplify things so the soldiers can react quicker to situations. I do think uses of words like lol can and have lead to huge grammatical issues though, and should be used cautiously.
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