We are awash in euphemisms
and evasive language.
"Hull loss,"
a term used by the airlines, means a plane crash in ordinary English.
"A pluralistic plan" is a hiring quota, and "semantic
violence" usually means criticism or yelling.
Mercenaries are now
"security contractors." "Sheltering in place"
is a happy-talk reference to quarantine, according to an NPR report.
New Orleans police rejected the term "looting" after
Katrina, but they conceded "the possibility of appropriation
of non-essential items from businesses."
William Lutz, author
of "Doublespeak," reports that if a doctor in Britain
removes the wrong kidney, this is written down as an "error
of laterality." Also in Britain, the Church of England suggests
that the words "living in sin" should be banished and
replaced by a "covenanted relationship."
In Santa Barbara,
patrons in an "adult" club cannot hand a tip to the
"exotic dancers," but they are urged to put money into
"a non-human gratuity receptacle."
In the insult war
on the Web, irate liberal bloggers call their opponents "wingnuts,"
whereas angry conservative bloggers prefer to call liberal antagonists
"moonbats."
The word "liberal"
continues to fade. Those on the left prefer "progressive,"
and the term "liberal Republican" is now obsolete. The
media use "moderate Republican," which has the added
polemical advantage of implying that conservative Republicans
are immoderate. "Advocacy" is the generic Washington
word for lobbying. "Out of the mainstream" means "not
on our side."
Individual congressmen
are enriching the language. Sen. Charles Schumer contributed "deeply
held beliefs," a reference to his fear that a Catholic on
the Supreme Court might vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Rep. John
Murtha gave us the euphemism "redeployment," which is
smoother than simply saying, "Let's quit Iraq now."
Leaking closely held
government or corporate information is a terrible offense, a gross
violation of duty and maybe even treason. Unless, of course, you
agree with the leaker. In that case, he is a "whistleblower."
If demonstrators and agitators take their case to the streets,
even in a muscular and intimidating way, we needn't worry. They
are simply engaging in "direct action," which sounds
much better than "Brownshirt behavior."
Torture and torture-light
are discussed in calming language: "environmental manipulation,"
"stress positions," "sensory manipulation."
"Enhanced interrogation" (torture) has been used so
much that it seems to be settling in as a normal term, even though
such enhancement can be fatal. The same sort of semi-acceptance
may explain why "extraordinary rendition" (outsourced
torture) is mostly dropping its "extraordinary" and
entering the common language as just plain "rendition."
The Palestinians made
a language breakthrough after a few, um, activists who were trying
to shoot a missile into Israel managed to blow themselves up instead.
The Palestinians referred to this as "a work accident."
"Targeted killings," which will need to be replaced
with a true euphemism, is a preferred new term of choice for "assassination."
"Soft compliant entry" is militarese for a raid on an
Iraq dwelling that doesn't force allied troops to kick down the
door.
Educationese continues
to favor words that cloak failure, so as not to impair self-esteem.
"Negative gain" sometimes appears as a description of
falling test scores. A number of schools have eliminated "F"
as a mark, and "suboptimal outcome" means failure. In
Britain, members of the Professional Association of Teachers suggested
that schools drop the word "fail." The teachers wanted
to use "deferred success," as in, "Good news, Mom!
I've been successful on my math test, in a positive, deferred
way. Aren't you proud?"
Other additions to
educationese include "mandatory discontinued attendance"
(suspension) and "post-instructional behavioral adjustment
period" (detention).
In U.N.-speak, the
term "unsafe abortions" means illegal abortions. It
is used by those who wish to correct the lack of safety by making
abortion a legal right worldwide. "Anti-Zionism" at
any U.N. gathering translates easily as "anti-Semitism."
"Cruelty-free"
was a term used by animal rights activists to lament testing of
drugs and consumer products on animals. Now the term has migrated
to "cruelty-free cream" made of soy and "cruelty-free
chocolate" made with no milk, though the old-fashioned cruel
chocolate probably tastes better. A "flexitarian" is
one who eats vegetarian dishes at home, but will eat meat, fish
or fowl at times, usually when dining out.
On our madcap campuses,
PC folk keep inventing terms that make speech sound like action,
so if they want to punish someone, they can do so while strongly
(and hypocritically) defending free speech. "Expressive behavior,"
"verbal conduct" and "verbal action" all mean
"speech." "Non-contact sexual harassment"
includes jokes, rumor, or any comment that a woman might consider
inappropriate.
The language game
requires players to insert a strong negative word for what your
opponent wants (e.g., the death tax) and eliminate similar hot-button
words used on your side. Just as "abortion" has virtually
disappeared from the names and language of abortion-rights groups,
the word "embryo" is fading from the vocabulary of those
who favor "embryonic stem-cell research." Since polls
show that the public reacts negatively to the news that minute
human embryos are created and destroyed in the research, the media
now speak of "early stem cells." The troubling word
"cloning" is fading too; "therapeutic cloning"
is replaced by its technical term, "somatic cell nuclear
transfer."
Massive layoffs in
the auto industry have given us "volume-related production
schedule adjustment" (GM usage) and "career alternative
enhancement program" (Chrysler usage). And when the boss
says, "We have to leverage our resources," he means,
"You will be working weekends." If you don't, you risk
being "deinstalled" (fired).
John
Leo is a contributing columnist for RealClearPolitics.
