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Euphemisms in War and Peace
When I took my last long trip, I took along George Carlin's "When Will Jesus Bring the Porkchops." I've been a fan for years, but was particularly struck by his treatment of the prevalance of euphemisms. For a long time, I've noticed sanitized language used to talk about war (eg. "collateral damage" or "precision bombing"). It's not hard to find it when reading history (eg. "Indian removal" or "internment camps"). I've been thinking about the propaganda and the framing of messages we've seen in the more recent past, and it all fits.
As George points out, euphemisms obscure meaning rather than enhance it; they shade the truth. They may replace words that people are uncomfortable with or simply put a better face on things that sound too negative. They may also dress up something that seems too ordinary. "Thighs" become "drumsticks," "crow's feet" are "laugh lines," and "pimples" are "blemishes."
"Toilet paper" is "bathroom tissue," and "sweatpants" are "active wear." "Second-hand clothing" is now "vintage apparel." "Toupees" have been referred to as "hair appliances" or even a "hair replacement system," much as an "answering machine" is an "answering system" or a "mattress and box spring" is a "sleep system." Cars now have "braking systems" rather than just brakes, and the seat belts and air bags are an "impact-management system." We watch "animation" rather than lowly "cartoons" or "daytime dramas" rather than "soap operas."
Theaters have become "performance spaces," and arenas are now "event centers." Hospitals are "medical centers," libraries are "learning resource centers" and so on. "Profits" are "earnings," "criticism" is "feedback" and "special delivery" is now "priority mail." "Trailers" are "manufactured homes," "mouthwash" is a "dental rinse," "soap" is a "clarifying bar," and "hair spray" is a "holding mist" or "sculpting gel. "Cough drops" are "lozenges," and "constipation and diarrhea" are "occasional irregularity and lower gastric distress."
Euphemisms have been used to "soften the language" when it comes to the condition in combat where a soldier's nervous system has reached the breaking point. In World War I, it was called "shell shock." In World War II, it became "battle fatigue," definitely less harsh-sounding, though two syllables became four.
By the Korean War, the condition became known as "operational exhaustion," nice and sterile sounding, like something that might happen to your car. Finally Vietnam, and "post-traumatic stress disorder." It still has eight syllables, but has been hyphenated.
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Richard Bell co-wrote a book entitled NUKESPEAK: Nuclear Language Myths and Mindsets. It won the George Orwell Award in 1984.
It is one of the most enraging books I have ever read. We have extra copies if anyone wants to read it. It unpacks the way lies have been told about nuclear energy and weapons.
Dianne,
And one of the biggest wrongs was how even in 2004 we refused to speak the truth about Bush. That he was a liar. A liar who told lies. Instead, he "misrepresented the truth."
And more euphemisms, "Someone leaked Valerie Plame's name." No--someone didn't leak- they committed treason. They outed a covert spy. They recklessly abandoned the national security of our nation by TELLING the media who our covert spy was. TREASON. Let's say it together and get rid of the euphemism.
PS. Have you made your calls today? Have you sent out your faxes and emails? Have you gotten your friends and neighbors involved?
I'm doing it right now...
Karen
I would love to read that!
This is a ways into this article but I think it relates:
Why Scott McClellan Had His Job
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-rosen/a-world-made-more-opaque_b_73896.html
McClellan's specialty was not lying, or the traditional art of spin but what I have called "strategic non-communication." Lying we understand, spin we have to come to grasp. Non-communication we still do not appreciate; its purpose is to make executive power less legible. Only a stooge figure would be willing to suffer the very public humiliations that such a policy requires of the man in the briefing room.
McClellan was often described as "robotic" because he would mindlessly repeat some empty formula he had concocted in anticipation of reporters' questions. The point here was to underline how pointless it was even to ask questions of the Bush White House. And reporters got that point, though they missed the larger picture I am describing. Many times they wondered what they were doing there.
I will tell you - they were a constraint being made more absent with every exchange they had with the thick-headed and graceless McClellan. In this sense they were part of the Terror Presidency. The agenda was not to get the White House message out; it was not to explain the president's policies. At both of these (common sense) tasks McClellan was simply awful, his performance a non-starter. No, he was part of something larger and far more disturbing; and it would have been disturbing even to loyal Republicans if they had bothered to understand it.
The goal, I think, was to make the American presidency more opaque, so that no one could see in.
Reign in those Vocal Chords
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1126/p19s01-hfes.html
about the appalling relaxation of spelling standards simply because "everyone is doing it"
In the past few weeks I learned that the euphemism, "mudslinging" refers to the honest description of the differences between one Presidential candidate and her opponents. I don't think that is how a linguist would use that word. When one sees a candidate for President use obvious hyperbole to deflect honest critique, one has to consider how that individual would truly behave as President. If what I heard was "mudslinging", then I would like to test myself and hear honest to goodness, knock down, drag out, criticism. I am not sure I could handle it.