Monica Marroquin
Mr.spencer
English 50
17 November 2014
Doublespeak
Doublespeak is language that deliberately disguises or reverses the meaning of words. It pretends to communicate but in fact it does not(lutz).Primarily, it is meant to make the truth sound more palatable. In other words, doublespeak is the changing or switching of words to make an unpleasant, tricky, negative situation sound not as awful. The language is used to confuse and manipulate people.
After all, we use language to think, to make decisions, to express our thoughts on issues everyday. Then, we process the information , which we can only do so by using language. In fact, it is not too doubtful to say that language forms the basis of all human actions. The language we hear and use in our lives influences us and helps shape our opinions. If the language we hear and read is misleading, it corrupts and misleads our thought processes. Not only does the language of doublespeak corrupt thoughts and misleads our thought processes, it also destroys relationships by destroying our trust. Our country has the ideal of honest communication of all concepts, But when we hear doublespeak from all sides of government, education, advertising, and the media we begin to be cynical and distrustful toward every stitutions.
Doublespeak is all around us.There are certain types of doublespeak such as euphemism, jargon,gobbledygook/bureaucratese and inflated, The first being euphemism is a phrase that is said in a way to
Each “hearer” also interprets what he hears as a beholder. Consequently, if an English speaker, or writer desires to convey a message, truth, fiction or nonfiction, entertainment, persuasion, evidence of fact, he must use correct language, perhaps colloquialisms, be aware of the listeners, their education, culture, motivation and attention. The written and spoken language can be used to deceive as well as to inform. Advertisement, celebrities, leading preachers, politicians are used to provide a single perspective, not thorough information leading to a reasoned conclusion.
In William Lutz’s essay entitled “The World of Doublespeak,” from Christopher Ricks’s and Lenonard Micheal’s anthology State of the Language, Lutz examines the art of doublespeak. This essay is meant to enlighten people on examples and different uses of doublespeak and how organizations and others use it to mislead. Lutz begins by defining doublespeak as “language which pretends to communicate but doesn’t, language which makes the bad seem good, the negative appear positive, the unpleasant attractive, or at least tolerable” (278). Specifically, people who use doublespeak pretend to be conveying a certain message while in the real sense they are doing the opposite of that. The author gives specific examples of doublespeak that affect the
The use of propaganda and double-speaking have a long history, going back to the ancient societies. Propaganda and doublespeak are the use of verbal exchange to have an effect on the emotions, attitudes, and opinions of human beings. To try to get them to accept a particular political, religious, or financial point of view, or even to start a war. It is careful manipulation of the opinions of the societies mostly by their government. In the effort to control the nation 's thought process, the government has stemmed to using mass propaganda for selling a war.
Language is an incredibly powerful tool for communication and the words we use control the
The power of words is immeasurable. Words help people to voice their opinions and express their thoughts and feelings. Our everyday lives are shaped by communication and in general language. A persons language can often influence success and happiness. America is viewed as a melting pot for numerous different people and their respective languages. Language is so vital in our society that a person of diverse ethnic background can face many tribulations throughout their everyday life.
In Stephanie Ericsson’s essay, “The Ways We Lie”, she describes the many ways we create miscommunication individually and as a community. Lies that affect us individually are lies we commit between ourselves and a small group, like, “your hair looks great” to a friend, knowing you meant the opposite. Meanwhile, lies that affects society is on a more severe consequence scale – Adolf Hitler, world famous anarchist, persuaded his soldiers into believing obliterating the life of massive amount of Jewish believers had a good cause, when it actually disrupted society itself. Her main topic is how we are consumed by lies and deceptions abused by oneself and society. She categorizes each lie which she later elaborates the different consequences they
Many of us say a lot of words that have hidden messages or double meaning. LIke the book ¨ Night¨ the word night has a literally and Figuratively meaning to it .
"I remember in 7th grade I used the word "misrepresentation" in a conversation with a girl who was super popular in the black crowd. She scowled and asked why do I always have to use such big words. I told her that I didn't think that it was that big. (The smart-alec in me wanted to point
“Doublespeak” can be seen frequently in the world of 1984. The party’s big slogan “WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” (George Orwell, 4) is an good example. The idea of the slogan is to convince the citizens that what they want, is what they already have. Only war can make peace and harmony, so peace is no longer peace, it becomes war; anyone who is slaved and wants freedom, he already has freedom; you can only strengthen yourself by not knowing things and being ignorant. The slogan changes truth and make the citizens believe that anything they want other than what their government wants can only make them unhappy, therefore, no one will consider rebellion because they believe the Party’s way of governing is the best and only way. “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” (George Orwell, 3) is
The use of propaganda and doublespeak have a long history, going back to the ancient societies. Propaganda and doublespeak are the use of verbal exchange to have an effect on the emotions, attitudes, and opinions of human beings. To try to get them to accept a particular political, religious, or financial point of view, or even to start a war. It is careful manipulation of the opinions of the societies mostly by their government. In the effort to control the nation 's thought process, the government has used mass propaganda for selling a war.
Humans act toward people, things, and events on the basis of the meanings they assign to them. Once people define a situation as real, it has very real consequences. Without language there would be no thought, no sense of self, and no socializing presence of society within the individual. (Socio-cultural tradition)
“Newspeak” is enforced to eliminate words and replace emotion, words like “excellent” are replaced with “plusgood” or “plusplusgood”. They are controlled to speak the way the party wants them to.
In the words of George Orwell, “If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” Language has been spoken for over 350,000 years. It has expanded tremendously, but its power has never changed. The use of language shapes peoples' perceptions and the depth of interactions because it can demean, avoid, portray emphasis, persuade, and conceal from simple phrases such as “I feel like” and “just”.
From my readings to research from Edutopia to literature courses, I have gained a deeper appreciation for language. In order to understand what one is speaking, a person needs to spend time listening to one’s language and before responding must reflect and analyze what the other said and how to respond. If a person wants to love another person they have to listen to their language in order to speak their language, and the core part of learning another language is by listening. According to Joan Blaska, author of The Power of Language: Speak and Write Using “Person First” the language people use shows one’s bias and prejudices. Beliefs and another’s performance fall under the influence of language. Blaska claimed “ the degree to which children are able to perceive themselves as competent and worthy, or the opposite, is heavily influenced by the verbalizations used by their teachers...Studies have found that labeling of students does affect teacher expectations which in turn affects student progress”. People have heavy influence with their words, because of this, our language must be intentional in a way, that breaks down negative stereotypes and helps one gain empathy as well as seeing others capabilities. Communicating and reading others comments and inquiring others has helped me to accept
A euphemism is a word used in the place of another to take away the harshness or crudeness. The beginning of the word euphemism is (eu-) which means good in Greek. Euphemisms are usually used to cover up the unpleasantness of situations; instead of saying something is terrible you can say it is not the best. However, euphemisms can also be used to elevate an occupation and make it sound more important and desirable. Certain occupations are frowned upon because they require little to no education. Jobs that include a lot of physical labor are not very popular in contemporary society. To combat the decline in popularity f physical labor jobs companies have started using euphemisms. Growing up we all had one day out the week that the garbage truck came and the