Monday, October 28, 2013

Orwellian Doublespeak ( 1984)

A concept created by George Orwell , can be seen to be analogous to Doublethink and Newspeak .
Using doublethink , a person can hold 2 opposing ideas  and fully believing in both the  ideas . Newspeak is then the offical language used to express the ideas in  doublethink.  Doublespeak , therefore , can be described as evasive ,  ambigous  language intended to deceive or confuse . It possesses the following specific attributes

  • misleads
  • distorts reality
  • pretends to communicate
  • makes the bad seem good
  • avoids or shifts responsibility
  • makes the negative appear positive
  • limits, conceals, corrupts, and prevents thought
  • makes the unpleasant appear attractive or tolerable
  • creates incongruity between reality and what is said or not said

Some examples of doublespeak 
  • senior citizen ( old)
  • Constructive severence ( laid off ; fired )
  • negative patient care outcome ( patient died)
  • mental activity at the margin ( insanity)
  • non-performing assets ( bad loans , debts )
  • pre-owned car  ( used car )
  • Industrial action ( strike )
  • enhanced interrogation ( torture)
  • premptive strike  ( unprovoked attack )
  • person of interest ( suspects in a crime)
  • take down ( kill )
  • ethnic cleansing  ( genocide)
  • substance abuse  ( drug addiction ) 
  • curvy ( fat ) 

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