Stumble it!The euphemism
posted in Philosophy, Politics, Society by themaiden |The euphemism– the most powerful linguistic weapon available in language, yes?
Profanity, of course, and outright insult has more shock value, but who needs shock when one can have effect? Harry Truman, I believe, made the observation that it is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. The same principle applies. Profanity grabs attention but the power resides in euphemism. It is covert and quiet and superficially quite friendly. After all, it is by euphemism that we shield loved ones from unfortunate truths.
Still, euphemism is by nature a distortion of fact. It is the renaming of things in order to hide their natures. It is deception, or at least an attempt at such. Granted, comedians and some clever individuals use it well, to add poignancy to a point; and some euphemisms have become far too familiar to retain any fuzziness of meaning and are now no more than polite colloquialisms.
But it troubles me when a government uses it to deflect criticism. There is nothing of benevolence in this. There is nothing friendly, polite or colloquial. There is a frontal assault on the single most critical element of rational thought– clarity. This is nothing but the exploitation of the euphemism’s ability to blur the lines between ideas, creating confusion and short-circuiting communication.
This is rule by deception, and has no place in a free society.
Homeland Security tries passport spin
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