Readings in Applied

Linguistics
 A little
story

People heard a sound coming from a nuclear power plant. They were worried.

The manager of the nuclear power plant announced that it was: an energetic
disassembly

People did not understand exactly what that was; they thought it is a technical problem,
but they stopped worrying. And life went on…………

Years later, many people developed serious lung diseases. Upon investigation, it turned
out that the nuclear power plant had an explosion that released poisonous gases which
caused serious air pollution and damage to the environment.

As anger built up against the manager, people wanted to take him to the court,

The manager said to the judge: I told them about it1

language input > interpretation> perception
of reality/an image
 Think
What if the language that we
hear around us is actually
designed to distort our
thoughts, manipulate our minds,
change our perceptions, hide
the truth, make the negative
appear positive, and the positive
appear negative, …………….?
Confucius was asked what he would do if he
was a ruler. He said he would "rectify the
names" to make words correspond to reality.
 Questions

What do we call such language?

In today’s lesson:doublespeak

What is the de nition of doublespeak?

Is doublespeak a serious problem?

Does doublespeak happen by accident or is it

something deliberate?

Read paragraph (1) page (1) and answer these

questions
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 DOUBLESPEAK
What is doublespeak?

William Lutz de nes doublespeak as: language that pretends to

communicate but really doesn’t. It is language that makes the bad
seem good, the negative appear positive, the unpleasant appear
attractive or at least tolerable. Doublespeak is language that
avoids or shifts responsibility, language that is at variance with its
real or purported meaning. It is language that conceals or prevents
thought; rather than extending thought, doublespeak limits it.
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Seriousness of doublespeak

Doublespeak, which calls cab drivers urban transportation

specialists can be considered humorous and relatively harmless.

However, doublespeak which calls an explosion in a nuclear

power plant an energetic disassembly is language which
attempts to avoid responsibility, which attempts to make the
bad seem good, the negative appear positive, something
unpleasant appear attractive, and which seems to communicate
but does not.
 Example

What do we call this phenomenon? Global

warming or climate change?
 Quote

Source:Unspeak: How Words Become Weapons, How Weapons Become a

Message, and How That Message Becomes Reality
Book by Steven Poole
Which gum is healthier?
Unhealthy arti cial sweeteners

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 Question

Does doublespeak happen by accident or is it

something deliberate?
 Note ..
Doublespeak is not the product of careless language or
sloppy thinking.

Indeed, most doublespeak is the product of clear thinking

and is language carefully designed and constructed to
appear to communicate when in fact it does not.

It is language designed not to lead but to mislead. It is

language designed to distort reality and corrupt the mind.
What should teachers do?

Lutz encourages teachers to be aware of doublespeak:

"They should be leading the ght against doublespeak by

teaching their students how to spot it, how to defend
themselves against it, and how to eliminate it in their own
writing and speaking" (p. 63).
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 part (2)

How to discover the different kinds of

doublespeak?
 Activity
There are three kinds of doublespeak:
Euphemisms, Jargon and In ated language.
You need to:

De ne it

explain how it it can be a double-edged sword

give examples both from English and Arabic

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 Euphemisms

A euphemism is an inoffensive or positive

word or phrase used to avoid a harsh,
unpleasant, or distasteful reality

Death > pass away

disabled> physically challenged

 When are euphemisms
misused……….

When they are used to cover a harsh reality,

which people do not know !
or make something unpleasant seem
acceptable.
 Examples

New taxes>>>

During the Reagan Administration, new taxes

were just called “revenue enhancement”
through new “user’s fees.
 Examples

New taxes>>>

During the Reagan Administration, new taxes

were just called “revenue enhancement”
through new “user’s fees.
 Jargon

Jargon is the specialised language of a trade,

profession, or similar group, such as that used by
doctors, lawyers, engineers, educators, or car
mechanics.

e.g. in phonetics, diphthongs is a technical word

Example> involuntary conversion of
property

When used by lawyers in a legal situation, such jargon is a

legitimate use of language, since lawyers can be
expected to understand the term. However, when a
member of a specialized group uses its jargon to
communicate with a person outside the group, and uses
it knowing that the nonmember does not understand
such language, then there is doublespeak.
 In ated language

The last of doublespeak is in lated language that is

designed to make the ordinary seem
extraordinary; to make everyday things seem
impressive

I sell experienced cars.

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Example
 ‫‪ANECDOTES‬‬

‫• سألت صديقا لي مرة‪ :‬ايش وظيفتك ا‪-‬ن بعد التقاعد ؟‬

‫• فقال‪ :‬أعمل معا‪O‬ات مائية حرارية ل‪FJ‬نيوم وا‪F‬عادن ا‪D‬تلفة والزجاج ?ت بيئة مقيدة‬
‫وبإشراف تخصصي ‪.‬‬

‫ا^قيقة انني انبهرت‪.‬‬

‫وبالسر سألت ابنه ا‪j‬صغر عن التفاصيل قال ابوي يقوم بــ "غسيل ا‪F‬واع‪ b‬والصحون وا`كوا‬
‫ب با‪F‬اء الساخن ?ت اشراف امي‪.‬‬
 Finally

What happens to people when they are not

aware of doublespeak?

1- They ignore important issues that can

affect their lives.

2- They make uninformed decisions.

 Sources consulted

D. Lutz, William. (1987). Doublespeak.