Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Innocence or Ignorance?


       Recently in class we had a discussion on doublespeak (or disguising a word with a bad connotation under the seal of a word with a better connotation, such as the USA Patriot Act for "Were gonna invade your privacy and listen to all your conversations" Act. As I tried to think of an example I could blog about, I realized that there are tons of examples. For example, instead of flunking a grade, you get held back. Instead of saying someone was killed, you might say they were tragically taken from us.And you might say you got hammered instead of saying you got drunk.
        All of these are examples of sad acts, which can have serious consequences. However, they are disguised under the guise of words which don't carry quite same the connotation of negativity. Which begs the question, why do we use these words? Is it because we are trying to protect ourselves from the truth? Or are we protecting others? Either way, what is the end result of not being straightforward with the truth? Does it make the decieved (whether yourself or the person you are telling) innocent of the truth, helping them to overcome a tough situation. Or does it fall short of sending the intended message, making them ignorant of what really happened. And in the end, is it a good thing to disguise a bad thing under a package of calm and happiness, or does it not get the intended message, and the lesson that could be learned from it, accross?
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2 comments:

  1. S. BolosOctober 28, 2009 at 8:10 PM

    Linguists would call these examples you cite, "euphemisms" -- notice the Greek roots of the word?

    For example, a parking lot attendant might be re-branded a "vehicle relocation engineer". But Orwell argued (in 1984) that language had the potential to change actual thought. I wonder if others would agree?

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  2. BFlanOctober 28, 2009 at 9:33 PM

    Personally, I agree with Orwell to a certain extent. These euphenisms can fool most people who do not really think about what they mean. The professional term for trailer park is "manufactured home community" which is an attempt to change the connotation of a trailer park and sell more spaces.

    This language does not fool all. Although it might hide the truth for some people, they are just cover ups for other words.

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