User Tools

Site Tools


out_of_the_box:tools:critical_thinking:double_speak

This is an old revision of the document!


Double speak

Definition

Doublespeak is language that deliberately obscures, disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words. Doublespeak may take the form of euphemisms (e.g., “downsizing” for layoffs and “servicing the target” for bombing),in which case it is primarily meant to make the truth sound more palatable. It may also refer to intentional ambiguity in language or to actual inversions of meaning. In such cases, doublespeak disguises the nature of the truth. Wikipedia

Deliberately euphemistic, ambiguous, or obscure language. Oxford Dictionary

Examples

  • Unordered List Itemover the top vs crazy
  • Unordered List Itemsenior citizen vs old person
  • Unordered List Itembaby boomers vs over-50s
  • Unordered List Itemsubstance abuse vs drug problem
  • Unordered List Itemproblem child vs exasperating difficulty
  • Unordered List Itemtake down vs kill
  • Unordered List Itemill advised vs bad idea
  • Unordered List Itemrestructure the company vs fire employees
  • Unordered List Itemethnic cleansing vs genocide
  • Unordered List Itemcollateral damage vs innocent civilians killed in conflict
  • Unordered List Itemfreedom fighter vs terrorist (on one’s side)
  • Unordered List Itemcapital punishment vs death penalty
  • Unordered List Itempost-truth vs downplaying the facts
  • Unordered List Itemoccupied vs invaded and controlled by enemy forces
  • Unordered List Itemclimate change vs rising natural hazard risk
  • Unordered List Itemright-sizing an enterprise vs firing employees
  • Unordered List Itemjob flexibility vs no contract and little or no job security

?????????????

Do you know other double-speak examples? Feel free to write them down

out_of_the_box/tools/critical_thinking/double_speak.1788788273.txt.gz · Last modified: 2026/09/07 15:37 by ceci