William D. Lutz Quotes

Doublespeak turns lies told by politicians into "being economical with the truth," sewage sludge into "regulated organic nutrients" that do not stink but "exceed the odor threshold," the death of a patient in a hospital into "negative patient care outcome," an explosion and fire in a nuclear power plant into an "energetic disassembly" and "rapid oxidation.

Doublespeak has become so common in everyday living that we no longer pay any attention to it. Indeed, we seem to take it for granted, as if such language is the normal way of communicating, or more correctly, not communicating. Even worse, when we do notice it, we don't react. We don't protest when we're asked to check our packages at the desk "for your convenience" when it's not for our convenience at all but for someone else's convenience. We see advertisements for "deep-chilled chickens," "virgin vinyl," or "synthetic glass," but we don't question the language or the supposed quality of the product. We don't challenge the politicians who speak not of slums or ghettos but of the "inner city" or "substandard housing" where the "disadvantaged" live, thus avoiding any mention of the poor who have to live in filthy, poorly heated, ramshackle apartments or houses.

rotten fruits and vegetables n.
distressed produce

sewage plant n.
wastewater conveyance facility

sewage sludge n.
1. regulated organic ingredients
2. bioslurp
3. organic biomass

Some people may call the residue of treated sewage "sludge," but to John Gonzales of the Reno-Sparks, Nevada, sewage treatment plant it's "organic biomass."

4. biosolids

It might look like sludge to you, but others call it "biosolids."

5. regulated wastewater residuals

attack n.
assuming an offensive posture

The military refers to attack as "assuming an offensive posture.

explosion n.
energetic disassembly

fake beef n.
1. restructured beef
2. textured meat alternative

fake cheese n.
cheese analog

fake crab meat n.
surimi-based crab analog

fake diamonds n.
real counterfeit diamonds

fake jewels n.
faux jewels

fake leather n.
genuine imitation leather

What do you call dumping 22,000 pounds of organic chemical waste into the Mississippi River every day? You call it "organic loading.

Doublespeak strikes at the function of language-communication between people and social groups-with serious and far-reaching consequences. Our political system depends upon an informed electorate to make decisions in selecting candidates for office and deciding issues of public policy. As doublespeak becomes the coin of the political realm, as doublespeak drives out a language of public discourse that really communicates, speakers and listeners become convinced that they understand such language. We speak today of politicians who don't lie but "misspeak," of "dysfunction behavior" not murder, of a "predawn vertical insertion" not the invasion of another country, of "violence processing" or the "use of force" not of war. When we use such language believing that we are using the public discourse necessary for the health and well being of our community, then, I believe, the world of 1984 is upon us.

During the war in the Persian Gulf, massive bombing attacks became "efforts." Thousands of "weapons systems" or "force packages" "visited a site." These "weapons systems" "hit" "hard" and "soft targets." During their "visits," these "weapons systems" "degraded," "neutralized," "attrited," "suppressed," "eliminated," "cleansed," "sanitized," "impacted," "decapitated" or "took out" targets. A "healthy day of bombing" was achieved when more enemy "assets" were destroyed than expected.

If the "weapons systems" didn't achieve "effective results" during their first "visit," a "damage assessment study" determined whether the "weapons systems" would "revisit the site." Women, children or other civilians killed or wounded during these "visits," and any schools, hospitals, museums, houses or other "non-military" targets that were blown up, were "collateral damage," which is the undesired damage or casualties produced by the effects from "incontinent ordnance" or "accidental delivery of ordnance equipment.

Doublespeak that calls a bribe a "rebate" or "after sales service," the illegal overthrow of a legitimate government "destabilizing a government," and lies "strategic misrepresentations" is language that avoids responsibility, that makes the bad seem good, the negative appear positive, something unpleasant appear attractive, language that only appears to communicate. It's language designed to alter our perception of reality and corrupt our thinking. Ultimately, doublespeak breeds suspicion, cynicism, distrust and, hostility.

atomic war n.
thermonuclear or nuclear exchange

combat n.
violence processing (DOD)

bomb v.
1. effective deliver of ordnance (DOD)

Phrases such as "effective delivery of ordnance" are not likely to invoke mental pictures of thousands of tons of bombs falling on buildings and people.

bullet wound n.
ballistically induced aperture in the subcutaneous environment

hunt v.

1. harvest
The state of Florida preferred the word "harvest" to the word "hunt" when it allowed hunters to kill 35,000 alligators.

2. naturalize

kill (ANIMALS) v.
1. harvest; see also hunt
2. manage wildlife
3. depopulate

female soldiers n.
males with female features

During the war in the Persian Gulf, the Saudi government rejected the idea of female soldiers coming to their defense (women make up one-tenth of the U.S. forces), so it designated the women soldiers "males with female features.

thermometer n.
digital fever computer