Newspeak
In the novel "1984" the government of Oceania devises a variant of English called "Newspeak", in which the meanings of words are changed and limited to suit the purposes of the regime. Author George Orwell noted that people's attitudes are affected by the words that they use.
Today our Mainstream Media (MM), even without coercion by a tyrannical government, does much the same thing by subtly changing the use and meaning of words, usually substituting bland and neutral terms for vivid and specific ones. The new terms tend to be free of moral values.
Here are some notable examples, organized by topic:
Terrorism: Although MM frequently refers to terror in the abstract (as in War on Terror), specific people and groups are usually labeled "militants" rather than "terrorists", even when their own public pronouncements clearly advocate and take credit for crimes against non-combatants. The term "suicide bomber" is accurate, but downplays the more important fact that the perpetrator is bent on mass murder as well as suicide.
In the same vein, Arabs who speak English (like Mahmoud Abbas) are often characterized as "moderates" by reporters who do not understand their Arabic speeches.
War: "Friendly fire" is a euphemism for shooting your fellow soldiers by mistake; it makes criminal stupidity sound almost benign, even though it is just as lethal as "enemy fire."
"Enemy combatant" is applied to just about any Muslim male caught by US forces. On the other hand, dead Muslims are either "enemy casualties" if adult males, or "collateral damage" otherwise.
Crime: The young man who killed people at Virginia Tech was usually labeled as a "shooter" on a "shooting spree" rather than a mass-murderer. The MM tries to avoid words conveying moral judgment, even in a blatant case like this. No matter how overwhelming the evidence is against someone, in the MM the accused remains a "suspect" until convicted. Nowadays, a convict is sent to a "correctional facility" instead of a "prison".
The terms "Mafia" and "Cosa Nostra" are so offensive to Italians that the MM uses "organized crime" instead. However, if blacks are involved, it is referred to "urban crime" to distinguish it from organized crime.
Ethnicity: Descendants of slaves US from Africa were known formally as "Negroes" and colloquially as "colored people" until the late 1960's. Significantly, the last two letters of the initials NAACP (the nation's premier civil rights organization) still stand for the latter two words, nearly 100 years after the group was formed.
However, since the racist slur "nigger" was derived from Negro, that term has so far fallen out of favor that whites dare not use it publicly to avoid claims of racism. Black entertainers are free to use any term they choose to describe their own racial heritage, although some have been criticized for perpetuating the "n-word".
Around 1970 American Negroes switched their ethnic identification to "black", perhaps spurred by the Black Power Movement. The term was never very accurate, since the skin tones of the referenced people vary from light brown to very dark brown, and people from Southern India and Australian aborigines are really black, but belong to different racial groups. Perhaps that is why since the mid-1980's "black" has been gradually replaced by "African-American" in the MM. The new term is not only cumbersome, but would rightly apply to whites who have come from Africa, such as Teresa Heinz Kerry. By the way Eskimos are now "Inuits".
The MM like to use hyphenated terms like "Irish-American" even when the context makes it clear that the person was a native of the US. If I simply said that Ted Kennedy was Irish, rather than "Irish-American", you would not think he just immigrated from Dublin.
Some German Jews about a hundred years ago adopted the names "Hebrews" and "People of the Mosaic Persuasion", but the new names never caught on. "Jew" is fine with me, as long as it is capitalized as used as a proper noun.
Sex: If I were scheduled to speak on an "adult theme" using "explicit terms" to a "mature, sophisticated audience" you would never know that my subject was Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity, even though that topic is certainly "not suitable for children." The implied limitation of "adult" content to sexual content is just another case of Newspeak.
Similarly, the homosexual community appears to have hijacked the word "gay" to apply to themselves, rather than to any joyful person. They have been so successful in monopolizing this formerly innocent word that a southside Milwaukee bar changed its name from The Gay Spot to The Polish Village.
The MM now uses the term "sex worker" in place of "whore", which has largely dropped out of public discourse, although it's nickname "ho" still appeals to hip-hop singers and Don Imus.
Since the MM avoids being judgmental on sexual behavior, the old term "pervert" has been replaced by "pedophile", "voyeur" or the generic "sex offender."
Social Problems: "Drunkard" has been replaced by "alcoholic", and "dope-fiend" by "substance-abuser." Instead of "abortion mill" it is a "women's health center." An "illegal alien" is now known as an "undocumented person", as if he had just misplaced his visa.
What used be a "crackpot" is nowadays "a conspiracy theorist" or maybe just "controversial."
Today our Mainstream Media (MM), even without coercion by a tyrannical government, does much the same thing by subtly changing the use and meaning of words, usually substituting bland and neutral terms for vivid and specific ones. The new terms tend to be free of moral values.
Here are some notable examples, organized by topic:
Terrorism: Although MM frequently refers to terror in the abstract (as in War on Terror), specific people and groups are usually labeled "militants" rather than "terrorists", even when their own public pronouncements clearly advocate and take credit for crimes against non-combatants. The term "suicide bomber" is accurate, but downplays the more important fact that the perpetrator is bent on mass murder as well as suicide.
In the same vein, Arabs who speak English (like Mahmoud Abbas) are often characterized as "moderates" by reporters who do not understand their Arabic speeches.
War: "Friendly fire" is a euphemism for shooting your fellow soldiers by mistake; it makes criminal stupidity sound almost benign, even though it is just as lethal as "enemy fire."
"Enemy combatant" is applied to just about any Muslim male caught by US forces. On the other hand, dead Muslims are either "enemy casualties" if adult males, or "collateral damage" otherwise.
Crime: The young man who killed people at Virginia Tech was usually labeled as a "shooter" on a "shooting spree" rather than a mass-murderer. The MM tries to avoid words conveying moral judgment, even in a blatant case like this. No matter how overwhelming the evidence is against someone, in the MM the accused remains a "suspect" until convicted. Nowadays, a convict is sent to a "correctional facility" instead of a "prison".
The terms "Mafia" and "Cosa Nostra" are so offensive to Italians that the MM uses "organized crime" instead. However, if blacks are involved, it is referred to "urban crime" to distinguish it from organized crime.
Ethnicity: Descendants of slaves US from Africa were known formally as "Negroes" and colloquially as "colored people" until the late 1960's. Significantly, the last two letters of the initials NAACP (the nation's premier civil rights organization) still stand for the latter two words, nearly 100 years after the group was formed.
However, since the racist slur "nigger" was derived from Negro, that term has so far fallen out of favor that whites dare not use it publicly to avoid claims of racism. Black entertainers are free to use any term they choose to describe their own racial heritage, although some have been criticized for perpetuating the "n-word".
Around 1970 American Negroes switched their ethnic identification to "black", perhaps spurred by the Black Power Movement. The term was never very accurate, since the skin tones of the referenced people vary from light brown to very dark brown, and people from Southern India and Australian aborigines are really black, but belong to different racial groups. Perhaps that is why since the mid-1980's "black" has been gradually replaced by "African-American" in the MM. The new term is not only cumbersome, but would rightly apply to whites who have come from Africa, such as Teresa Heinz Kerry. By the way Eskimos are now "Inuits".
The MM like to use hyphenated terms like "Irish-American" even when the context makes it clear that the person was a native of the US. If I simply said that Ted Kennedy was Irish, rather than "Irish-American", you would not think he just immigrated from Dublin.
Some German Jews about a hundred years ago adopted the names "Hebrews" and "People of the Mosaic Persuasion", but the new names never caught on. "Jew" is fine with me, as long as it is capitalized as used as a proper noun.
Sex: If I were scheduled to speak on an "adult theme" using "explicit terms" to a "mature, sophisticated audience" you would never know that my subject was Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity, even though that topic is certainly "not suitable for children." The implied limitation of "adult" content to sexual content is just another case of Newspeak.
Similarly, the homosexual community appears to have hijacked the word "gay" to apply to themselves, rather than to any joyful person. They have been so successful in monopolizing this formerly innocent word that a southside Milwaukee bar changed its name from The Gay Spot to The Polish Village.
The MM now uses the term "sex worker" in place of "whore", which has largely dropped out of public discourse, although it's nickname "ho" still appeals to hip-hop singers and Don Imus.
Since the MM avoids being judgmental on sexual behavior, the old term "pervert" has been replaced by "pedophile", "voyeur" or the generic "sex offender."
Social Problems: "Drunkard" has been replaced by "alcoholic", and "dope-fiend" by "substance-abuser." Instead of "abortion mill" it is a "women's health center." An "illegal alien" is now known as an "undocumented person", as if he had just misplaced his visa.
What used be a "crackpot" is nowadays "a conspiracy theorist" or maybe just "controversial."
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 9:41 AM
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