The new doublespeak

Have you ever been confused when politicians refer to a tax increase as "revenue enhancement," or when your boss says you're not fired, you're "transitioned" or "uninstalled"? Then you've been a victim of doublespeak. Doublespeak is language that is evasive, deceptive, self-contradictory, or misleading. Doublespeak turns lies told by politicians into "strategic misrepresentations," "reality augmentation," or "terminological inexactitudes." Killing enemy soldiers is a simple matter of "servicing the target," after which the bodies of the dead are called "decommissioned aggressor quantum." After being treated with doublespeak, ordinary sewage sludge becomes "regulated organic nutrients" that do not sink but merely "exceed the odor threshold.". In this lively sequel to his bestselling Doublespeak: From Revenue Enhancement to Terminal Living, William Lutz exposes the latest doublespeak that permeates what passes for communication in our society. Lutz shows that the pervasive use of doublespeak in our society is contributing to a communications crisis. We may think we know what we're saying to each other, but too often we don't. Worse, we continue on our way believing that we really do know what we're saying and hearing. Lutz combats doublespeak by dissecting how it works and how it affects us as individuals, a society, and a nation, and how it affects the way we see ourselves and the world. Most important, Lutz explains why we don't have to feel powerless in the face of such language, explaining that there are a great number of things we can do to fight doublespeak and bring to account those who persist in using it. He details how our schools can teach our children to detect doublespeak, as well as equip them with the means to counter its effects in their lives. He reveals how we can become critical consumers of language, how we can start a language-consumers' movement to demand clear communication, and how we can hold responsible those who use irresponsible language.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.