In his novel “1984, author George Orwell struck new ground and invented some words that have become part of the English lexicon (i.e, the vocabulary of the lanuage.
Orwell used the term doublespeak in reference to deliberately euphemistic, ambiguous, or obscure language. The novel, published in 1949, was prognostic of the future, that is the year 1984.
Although visioning changes in culture, politics and human behaviour some 55 years in the future, some of the novel was surprisingly accurate.
Fortunately though many scenarios he described , although possibly still on the horizon, have not yet arrived to the extreme level of the examples in the novel.
Doublespeak Lives
Double speak though, thrives in our cuurent cultures. Well, at least in English although I would not be surprised if has permeated most languages.
Examples are things like:
- passed on instead of dead
- downsizing instead of firing
- experienced instead of old
- ethnic cleansing instead of genocide
- curvy instead of fat.
For me the concept of softening a harsh reality has always been humerous. I mean dead is dead however you say it, passed on is still dead.
Amazon Quote
I recently came across an argument suggesting retail and service organizations should adopt the Amazon philosophy to sales. In 1996 Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon said , “We don’t sell products. We help people make purchase decisions.
What a great example of double speak. I m not selling you anything, actually, I am helping you. Excuse me while I choke on the sentiment. Yuck.
I am sure there is a fine subtly here (which I don’t get). Perhaps since I decided to buy the product Amazon (or their agent) did not sell it to me.
However, they were motivated by profit for me to buy something using their website. So this was not an altruistic act, as you might ascribe to it by the double speak.
My advice to sales folks out there, offer to help – sure but don’t be dishonest about your motivation to sell. I don’t think most people are naive enough to fall for that anyway.