Doublespeak

2 Pages 515 Words

In today’s society people are oblivious to doublespeak. The government and television are known for using doublespeak to make things look and sound
better then what they are. The American public is manipulated and deceived everyday by the people who use doublespeak and are unaware of its consequences.
Our government, the people who are in control of are freedom and rights use doublespeak to deceive us. They change the words of warfare to make them
seem more pleasant, like “servicing the target” for killing the enemy, or “enhanced radiation device” for nuclear bomb. What is sad though is that the public is completely unaware of the consequences that this could have. There could be a nuclear bomb coming towards us that would destroy life as we know it; but all we would know is that it was a “very, large, potentially disruptive reentry system.” The government also uses gobbledygook, another form of doublespeak that is full of technical, unfamiliar words. Most gobbledygook is just a bunch of impressive words that don’t make any sense at all. Like in 1988 when Senator Dan Quayle explained the need for a strategic defense initiative by saying: “Why wouldn’t an enhanced deterrent, a more stable peace, a better prospect to denying the ones who enter conflict in the first place to have a reduction of offensive systems and an introduction to defensive capability. I believe this is the route the country will eventually go.” What does all that mean; the public unaware of doublespeak is just confused and will stay that way until the government decides to start making sense.
Television uses doublespeak to manipulate us into buying their product. The most common way that they use is called “Glittering Generalities,” which means making things appear to be better then what they really are. For example, an ad using “preowned car” for used car, or “real imitation crab meat” for another product that taste like cr...