Wordplay: Using doublespeak to manipulate your readers!
Doublespeak distorts, like a cuttlefish squirting ink. It makes the bad seem good, the negative positive, the unpleasant attractive.
It frames reality in a different way than it really is. For example, reframing an act of war as a ādefensive freedomā and a ānecessary action to protect our way of lifeā.
Euphemism: Using mild or vague terms to mask harshness or unpleasantness.
Example: Referring to tax increase as ārevenue enhancementā, shellshock as āāoperational exhaustionā.
Jargon: Using special(pretentious, obscure) language that confuse, and exclude those not familiar with the terms.
Example: āThe machine has a baseplate of prefabricated amulite, surmounted by a malleable logarithmic casing.ā
Gobbledygook: Using complex, convoluted language to appear sophisticated and official.
Example: Instead of saying āWe are cutting costsā, say āIn alignment with our strategic operational objectives, we are initiating a paradigm shift in our financial allocation protocols to optimize resource utilization and enhance fiscal prudence across all departments.ā
Inflated Language: Using grand words to make things appear more significant.
Example: Referring to a janitor as a āsanitation engineerā.
With doublespeak, deceptive language is normalized, politicians donāt lie but misspeak, illegal acts are inappropriate actions, and a fraud is a miscertification.
āIf thought can corrupt language, then language can corrupt thought.ā -George Orwell.
The above is my summary of this video:Ā https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzsEp_hakK4
I like the concept of doublespeak, reframing, and tuning words to convey same-ish, yet different meanings.