lkk@mit-eddie.UUCP (Larry Kolodney) (11/20/84)
There's an article on page A 23 of today's Seattle Times titled "Doublespeak:
O 'arbitrary deprivation of life,' where is thy sting?" The article reports
on the 1984 Doublespeak Award, from the National Council of Teachers of
English.
The winner was the State Department:
In reports of human-rights violations, many by U.S.-supported
governments, the State Department replaced "kiling" with the
phrase "unlawful or arbitrary deprivation of life."
...
The State Department triumphed over a verbiage-strewn field, which
included Vice President George Bush and Secretary of Defense Caspar
Weinberger. Its cause was advanced by the invasion of Grenada,
which it called "a pre-dawn vertical insertion."
...
Bush ... was cited for equating "liberal" with "leftist." He also
accused Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale of wanting
to "drastically cut" defense spending. Mondale actually favored
higher spending, though not at the level proposed by President
Reagan.
"He's favoring cutting our defense proposals," Bush said. "Therefore,
he wants to cut defense spending."
Weinberger won recognition for claiming the removal of American
troops in Lebanon to ships offshore did not constitute a
withdrawal. "Nothing has changed," said Weingerger. "We are not
leaving Lebanon. The Marines are being deployed two or three miles
to the west."
Other nominees included:
* The National Transportation Safety Board, which calls an airplane
crash "controlled flight into terrain."
* The Pentagon, which renamed peace "permanent pre-hostility,"
combat "violence processing," and civilian casualties in nuclear
war "collateral damage."
* The Central Intelligence Agency, whose mercenaries in Nicaragua
are considered "unilaterally controlled Latino assets."
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larry kolodney (The Devil's Advocate)
UUCP: ...{ihnp4, decvax!genrad}!mit-eddie!lkk
ARPA: lkk@mit-mcark@alice.UUCP (Andrew Koenig) (11/22/84)
Ah yes: the National Transportation Safety Board was considered for a doublespeak award for "calling an airplane crash 'controlled flight into terrain.'" This is absurd! The NTSB is the organization that has responsibility, among other things, for determining the cause of airplane accidents. When you are determining the cause of an accident, it is important to classify the various types of accidents that can occur. Thus the NTSB uses "controlled flight into terrain" to mean an airplane crash in which the airplane was under control until it hit the ground. These are usually due to the pilot not knowing where the ground was, for any of a variety of reasons (altimeter set wrong, didn't read the charts, incorrect charts, bad instructions from controller, ice on the wings, etc.) Other types of crashes include "uncontrolled flight into terrain," "mid-air collision," "in-flight breakup," and so on. Do not mistake legitimate technical terminology for doublespeak!
debray@sbcs.UUCP (Saumya Debray) (11/30/84)
> > There's an article on page A 23 of today's Seattle Times titled > "Doublespeak: O 'arbitrary deprivation of life,' where is thy sting?" The > article reports on the 1984 Doublespeak Award, from the National Council > of Teachers of English. ... > > * The Pentagon, which renamed peace "permanent pre-hostility," ... > Shades of Orwell's "Ministry of Peace"! -- Saumya Debray, SUNY at Stony Brook uucp: {cbosgd, decvax, ihnp4, mcvax, cmcl2}!philabs \ {amd, akgua, decwrl, utzoo}!allegra > !sbcs!debray {tektronix, metheus}!ogcvax / CSNet: debray@sbcs
myers@uwmacc.UUCP (Jeff Myers) (12/02/84)
> > > > * The Pentagon, which renamed peace "permanent pre-hostility," ... > > > > Shades of Orwell's "Ministry of Peace"! > Yes, indeed. Also shades of someone much older; von Clausewitz. The above phrase is a shortening of his "peace is the period of hostility between two wars". Anyone interested in deciphering the thought processes of the military should get a copy of *On War*, Penguin Books, first published in 1832. -- Jeff Myers The views above may or may not University of Wisconsin-Madison reflect the views of my employers. Madison Academic Computing Center ARPA: uwmacc!myers@wisc-rsch.arpa uucp: ..!{allegra,heurikon,ihnp4,seismo,uwm-evax}!uwvax!myers