Who controls the
language controls the mind. Philosophically, there is a lot to say about this
statement that undermines its truth (For instance: Who controls the language of
the controller?). However, despite philosophical doubts, in practice it works
often that way. One who has best described the working of mind control by
language is George Orwell. His 1984 and Animal Farm have
seldom been so relevant as today. Whether they have read Orwell’s works or
haven’t, many politicians know the value of this statement, and they apply it;
not only for convincing the public and their potential voters but also for
manipulating them. Language is often used for pushing people in a certain
direction, while concealing their real intentions; by politicians in the first
place, but certainly not only by them.
Manipulating the public is often done by means of fallacies: Argumentations in
which the conclusions don’t follow from the premisses. Another way to
manipulate others with words is by giving them a vague meaning. Often there
isn’t much difference between the one and the other. Using vague words often
leads to fallacies. Actually, if your intention is to manipulate with words,
it’s not important whether these words belong to the first category or to the
second. Only the effect counts.
Manipulating your public by softening the meaning of your words or with vague
meanings means using euphemisms. A euphemism is “a delicate, indirect,
inoffensive, or vague word or phrase that takes the place of one that is
unpleasant, blunt, offensive or graphic.” (Baltzer-Jaray, p. 270) Euphemisms
are often used, when you don’t want to hurt the feelings of those you are
talking to and want to be polite, or when you want to avoid directly talking
about certain subjects, like death and sex. However, it is not what I want to
talk about now. Here I want to discuss euphemisms as instruments for thought
manipulation and by this the way people behave. I’ll concentrate on the former
and let the behavioural aspect implicit. Then we see (following Baltzer-Jaray)
that euphemistic language is used for:
- preventing inappropriately stirring people’s emotions by using neutral terms
like calling homeless people “people without permanent residence”, or mentally
disabled people “people with abilities”. When many years ago the first migrant
workers from Southern Europe and Morocco arrived in the Netherlands, they were
called “guest workers”, concealing that they were poorly paid, did often dirty
and heavy work and were badly housed.
- swaying people’s opinions or emotions to a particular side, for example when torture
is called “enhanced interrogation”, or non-combatant civilian victims in a war
are called “collateral damage”.
- concealing a person’s role in responsibility for a bad deed, for example when
it is said that someone has not been killed but “neutralized”, or that a
government has “disinformed” the parliament instead of having lied.
Such euphemisms are “fallacious”, so Baltzer-Jaray, “because they are
intentionally used to conceal the truth and obscure any real meaning; they are
soft language used to mask or downplay warranted emotional force.” In other
words, they are instruments of manipulation. They make you think less
critically and suppress your feelings. That’s the political side. As said, in
daily life euphemism are also often used, and there they can have a positive
side as well. However, in advertising often weasel words are used to seduce you
to buy certain products. Such words “appear to say something truthful or
meaningful, but really they conceal truth and meaning”. So, if a product
“combats wrinkles” and “dermatology experts agree skin appears smoother”, such
a recommendation in an advertisement seldom says to what extent it will
probably be successful (1%, 25%, 75%?) and which experts say so and what is
meant by “skin appears smoother”.
Euphemistic words and expressions are often used to mislead. Once you have
fallen into the trap and believe them in their literal sense and doesn’t see
the deception behind the euphemistically used words, maybe you’ll vote for a politician
because of these words, or buy a product that is misleadingly advertised to be
good. And that’s just what the politician, advertiser or whoever wants to
mislead you with euphemisms intends.
Sources
- Baltzer-Jaray, Kimberley, “Euphemism”, in Arp, Robert; Steven Barbone;
Michael Bruce (eds.), Bad arguments. 100
of the most important fallacies in Western philosophy. Oxford, etc.: Wiley
Blackwell, 2019; pp. 270-272.
- “Euphemism”, in Wikipedia.
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