From: bfrg9732@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Brian F. Redman)
Subject: 1992 Doublespeak Awards
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Summary: Clever uses of language by the corporate state
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Keywords: treachery trickery deceit deception
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Distribution: na
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 01:55:24 GMT

1992 Doublespeak Awards
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From the November 20th issue of the Champaign-Urbana "News- 
Gazette." (summation of article)

Doublespeak Awards Find Fertile Ground in Politics
==================================================

(Champaign-Urbana, November 20, 1992) -- Doublespeak has just 
about driven William Lutz to the brink of -- "mental activity at 
the margins."

That euphemism was just one gem discovered by the Rutgers 
University English professor for the 1992 Doublespeak Awards, 
announced today in Urbana by the National Council of Teachers of 
English.

The annual awards -- intended to call attention to language that 
is "grossly deceptive, evasive and euphemistic" -- were bestowed 
during the council's convention in Louisville, Kentucky.


Among the nominees:

*** Instead of being laid off, workers are "involuntarily 
terminated" as companies "reposition," "reshape," "realign" and 
"reduce duplication" through a "release of resources," "permanent 
downsizing" or "payroll adjustment."

*** Along with other newfound freedoms, the people of Moscow can 
now visit "intimacy salons" -- sex shops, as they are known in 
other countries.

*** U.S. soldiers should pay close attention to the Army's 
warning that exposure to nerve gas may cause "immediate permanent 
incapacitation" -- that is, death.

*** Students who stand still are now in a state of "spatial 
anchoring."

*** Removing books from the library isn't censorship, just a case 
of "weeding" books.

*** Colleges don't drop failing students, they "expedite their 
progress toward alternate life pursuits."

*** Electric fans are now "high-velocity, multipurpose air 
circulators."

*** Radio and television commercials are now referred to as 
"value minutes."

*** A U.S. Department of Energy nuclear fuel dump is a 
"monitored retrievable storage site."

*** The Environmental Protection Agency now refers to acid rain 
as "wet deposition."

*** Politicians in Canada engage in "reality augmentation" but 
would never say that they'd lied.


And the winners are:

3rd place -- All the politicians who put the phrase "family 
values" at the center of the 1992 political campaign. An 
ambiguous and vague phrase, it "exploited intense feelings 
aroused by the idea of the family to celebrate their [i.e. 
politicos] own idea of what constitutes the best domestic 
arrangement."

2nd place -- The Republican and Democratic parties for "claiming 
they are for reforming the way political campaigns are financed, 
even while they continue to seek and accept large contributions 
from special-interest groups, corporations, and wealthy 
individuals."

1st place -- President Bush for various novel uses of language, 
including calling for "less proliferation of all different kinds 
of weapons" as the Department of Defense reversed a 25-year 
policy and began supporting arms trade shows around the world.


Finally, the 1992 George Orwell Award for Distinguished 
Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language went to 
Donald Barlett and James Steele, authors of "America: What Went 
Wrong." The authors received the award for cutting through "the 
political and economic doublespeak used to justify the economic 
policy of the 1980s" to reveal "who is and isn't paying the price 
in the '90s."

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You can do a lot of good by taking this article and posting it to 
other areas besides "alt.activism." You can also post this or 
upload it as a file to a local BBS. This would help give the 
people of this nation an alternative to the "fluff" and 
propaganda posturing as hard news which they are currently 
getting from the major networks.


Transcribed by Brian Redman
"Ah yes, Armageddon. I remember it well."
End




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