Is doublespeak unavoidably negative? If you’re committed to digging underneath its ostensibly euphemistic sheen, it most certainly is. But that doesn’t stop it from being an element of everyday discourse. We’ve assembled more examples of doublespeak, including some that have been used recently. The obscure term is listed first, followed by a clear, standard meaning:
over the top vs crazy
senior citizen vs old person
baby boomers vs over-50s
substance abuse vs drug problem
locker-room talk vs sexual innuendo
problem child vs exasperating difficulty
take down vs kill
ill advised vs bad idea
restructure the company vs fire employees
ethnic cleansing vs genocide
freedom fighter vs terrorist (on one’s side)
capital punishment vs death penalty
post-truth vs downplaying the facts
occupied vs invaded and controlled by enemy forces
calm before the storm vs inevitable problem
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“post-truth” = lie (not “downplaying” the facts)