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

  1. “post-truth” = lie (not “downplaying” the facts)

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