281–290 of 429 posts
On my daily commute in the DC Metro area (pre 9/11) I would occasionally listen to an Arabic or otherwise ME radio station. On one trip home there was a call-in talk show on the station, and that particular day was memorable because while the host and caller were both speaking Arabic (I assume), the caller would occasionally pause and switch to English when they felt they needed to express their viewpoint using excep…
George Carlin should be studied, translated and dubbed in every possible language.
Re-reading Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" [1] a few months ago showed me how often I speak imprecisely or use too many words. Often I use more words than are necessary, only to say nothing. The purpose of words is to express ideas, but I often catch myself using words to obscure my thoughts and intentions rather than to share them. Worse than too many words are imprecise words. Words like "stuff", "thin…
I'm in the UK and have recently started hearing the euphemism "passed" instead of "died". I find it confusing, at least for a moment, as I track back in the conversation to identify a thing the person could have passed by. Then I realise, and start pondering how there is an implication added by the euphemism , that there is an afterlife someone has passed into.
One I recently heard was "conducting a rif" == "conducting a reduction in force" == "firing people". Soft language is alway to the benefit of the speaker, to assuage guilt or obfuscate intent. It's always to the detriment of the listener.
One of the many places I see soft language hurt is in feedback. “Our project is late” and “xyzelement failed to prioritize well” might refer to the same event but one is more likely to “sting” me in a way that causes change. In my value system change and improvement are worth the sting in the short term, but often that is prevented by soft language. Eg I’ve seen developers/ managers / teams come out on the other side…
Re-reading Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" [1] a few months ago showed me how often I speak imprecisely or use too many words. Often I use more words than are necessary, only to say nothing. The purpose of words is to express ideas, but I often catch myself using words to obscure my thoughts and intentions rather than to share them. Worse than too many words are imprecise words. Words like "stuff", "thin…
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Here's one from software, it's not "shit", it's "legacy" :) TBH what I notice more of these days is geopolitical terms that mean the exact same thing, but one has a negative and one has a positive connotation: Regime VS Government Separatist VS Independent Irredentist VS Unifying Coup VS Ousting Terrorist VS Armed Wing Political VS Democratic Rioter VS Protester
Related, in language being taken over and replaced. Having not paid attention to sports for 30years, but recently going to hocky matches. I have the perspective of avoiding the gradual "frog in boiling water effect". It was really in my face and shocking. My first thought was man, this is close to Idiocracy level. Every prominent surface is plastered with advertising, even the zamboni. Everything is sponsored, "Hollo…
I can’t hear the term “ethnic cleansing” now without hearing Carlin’s voice in my head. “Quantitative easing” is getting there. Which I figure is something he would be proud of. He will be sorely missed in the coming decades. Not by people who knew his work, but by the empty space he leaves.