Words of power that obfuscate or deceive (Linguistics)

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Words of power that obfuscate or deceive
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Words of power that obfuscate or deceive

Autor de la hebra: Tom in London

Anton Konashenok

República Checa
Local time: 16:16
francés al inglés
+ ...

Here is a somewhat broader list

Mar 20, 2021

Lake Superior State University has been publishing its annual Banished Word List for several decades, and a large fraction of it is made of the words of obfuscation and deception.

Besides the words themselves, one can use the sentence structure for this purpose. The most popular trick is the use of passive voice, as in "mistakes have been made".

Christopher Schröder

P.L.F. Persio

Barbara Carrara

Zibow Retailleau

Matthias Brombach

Alemania
Local time: 16:16
Miembro 2007
neerlandés al alemán
+ ...

Good point, ...

Mar 20, 2021

Anton Konashenok wrote:
The most popular trick is the use of passive voice, as in "mistakes have been made".

... because (as in translation) it's not all about "words" only, but about how you use them and in what manner. Tom's Twitter list may be a good tool to list up certain words and phrases, but to complete everything the whole story behind has to be told and the complex setting, why they deceive and seem to spoil a concept (or virus) called language. That's how I came to quote the above link leading to Schopenhauer.

Anton Konashenok

MollyRose

P.L.F. Persio

Philip Lees

Grecia
Local time: 17:16
griego al inglés

Old favourites

Mar 21, 2021

Chris S wrote:

I’m not a Twit, so I can’t read the thread, but I hope there’s no suggestion that this is anything new.

Different words, same manipulation, same oppression.

Yeah, like some good old English favourites, like "East is East and West is West", "White man's burden", and other such stuff as I was fed in my formative years. It isn't the words; it's the way they're used.

I reckon you could take pretty much any word or phrase and abuse it in a way that would make it manipulative or deceptive.

In fact, that would be a great party game for translators. Anybody care to start?

P.L.F. Persio

Barbara Carrara

Zibow Retailleau

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