Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

A tangential point about the horrifying power of euphemism: I've done some consulting work with some large biopharmaceutical companies in the past and found myself consistently shocked at how effective euphemism was at making people comfortable talking about, and doing, very questionable things. E.g. "Maximizing treatment" = "extend how long a patient requires our medication". This was at a senior level and these were, on the face of it, warm, caring people having a very comfortable and open conversation. I had always assumed decisions that directly disadvantaged the consumer would look different, with some sense of secrecy or at least awareness. Nope, one level of language abstraction is apparently all it takes.

There are countless other examples out there. I just finished "Cruel Britannia" regarding the torture practices of the British over the last century. They were particularly adept at it. Euphemism is such a powerful tool for doublethink and systemic abuses of power.



My favorite example is the phrase “human resource”. If you reframe humans as resources, exploiting them is the next, natural step.

Words matter. Corporate speak dehumanizes us all.


"final solution to the Jewish problem".. I wonder what they felt when people first learned what that implied





Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: