"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."
If they think we are that stupid, shame on them. If we fail to challenge them, shame on us.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
The Corruption of Language (11)
Lewis Carroll, writing in 'Through the Looking Glass' one hundred and forty years ago, accurately captured the reality behind the spin that politicians, PR flacks, press secretaries and other forms of public low life, use in their efforts to fool us and to achieve their objectives without being challenged:
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1 comment:
When I took my course in Legal Drafting, the textbook actually talked about "Humpty Dumpty-isms" which are definitions that actually go against common usage. In most cases, the instructor said that they were regulations dressed up as definitions.
The absolute, hands-down worst example was from a Treasury regulation dealing with a type of bond that included the definition something like this:
"For purposes of this Section, 'January 1, 1944' means 'July 1, 1953.'"
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