Euphemism

A euphemism is an expression intended by the speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word or phrase it replaces.

Doublespeak

What distinguishes doublespeak from other euphemisms is its deliberate usage by governmental, military, or corporate institutions. Doublespeak is in turn distinguished from jargon in that doublespeak attempts to confuse and conceal the truth, while jargon often provides greater precision to those that understand it (while inadvertently confusing those who don't). An example of the distinction is the use by the military of the word casualties instead of deaths — what may appear to be an attempt to hide the fact that people have been killed is actually a precise way of saying "personnel who have been rendered incapable of fighting, whether by being killed, being badly wounded, psychologically damaged, incapacitated by disease, rendered ineffective by having essential equipment destroyed, or disabled in any other way." "Casualties" is used instead of "deaths," not for propaganistic or squeamish reasons, but because most casualties are not dead, but nevertheless useless for waging war.

Related Topics:
Doublespeak - Jargon

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Proper examples of doublespeak included taking friendly fire as a euphemism for being attacked by your own troops.

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Commentators such as Noam Chomsky and George Orwell have written at length about the dangers of allowing such euphemisms to shape public perceptions and national policy.

Related Topics:
Noam Chomsky - George Orwell

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Violent countercultural groups and their apologists have doublespeak of their own, such as replacing "sabotage" and "vandalism" with "direct action."

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