Perhaps this is a cultural thing, but doublespeak seems to be prevalent even in casual conversation
Not being hyperbolic, but almost every single time I have to speak with or am spoken to by a manager/GM at work. HR at all large companies I have ever worked for as well.
In the 1984-sense, daily at work.
I work for/with a religiously-affiliated charitable organization, so doublespeak is pretty constant. Worse, not only do people use it but they also police the speech of those around them.
Every time I turn to politics. Our ex justice minister once said:
Surveillance is freedom
I’m not kidding. Word for word, that’s what he said.
Which country? Orwell?
Edit: NewZealand apparently
Denmark actually. It’s a couple of years ago he said it.
Just going to leave this here…
What’s that “Kids Online Safety Bill” thing in the USA right now?
I assume you mean just subtly mentioning something without outright saying it. That’s just a social skill, since some things are better said that way.
On the other hand, equivocation is the bastion of cowards and simpletons.
Mostly in a corporate setting.
Where I live we call it “Minnesota nice”. As a transplant I can’t speak it well, so I have no idea what anyone thinks of me. It’s pretty frustrating.
Look at their actions, not their words specifically.
It’s a culture where being unkind is particularly unacceptable, not specifically where you’re not allowed to be honest or forthright.
You’re allowed to not like someone, but telling someone you dislike them is needlessly unkind, so you just politely decline to interact with them.
You’d “hate to intrude”, or “be a bother”. If it’s pushed, you’ll “consider it and let them know”.Negative things just have to be conveyed in the kindest way possible, not that they can’t be conveyed.
I wouldn’t know. I take most things that people say at face-value.
I don’t have the time or energy to interpret double-meanings. Say what you mean & mean what you say.
People get mad at you when you do that. I’m actually shocked at how many do.
Yeah, they might get mad, but that’s on them. If they said what they actually meant, things would go a lot smoother.
Communicate clearly instead of expecting me to do codebreaking.
Once you achieve a certain level of not giving a fuck, just repeat their statement back to then in plain language and they will usually either storm off, freeing you from the conversation, or they will get the point, freeing you from at least the tedious part of the conversation.
This is my favorite way to deal with management.
So you want me to disable a safety feature to help speed up production?
