Euphemisms

Some people say that politicians are sneaky people who say one thing and do another. Lots of promises are made to get elected, few promises are followed through with, politicians flip-flop on issues if their stance is unpopular; that sort of thing. Last post I discussed how politicians used metaphors in order to frame our thought, in order to gain our support.

Let's talk euphemisms.

Politicians don't have to tell untruths, sometimes. They can tell us the truth and many of us won't get it. For example, when politicians talk about their own plans, if said plans involve tax increases, they won't actually use the words "tax increase." Because tax increases are bad, because citizens don't want to pay higher taxes. Instead, they will say "revenue enhancement." Revenue enhancement is the process of increasing government revenues... by increasing taxes. Revenue enhancement is synonymous with tax increase, but since tax increase is a buzzword with negative connotations, politicians will use revenue enhancement when talking about their own plans. When trying to attack other politicans' plans, however, they WILL use the term "tax increase," due to similar but inverted logic.

Euphemisms are everywhere in politics. Pro-life and pro-choice both seem like good things, and you'd think you'd like to have both life and a choice, but these two concepts are actually mutually exclusive; the euphemisms simply make them seem like they're something that they're not.

Euphemisms, like metaphors, are used to shape the way we think. However, if you recognize what the euphemisms replace, these are fairly easy to see through.