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Officialese
Officialese, bureaucratese, or governmentese is language that sounds official. It is the "language of officialdom". Officialese is characterized by a preference for wordy, long sentences; complex words, code words, or buzzwords over simple, traditional ones; vagueness over directness; and passive over active voice (some of those elements may, however, vary between different times and languages). The history of officialese can be traced to the history of officialdom, as far back as the eldest human civilizations and their surviving official writings. Officialese is meant to impress the listener (or reader) and increase the authority (more than the social status) of the user, making them appear more professional. Ernest Gowers noted that officialese also allows the user to remain vague. It can be used to make oneself understood to insiders while being hard to decipher by those unfamiliar with the jargon and subtexts used. Its use is known to put off members of the general public ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gobbledygook
Gibberish, also known as jibber-jabber or gobbledygook, is speech that is (or appears to be) nonsense: ranging across speech sounds that are not actual words, pseudowords, language games and specialized jargon that seems nonsensical to outsiders. "Gibberish" is also used as an imprecation to denigrate or tar ideas or opinions the user disagrees with or finds irksome, a rough equivalent of "nonsense", " folderol", "balderdash", or "claptrap". The implication is that the criticized expression or proposition lacks substance or congruence, as opposed to being a differing view. The related word ''jibber-jabber'' refers to rapid talk that is difficult to understand. Etymology The etymology of ''gibberish'' is uncertain. The term was seen in English in the early 16th century. It is generally thought to be an onomatopoeia imitative of speech, similar to the words ''jabber'' (to talk rapidly) and ''gibber'' (to speak inarticulately). It may originate from the word ''jib'', which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernest Gowers
Sir Ernest Arthur Gowers (; 2 June 1880 – 16 April 1966) was a British civil servant and author who is best remembered for his book ''Plain Words,'' first published in 1948, and his revision of Henry Watson Fowler, Fowler's classic ''Modern English Usage''. Before making his name as an author, he had a long career in the Civil Service (United Kingdom), Civil Service, which he entered in 1903. His final full-time appointment was as Senior Regional Commissioner for Civil Defence, London Region (1940–45). After the Second World War, he was appointed chairman of numerous government inquiries, including the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment 1949–1953, 1949 Royal Commission into Capital Punishment. He was also chairman of the Harlow New Town Development Corporation. Education and early life Gowers was born in London, the younger son of the neurologist William Richard Gowers, Sir William Gowers and his wife, Mary, (daughter of Frederick Baines, one of the proprietors of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Officialdom
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of their superior or employer, public or legally private). An elected official is a person who is an official by virtue of an election. Officials may also be appointed ''ex officio'' (by virtue of another office, often in a specified capacity, such as presiding, advisory, secretary). Some official positions may be inherited. A person who currently holds an office is referred to as an incumbent. Something "official" refers to something endowed with governmental or other authoritative recognition or mandate, as in official language, official gazette, or official scorer. Etymology The word ''official'' as a noun has been recorded since the Middle English period, first seen in 1314. It comes from the Old French ' (12th century), from the Latin">-4; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Journalese
Journalese is the artificial or hyperbole, hyperbolic, and sometimes over-abbreviated, language regarded as characteristic of the news style used in popular media. Joe Grimm, formerly of the ''Detroit Free Press'', likened journalese to a "stage voice": "We write journalese out of habit, sometimes from misguided training, and to sound urgent, authoritative and, well, journalistic. But it doesn't do any of that." Examples As early as the 1880s, people criticized the stilted, cliched language used in journalism as journalese. Journalists, who write many similar stories under time pressure, may fall back on cliched or familiar phrases. Journalese often takes the form of specific turns of phrase, such as "hammered out agreement" or "called for tighter restrictions". Terms with legal meanings, such as "Mayhem (crime), mayhem", may be overused to the point that they become meaningless. Journalese can also take the form of specific word choice. This is most obvious with the use of rare or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wooden Language
Wooden language is language that uses vague, ambiguous, abstract or pompous words in order to divert attention from the salient issues.Caparini, Marina; Fluri, Philipp (2006). ''Civil Society and the Security Sector: Concepts and Practices in New Democracies'', LIT Verlag Berlin–Hamburg–Münster, . The French scholar Françoise Thom identified four characteristics of wooden language: abstraction and the avoidance of the concrete, tautologies, bad metaphors, and Manichaeism that divides the world into good and evil.Michiko Kakutani"The death of truth" ''The Guardian'', 14 July 2018 The phrase is a literal translation of the French expression ' which appears to have been coined by Georges Clemenceau in 1919, and became widely used during the 1970s and 1980s after being brought back into French from Russian via Polish. In France, wooden language is commonly and strongly associated with politicians and the conditioning at the elite École nationale d'administration, as attested by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Humphrey Appleby
Sir Humphrey Appleby is a fictional character from the British television series ''Yes Minister'' and ''Yes, Prime Minister''. He was played originally by Nigel Hawthorne, Sir Nigel Hawthorne, and both on stage and in a television adaptation of the stage show by Henry Goodman in a new series of ''Yes Minister#Theatre, Yes, Prime Minister''. In ''Yes Minister'', he is the Permanent Secretary for the Department of Administrative Affairs (a fictional department of the British government). In the last episode of ''Yes Minister'', "Party Games (Yes Minister), Party Games", he becomes Cabinet Secretary (United Kingdom), Cabinet Secretary, the most powerful position in the service and one he retains during ''Yes, Prime Minister''. Hawthorne's portrayal won the British Academy Television Awards Award for British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance, Best Light Entertainment Performance four times: 1981, 1982, 1986, and 1987. Fictional biography Sir Humphrey was edu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manual Of Style
A style guide is a set of standards for the writing, Typesetting, formatting, and design of documents. A book-length style guide is often called a style manual or a manual of style. A short style guide, typically ranging from several to several dozen pages, is often called a style sheet. The standards documented in a style guide are applicable for either general use, or prescribed use in an individual publication, particular organization, or specific field. A style guide establishes standard style requirements to improve communication by ensuring consistency within and across documents. They may require certain best practices in writing style, Usage (language), usage, Composition (language), language composition, Composition (visual arts), visual composition, orthography, and typography by setting standards of usage in areas such as punctuation, capitalization, Citation#Styles, citing sources, formatting of numbers and dates, Table (information), table appearance and other area ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legalese
Legal writing involves the analysis of fact patterns and presentation of arguments in documents such as legal memoranda and briefs. One form of legal writing involves drafting a balanced analysis of a legal problem or issue. Another form of legal writing is persuasive, and advocates in favor of a legal position. Another form involves drafting legal instruments, such as contracts and wills. Distinguishing features Authority Legal writing places heavy reliance on authority. In most legal writing, the writer must back up assertions and statements with citations of authority. This is accomplished by a unique and complicated citation system, unlike that used in any other genre of writing. The standard methods for American legal citation are defined by two competing rule books: the '' ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation'' and ''The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation''. Different methods may be used within the United States and in other nations. Preced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fedspeak
In monetary policy of the United States, the term Fedspeak (also known as Greenspeak) is what Alan Blinder called "a turgid dialect of English" used by Federal Reserve Board chairs in making wordy, vague, and ambiguous statements. The strategy, which was used most prominently by Alan Greenspan, was used to prevent financial markets from overreacting to the chairman's remarks. The coinage is an intentional parallel to Newspeak. Fedspeak when used by Alan Greenspan is often called Greenspeak. An alternative definition of Greenspeak is "the coded and careful language employed by U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan." Edwin le Heron and Emmanuel Carre state that "Nowadays, 'Fedspeak' (Bernanke, 2004) means clear and extensive communication of the Fed's action." Chairman Ben Bernanke and Chairwoman Yellen have effected a major change in Fed communication policy departing from the obfuscation that characterized the previous three decades. In 2014 a new detailed level o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Business Speak
Corporate jargon (variously known as corporate speak, corporate lingo, corpo lingo, business speak, business jargon, management speak, workplace jargon, corpospeak, corporatese, or commercialese) is the jargon often used in large corporations, bureaucracies, and similar workplaces. The language register of the term is generally being presented in a negative light or disapprovingly. It is often considered to be needlessly obscure or, alternatively, used to disguise an absence of information. Its use in corporations and other large organisations has been widely noted in media. Marketing speak is a related label for wording styles used to promote a product or service. Coinage and use Corporate speak is associated with managers of large corporations, business management consultants, and occasionally government. Reference to such jargon is typically derogatory, implying the use of long, complicated, or obscure words; abbreviations; euphemisms; and acronyms. For that reason some of its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected officials. Today, bureaucracy is the administrative system governing any large institution, whether publicly owned or privately owned. The public administration in many jurisdictions is an example of bureaucracy, as is any centralized hierarchical structure of an institution, including Corporation, corporations, Professional association, societies, Nonprofit organization, nonprofit organizations, and Social club, clubs. There are two key dilemmas in bureaucracy. The first dilemma relates to whether bureaucrats should be autonomous or directly accountable to their political masters. The second dilemma relates to bureaucrats' responsibility to follow preset rules, and what degree of latitude they may have to determin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plain Language
Plain language is writing designed to ensure the reader understands as quickly, easily, and completely as possible. Plain language strives to be easy to read, understand, and use. It avoids verbose, convoluted language and jargon. In many countries, laws mandate that public agencies use plain language to increase access to programs and services. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities includes plain language in its definition of ''communication''. Definition Most literacy and communications scholars agree that plain language means: * "Plain language (also called Plain English) is communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it" ( Plainlanguage.gov) * "Clear and effective communication." ( Joseph Kimble) * "The idiomatic and grammatical use of language that most effectively presents ideas to the reader." ( Bryan Garner) * "Clear, straightforward expression, using only as many words as are necessary. It is language ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
