Domain: weaselwords.com.au
Stories and comments across the archive that link to weaselwords.com.au.
Comments · 6
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Just another =Weaselword=
Q.E.D. --> http://www.weaselwords.com.au/index3.htm
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Check out this site for corporate language crimes
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Re:When in Rome...
Does a reference exist for business slang?
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Prior art...
I let coffee ferment in day-old beer in college, about 10 years ago. Unfortunately someone consumed all the evidence.
Seriously, there were breweries doing this in 1999 in Seattle (where else), so they are going to have to use a lot of weasel words to make the patent hold water. -
Re:Troubleshooting process?
People add extra words when they want things to sound more important than they really are.
Some complicated engineering stuff needs extra words to exactly describe stuff. I hope I haven't used any Weasel Words in that sentence.
What's really annoying/dangerous is when wannabees (usually management types and marketing flunkies) start flinging around terminology that they don't fully understand. It just sounds cool and complicated and impressive to them. -
It should be about dishonestyI agree, the web page is a real mixed bag. "Weasel Words" ought to be about things that are basically dishonest. Using "e-mail" as a noun doesn't strike me that way.
Here's a letter I wrote to the editor of the page:
Hi -
On your web page at http://www.weaselwords.com.au/words.htm you list the use of "presently" as a "weasel word":
"Presently: The word 'presently' means soon to come, in the near future, and so on. Many people confuse it with 'currently.' So "We are presently in Australia" should more properly be "We are currently in Australia." This misuse is often seen not only in everyday conversation but also in business correspondence. Again, its improper use indicates lazy thinking.' [from William Bezanson]"
This is nonsense. The word "presently" has been in widespread use as a synonym for "currently" since at least the 15th century, while the archaic "soon" sense is much less common now. Who is William Bezanson to say it is "improper" and "lazy"? Does anyone look this stuff up in a dictionary at least?
Seems to me your site ought to be mainly about phrases and word-usages where people are "weaselling out" of saying something truthful or meaningful. Or, that they use fancy, complicated, or made-up words or uncommon usages, for the sole purpose of trying to sound smart. An example might be the use of the word "spin" instead of... well, what I just said.
There are quite a number of things on your page that are simply alleged by grammar pedants to be poor english, like the example above, or saying "I'm good" instead of "I'm well", "I sent you an e-mail" instead of "I sent you an e-mail message", and so on. The phrase "anytime soon" wouldn't make sense as "it will happen anytime soon", but it's never used in that sense, only in the negative "it will not happen anytime soon" or interrogative "will it happen anytime soon?"; in both cases a completely rational sentence.
Also, using "fresh" instead of "new, unused, etc." - this is simply a popular use that has come recently from urban african-american culture (or should I just say "ghetto"?), where there are so many unique phrases and usages that the majority of english-speakers might have difficulty following a conversation. But this does not make them "weasel words" or double-speak.
Similarly, new sayings that come from business or technology culture are not necessarily weasel words. They may be used to name and talk about things that simply did not exist before. Or, like in other sub-cultures, unique expressions may be a form of solidarity among peers. I believe it only crosses the line when obfuscating language is purposely designed by marketing, management, or "motivation" people in order to manipulate, mislead, or "spin" the plain truth, for the purposes of advertising, sales, employee thought-control, or "corporate image". Unfortunately it seems this is all too common in the world of business, where a "culture of bullshit" seems to prevail.
I would like to suggest that in choosing words for your page, you might focus on the criterion that "weasel words" should have the particular characteristic of being essentially dishonest, double-speak.
Otherwise, if you allow listings for general word and grammar misuse, annoying but innocuous phrases - "I'll diary that" - pointless clichés, and just plain stupidity, you'll have a very large web site indeed.