Recent Blog Posts
-
When Call-Center Scripts Go Bad
May 25 20128:38 am EDT -
Zynga on the Defense
May 24 20123:02 pm EDT -
Facebook Fallout Includes PR Fail
May 24 20129:25 am EDT -
Space Drama to Be Continued
May 21 20129:42 am EDT -
What Made Groupon Go Pop?
May 18 20129:34 am EDT -
Study Finds Millennials are Underbanked
May 17 201212:35 pm EDT -
Mad Men Not Impressed With Facebook IPO
May 17 201210:13 am EDT -
Pricing Experiment in Progress
May 16 201211:02 am EDT -
Did I Tweet That Out Loud?
May 15 20129:44 am EDT -
Revenge of the Liberal Arts Major
May 14 20122:58 pm EDT
Of Lipstick and Pigs
Minyanville.com has a little fun at the expense of financial regulators and the human resources departments of the world with a take on corporate doublespeak.
While we've all become accustomed to calling mass firings "downsizings" and, for instance, the federal bailout a "rescue package," writer Mike Schuster says the euphemisms have a more problematic edge. And he invokes the memory of George Carlin's routine on the evolution of "shell shock" to "post-traumatic stress disorder," to make his point.
"It's important to remember that business doublespeak isn't the same as, say, the language of political correctness. Though PC terms will always have their detractors, they're intended to minimize offenses between people, on the level of personal relationships," Schuster writes. "Euphemisms on the corporate level, however, are much more dangerous. They eliminate transparency, confuse the public and obscure fraudulent practices."
Also on Minyanville.com today:
TJ Maxx Pays Its Bills, Reaps Rewards
Business News Gets a Pop, for Now
Comments
If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.
