Weasel Words

"My granddaughter's Grade 6 class was asked to write a mission statement about their key values and core objectives," laments Don Watson (at home in Melbourne). "It's bilge.  Absolute bilge."

Just reading my wife's Who magazine, and there's an interview with Don Watson, one-time speechwriter for PM Paul Keating.  He's written a book, Watson's Dictionary of Weasel Words.

More stuff to add to Bullshit Bingo,The Way of the Weasel, and of course LoveMarks.
Love has been hijacked by an advertising man!

"What effect is weasel speak having on us?
  The best remark I've heard recently was made by an American liberal when he said, "We now live in a post-truth environment." In such an environment you can take the man with the medals for valour in Vietnam and the man who's got a dodgy service record in the national guard and you can make the man with the valour and the medals become the flake and not fit to lead the country.  And the man with the dodgy record becomes the only one fit to lead the country."

I've been collecting a few weasel words of my own recently, so that my defences go up when I hear these;
Knowledge Management, Touch Base, Consultant, Overseas, Busy, Think outside the Box, Change Management, Brand, Coach, Scope, Win-Win, Deployment, Bottom Line, Environment, Methodology, Alignment, Ownership, Stakeholder, Meme.

Comments

[John]

Great! very weasely indeed.I'd also add "convergence" and "transparency" and "empowerment". Also nearing the precipice: "co-creating" . All perfectly good words, all appropriated by people impersonating weasels.

[shannon]

Don't forget flexibility, enhance, core (as in "core promise")and it's bed-buddy non-core or my favorites maximising synergies and pushing the envelope....Heaps of them.
Business Leaders and politicians are great at using words like this to say nothing whilst saying something...

[Tony Goodson]

Thanks John and Shannon, I've included most of your words on to my own list, except "flexibility" which I use all the time!!

[Peter]

Have a read of Don Watson's "Death Sentence". My wife gave me "Weasel Words" for Christmas. The book is a follow on/dictionary to Death Sentence. I hope that all kids are made aware of the blatant abuse of the English language and avoid sounding like mindless drones of a corporate world.