Life under the Chief Doublespeak Officer by William Lutz (Essay Sample)

Journal Entry: “Life under the Chief Doublespeak Officer” by William Lutz
Donson, Antoine
Institution
Journal Entry: “Life under the Chief Doublespeak Officer” by William Lutz
The essay “Life under the Chief Doublespeak Officer” by William Lutz talks about the way language is used to distort meaning. The author argues that people use doublespeak (a technique of using words creatively to manipulate the original meaning) when the message or the unadulterated meaning is too painful or undesirable to be communicated in plain language. He gives examples such as referring to sacking or laying off workers as “downsizing,” which is a euphemism that conveys the fact of being fired in a gentle manner. The author concludes that the corporate sector, just like politicians, employs doublespeak to communicate issues that have negative effects on the target audience or victims of corporate decisions. The impact of this tendency is that it creates ambiguities in meaning, hides truths, or simply distorts the original meaning.
The author uses hyperboles to describe the concept of doublespeak. He does this by substituting ordinary language with creative phrases that exaggerate the importance of the idea or concept being communicated. For instance, he says that a travel agent is called a “vacation specialist” in doublespeak (Lutz, 2014). The title vacation agent sounds grander than travel agent, but the functions of a vacation specialist and a travel agent are the same. When companies lose money, he says the issue is reported as “experiencing negative cash flow” (Lutz, 2014). Regardless what phrasing is used, the reality is that the company is losing money, whether it sugarcoats this fact with doublespeak or not. The author uses this technique to illustrate and emphasize the idea that doublespeak exaggerates or distorts facts and meaning, and therefore it is not an appropriate communication strategy.
The author has used description effectively to illustrate the various applications of doublespeak. He gives several examples of contexts where doublespeak can be used. He uses several illustrations to explain doublespeak, which helps the reader to understand the concept of doublespeak better both theoretically and in usage. The use of hyperbole to describe and illustrate the meaning and use of doublespeak also conveys the idea that doublespeak itself is an exaggeration of truths and facts. He emphasizes this point when he says in the opening paragraph that “Doublespeak is language that only pretends to say something; it's language that hides, evades or misleads” (Lutz, 2014).
In my personal essays, I can use descriptive language to create vivid images about events or situations, describe the qual...