Doublespeak Defined: Cut Through the Bull and Get the Point [Illustrated] 0062734121, 9780062734129

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Cut Through the

Bull**** and Get the Point!

by

William Lutz (content provider

n.

writer)

'

-c

J

Doublespeak DEFINED

Also by William Lutz

Doublespeak

The New Doublespeak

Doublespeak DEFINED Cut Through the Bull and Get the Point

William Lutz tm

HarperResource A

Division of HarperCollinsPublishers

doublespeak defined. Copyright

©

1999 by William Lutz. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

No part of this book may be used or

reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations

embodied

information address HarperCollins Publishers, York,

NY

and reviews. For

in critical articles Inc., 10 East

53rd

Street,

New

10022.

FlarperCollins books

promotional

may be purchased

for educational, business, or sales

For information please write: Special Markets Depart-

use.

ment, HarperCollins Publishers,

Inc., 10

East 53rd Street,

New

York,

NY

10022. FIRST EDITION

Designed by

Kim

Llewellyn

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lutz, William.

Doublespeak defined cut through the bull**** and get the point. :

William Lutz. p.

—

1st ed.

cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 0-06-273412-1 1.

Jargon (Terminology). English language

P409.L87

—

Jargon.

I.

Title.

1999

427— dc21

99-19253

CIP 99 00 01 02 03

/RRD

10

987654321

For

my

son,

Bill

Digitized by the Internet Archive in

2017 with funding from

Kahle/Austin Foundation

https://archive.org/details/doublespeakdefinOOIutz

Contents

Introduction

ix

To the Reader

xiii

Abbreviations

xv

1

Transportation

1

2

Science and Nature

9

3

War and

4

Death and Taxes

39

5

Crimes and Misdemeanors

53

6

Health and Welfare

65

7

The Workplace

79

8

Government and

9

Education

107

10

Sex and the Sexes

117

11

Business and Finance

121

12

Job Titles

141

13

Recreation (Sports and Leisure)

153

14

Communication

157

Index

171

the Military

Politics

21

89

Introduction

The great enemy of clear language cerity.

real

When

is

insin-

a gap between one’s

and one’s declared aims, one turns as

were

it

there

is

instinctively

exhausted idioms,

to

like

long words and

a cuttlefish squirt-

ing out ink.

George Orwell, “Politics

and the English Language” 1946

For George Orwell, language was an instrument for “expressing

and not

for concealing or preventing

comment

in his essay,

thought” In

his

most biting

Orwell observes that “In our time,

politi-

speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensi-

cal ble.

.

.

.

Political

language has to consist largely of euphemism,

question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness.

guage ...

designed to

is

respectable,

and

to give

make

lies

.

.

.

Political lan-

sound truthful and murder

an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

Today, used cars are no longer “pre-owned” but “experi-

enced

cars,”

and black-and-white

television sets

come with

“non-multicolor capability.” Pot holes have been transformed into

“pavement

deficiencies.”

We

don’t have

some “revenue enhancement” through new

new

taxes, just

“user fees.”

And

those people wandering our city streets are “non-goal oriented

members of

society,” while

poor people are better known

as

Introduction

“fiscal

Crime

underachievers.”

what was once

a robbery of

is

decreasing, partly because

an automatic

machine has

teller

become an “unauthorized withdrawal.” Airplanes don’t

crash,

they just have “uncontrolled contact with the ground.” The U.S.

Army like

doesn’t

kill

“services the target,”

it

any service industry.

Doublespeak it’s

enemy anymore,

the

is

not a matter of subjects and verbs agreeing;

a matter of words

and

facts agreeing. Basic to

incongruity, the incongruity between

and what referent,

really

is. It’s

what

is

doublespeak

said,

or

the incongruity between the

between seem and be, between the

left

is

unsaid,

word and

the

essential function of

language (communication) and what doublespeak does (mislead, distort, deceive, inflate, circumvent, obfuscate).

peak turns

lies

told

by

politicians into “being

Doubles-

economical with

the truth,” sewage sludge into “regulated organic nutrients” that

do not stink but “exceed the odor threshold,” the death of

a

patient in a hospital into “negative patient care outcome,” an

explosion and

fire in

a nuclear

power plant

into an “energetic

disassembly” and “rapid oxidation.”

Everywhere we turn we encounter the language with which Orwell was so concerned.

It’s

not an economic recession but a

“period of accelerated negative growth” or simply “negative eco-

nomic growth.” There’s no such thing the Environmental Protection cipitation,” or

more

Agency

as acid rain; according to it’s

“poorly buffered pre-

impressively, “atmospheric deposition of

anthropogenetically- derived acidic substances,” or

“wet deposition.”

And

more

subtly,

those aren’t gangsters, mobsters, the

Mafia, or La Cosa Nostra in Atlantic City; according to the Jersey Division of

Gaming Enforcement”

(a

“New

doublespeak

title

Introduction

which avoids the use of that dreaded word “gambling”)

“members of a career-offender

cartel”

Doublespeak has become so

we no longer pay any

more

when we do

it,

we

is

it.

in everyday living that

Indeed,

the normal

we seem

to take

it

way of communi-

not communicating. Even worse,

correctly,

notice

common

attention to

for granted, as if such language cating, or

they’re

don’t react.

We

don’t protest

when

we’re asked to check our packages at the desk “for your conve-

nience” else’s

when

not for our convenience

it’s

convenience.

We

at all

but for someone

advertisements for “deep-chilled

see

chickens,” “virgin vinyl,” or “synthetic glass,” but

we

don’t ques-

tion the language or the supposed quality of the product.

don’t challenge the politicians

who

speak not of slums or ghet-

tos but of the “inner city” or “substandard housing”

“disadvantaged”

who have

live,

We

where the

thus avoiding any mention of the poor

to live in filthy, poorly heated,

ramshackle apartments

or houses.

Doublespeak that vice,” the illegal

lizing a

calls a

bribe a “rebate” or “after sales ser-

overthrow of a legitimate government “destabi-

government,” and

lies “strategic

misrepresentations”

is

language that avoids responsibility, that makes the bad seem good, the

appear It’s

negative

attractive,

appear positive, something unpleasant

language that only appears to communicate.

language designed to

alter

our perception of reality and cor-

rupt our thinking. Ultimately, doublespeak breeds suspicion, cynicism, distrust and, hostility.

Doublespeak

strikes at the function

of language

cation between people and social groups

reaching consequences.

Our

political

—with

— communi-

serious

and

far-

system depends upon an

Introduction

informed electorate to make decisions for office

and deciding

in selecting candidates

issues of public policy.

becomes the coin of the

political realm, as

As doublespeak

doublespeak drives

out a language of public discourse that really communicates, speakers and listeners

such language. “misspeak,”

“predawn try,

We

become convinced

that they understand

speak today of politicians

of “dysfunction

vertical insertion”

behavior”

who

not

don’t

lie

murder,

but

of a

not the invasion of another coun-

of “violence processing” or the “use of force” not of war.

When we use such language believing that we are using the public

discourse necessary for the health and well being of our

munity, then,

I

believe, the

world of 1984

is

upon

us.

com-

To the Reader

In an age of political correctness

and

hypersensitivity, not to

mention rampant corporate and government

and deception, you need

on constant

the help

alert so that those

cant use

it

Think of

this

who

book

as a survival

create

get.

it is

made

up.

I

it

announced

ule adjustment,” or

to be

and use doublespeak

for the

and abuse you. contemporary is

real;

have carefully recorded the source and

away with something.

meant when

manual

You need

of the doublespeak in this book

context for each example. All of get

you can

to control, manipulate, deceive, use,

linguistic jungle. All

none of

all

linguistic fraud

it

has been used by someone to

Do you know what

General Motors

a “volume-related production sched-

what the hospital meant when

it

said the

patient died as a result of a “diagnostic misadventure of a high

magnitude”? Well,

that’s

what

this

book

through the flood of doublespeak that to

wade through

is

is

for: to

help you

wade

engulfing our society,

the sewage that passes for

communication

these days. I

have written this book to assure you that there

wrong with you or any of

is

nothing

the millions of other perfectly sane,

To the Reader intelligent

Americans who wonder every day

they hear so often there

is

is

a

new

if

the language

who wonder

foreign language,

if

something wrong with them because they don’t under-

stand what those politicians, bureaucrats, spin doctors, advertisers,

and corporate hacks

are saying.

written a comprehensive

have in your hands

is

I

do not pretend

to have

manual of doublespeak. What you

a brief guide that covers the

most

essential

and egregious terms. For more complete coverage of doublespeak,

I

refer

you

to

my previous books:

Doublespeak: From Rev-

Terminal Living (HarperCollins) and The

enue Enhancement

to

New

Why No One Knows What

Doublespeak:

Anyone’s Saying

Anymore (HarperCollins), and The Cambridge Thesaurus of American English (Cambridge University I

would

like to

Press).

thank Susan Muaadi and Laurie Baker

gave of their time,

skill,

and

for publication.

I

came

to

Ms. Muaadi, for

their consistency, sharp eye,

intelligence in preparing this

depend upon them, and

who book

especially

and good humor.

Theirs was an effort above and beyond the requirements of the job,

an

to this

effort they gave cheerfully.

book I am deeply grateful.

For

all

that they contributed

Abbreviations

CIA

Central Intelligence Agency

D01

Department of the

DOD

Department of Defense

Doublespeak

Doublespeak: to

Interior

From Revenue Enhancement

Terminal Living William Lutz ,

(HarperCollins, 1989)

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency

FAA

Federal Aviation Administration

FBI

Federal Bureau of Investigation

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space

Administration

New Doublespeak

The

New Doublespeak: Why No One

Knows What Anyone's Saying Anymore, William Lutz (HarperCollins, 1996)

NRC

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

PBS

Public Broadcasting System

DSD A

United States Department of Agriculture

Transportation

accident

n.

1.

abnormal occurrence (NRC)

2.

event

3.

unusual event (NRC)

4.

safety -related occurrence

5.

normally occurring abnormal occurrence (NRC)

6.

reportable occurrences

7.

unintentional injury

8.

an interaction with a car or a truck

9.

anomaly (NASA)

(NRC)

#

When

(NRC)

(NRC)

the Challenger blew up,

according to

NASA,

it

air

(FL) Sentinel ,

anthropogenically induced event

11. fortuitous

bag

event

n.

1.

supplemental inflatable restraint system

2.

non-belt automatic restraint system see seat belt

wasn’t an accident;

was an “anomaly.”

—Orlando 10.

it

Mar.

2,

1986

2

Doublespeak Deeined airline flight delay n.

schedule irregularity

auto mechanic automotive

n.

internist; see also car

automobile accident

n.

1.

vehicular malscrusion

2.

vehicular interaction

breakdown

(of

mechanic

an airplane)

n.

change of equipment

breakdown 1 .

fail to

(of

an automobile)

v.

proceed Rolls [Royce] officials

breaks down, but rather

still

do not say the product

“fails to

proceed.”

-Time, Sept 2.

go technical

3.

suffer a malfunction

bus

2,

1985

n.

customer conveyance mobile lounge •

A

flight attendant

announced that passengers would

be taken from the departure gate to their plane by a “customer conveyance mobile lounge,” also a bus.

bus driver 1.

known

as

-Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, Apr. 1988

n.

transit coach operator

# The City of Simi Valley, California,

is

looking for a

Transportation “Transit

3

Coach Operator.” In other words, they want

to

hire a bus driver. 2.

—Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, July 1988 see also cab driver certified adolescent transportation specialist

•

A

Minnesota school bus company

calls its drivers

“certified adolescent transportation specialists.”

—Reader’s Digest, Jan. 1988

cab driver

n.

urban transportation

car engine

specialist

n.

power module

car

mechanic

n.

1.

automotive internist

2.

auto installation specialist see also auto

car salesperson

mechanic

n.

transportation counselor

1.

#

People

who

sell

cars are

“transportation counselors.”

sometimes referred

to as

-The New Doublespeak

see also used car 2.

product consultant

3.

purchase advisor of previously distinguished automobiles

4.

new

car

car accountant

wash

n.

vehicle appearance specialists

4

Doublespeak Defined • The residents of Vancouver no longer have to settle

mere car wash

for a

for their automobiles;

now

they

can go to Esprit Auto Detailing, the “vehicle appearance

specialists.”

-Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, Oct. 1987

chauffeur aides

who

n.

•

drive

Members of

feurs.

the governor’s staff do not have chauf-

They have

“aides

who

drive.”

-Philadelphia Inquirer, July

crash (airplane)

15,

1982

n.

1.

uncontrolled contact with the ground (FAA)

2.

unscheduled contact with the ground (FAA)

3.

failure to maintain clearance from the

ground (FAA)

The National Transportation Safety Board

cited the

following as the probable causes of a helicopter crash that killed three people: “flying into failure to

bad weather and

maintain clearance from the ground.” -Associated Press, Nov.

controlled flight into terrain or

5.

involuntary conversion of a 727

6.

hard landing

When

six

Marines were

1987

CFIT (FAA)

4.

•

14,

killed

and eleven injured

in

a helicopter crash during training, officials called the

incident a “hard landing.”

-Seattle (WA) Press-Inquirer, Nov. 21, 1984

crash

dummy

n.

instrumented anthropomorphic device

Transportation

driveway

n.

auto reception area

emergency vehicle

n.

major incident response unit

garage

n.

motor room

holes

(in

an airplane wing)

n.

surface irregularities Eastern Airlines officials did not find holes in two of the

they

airplanes

inspected;

found “surface

they

irregularities.”

— Spy, June jeep

n.

high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle

life

1989

preserver

n.

1.

water device

2.

personal preservation flotation device •

(DOD)

(DOD)

The U.S. Coast Guard decided on

designed to make

life

jackets

more

rules

changes

familiar to the

average recreational boater. Instead of referring to “personal floatation devices” (or PFDs), the lations will life

jacket,”

now a

refer to

new

regu-

such things as an “off-shore

“near-shore

buoyant

vest,”

and

a

“throwable device.”

—Bridgeport (CT) Telegram Dec. ,

6,

1989

6

Doublespeak Defined

lost

luggage

n.

misconnect rate #

Airlines don’t

lose;

worry about how many bags they

they worry about the “misconnect rate.”

—New

mud

flap

splash

York Times, Jan.

19,

1990

n.

and spray suppression device

A

bill in

Congress does not refer to

mud

on

flaps

trucks but to “splash and spray suppression devices.”

-Philadelphia Inquirer, Mar.

pothole

17,

1987

n.

pavement deficiency # In Tucson, Arizona, there are no potholes, but there are

some “pavement

deficiencies.”

—Things No One Ever

seat belt

Tells You,

Warner Books, 1980

n.

automatic restraint • The National

announced

its

Highway

on the use of

decision

bags in automobiles

.

Traffic Safety Administration

.

.

that

seat belts

and

air

companies can comply

with the regulation by equipping

new

vehicles with a

“non-belt automatic restraint system” for the driver

and a “dynamically-tested manual lap-shoulder

belt

for the right front passenger.”

—Federal Register, Mar. 30, 1987 see also airbag

sidewalk

n.

pedestrian facility

Transportation

space suit

n.

extravehicular mobility unit

You may

*

them space

call

suits,

but at Hamilton

Standard, which makes them, they call them “Extravehicular Mobility Units,” or

EMUs.

—Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, Jan. 1989

speed

bumps

n.

undulated road

traffic signal n. 1.

transitron

2.

electronically adjusted, color-coded, vehicular flow control

mechanism

used car

n.

previously distinguished automobile

1 .

•

“Pre-owned” and “experienced” are no longer the

preferred doublespeak terms for used cars.

Now

they’re

“previously distinguished” cars.

-Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, Oct. 1988 2.

experienced car

3.

pre-driven

4.

pre-owned see also car salesperson

windshield wiper

n.

adverse weather visibility device #

You and

eral

I

call

requirement

device.”

it

a windshield wiper, but

calls for

.

.

an “adverse weather

.

the fedvisibility

—Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, July 1988

7

8

Doublespeak Defined

wrecked car

n.

victim of major impact Cars brought to Aston Martin for repairs after an accident are never called “wrecks.” They’re called “vic-

tims of major impacts.”

—Wall

Street Journal, Mar. 25, 1993

Science

and Mature

acid rain

n.

1.

poorly buffered precipitation (EPA)

2.

atmospheric deposition of anthropogenically- derived acidic

substances (EPA) “Atmospheric deposition of anthropogenically-derived acidic substances”

is

destroying the ecosystem.

—New 3.

York Times Mar. ,

1,

1984

wet deposition (EPA) The Environmental Protection Agency promoted the use of the term “wet deposition” instead of acid rain.

—The New Doublespeak 4.

transit particle deposition from

an unidentifiable source

(EPA) The sition

latest

term for acid rain

is

“transit particle

depo-

from an unidentifiable source.” —Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, July 1988

Doublespeak Defined

acorn

n.

a nut partially enclosed by a cupule of bracts

A

•

scientist writes

about a tree that

within the family Fagaceae

... by

is

“characterized

a nut partially

enclosed by a cupule of bracts.” That’s an oak tree with

—New

acorns.

York Times, Mar.

1,

1984

artificial flavor n.

natural flavor

burning of trash

n.

1.

thermotreatment of waste

2.

thermo matically treated waste

cast iron

n.

ferrous-carbon alloy

cave.

n.

erosional feature

change something effect

child

v.

a transformation

n.

ambulatory biped

disposable mod. single use

*

Kodak does not

sell

a disposable camera, an unac-

ceptable term in an age of environmental awareness.

Kodak

sells

instead a “single use” camera.

1

Science and Nature

T erms such able,”

as “recyclable,” “degrad-

and “environmentally

have no

fixed

friendly”

When

meaning.

“biodegradable,” Mobil

maker

the

bag

of

dation. But the sales of

went up while those

So

Glad trash bags

of Hefty

Mobil brought out

its

own

own

tests

in

then its

it

contents on the ground.

“pho-

for the

bag

to

it

peak attracted the

Mike Levy, Mobil’s

a

lawsuit against Mobil for claiming that

its

Hefty trash bags have a “special ingredient that after

promotes

exposure

wind and

to

rain.”

their

breakdown

elements

The Hefty boxes

the claim that once nature has

gered” their will

new

won’t break

down

lobbyist,

at

all.

was quoted

sides of our mouth. Degradability

a marketing

tool.”

is

just

Mobil did stop using its

bags because of the lawsuit

Hefty filed

by the attorneys general. —Advertising Age, Nov. 13, 1989;

“trig-

a sun-

as saying: “We’re talking out of both

trash

carried

in

New

additive “these

bags

York Times, Feb. 17, 1990; Jan. 8, 1991;

down

harm-

Liberal Opinion

continue to break

dump

other less

the word “photodegradable” for

sun,

like

dumped

break down, and

less landfill

it

In

and

takes about 120 days

todegradable” trash bag. This doubles-

filed

into

Week, June 25, 1990

n.

1.

public waste reception center

2.

reutilization

•

it

the blazing sun of the

simply broke open and

sunny climates

attention of the attor-

1988

in

Arizona desert for a bag to reach a sat-

went down.

neys general of seven states who

conducted

isfactory level of decomposition,

impervious to degra-

is

its

after they are buried

Meanwhile, Mobil admitted

landfill.”

took 30 days

called

Hefty trash bags, maintained that the plastic trash

a

that in

it

Oil,

in

Glad

brought out a plastic trash bag

even

less particles

1

marketing yard

You may

ernment

it’s

call

it

a junkyard, but to the federal gov-

a “reutilization marketing yard.”

-Federal Register

Doublespeak Defined

3.

resource development park • To some,

it’s

a

dump;

to others, however,

-The New Doublespeak

development park.” 4.

landfill

5.

volume reduction plant

New

•

Canaan, Connecticut, which

is

the

with the highest per-capita income in does not have a dump;

it

(in

an ocean)

community

New

England,

has a “volume reduction —Fairpress,

plant.”

dumping waste

a “resource

it’s

May

19,

1988

n.

deep ocean placement

dumping waste

(in

a river)

n.

organic loading

What do you

•

organic

call

chemical waste

every day? You

call

it

dumping 22,000 pounds of into

the

Mississippi

“organic loading.”

— Smithsonian dust

n.

airborne particles

earthquake

n.

seismic event

explosion

n.

energetic disassembly

fake beef

n.

1.

restructured beef

2.

textured

meat alternative

River

,

Feb. 1993

Science and Nature

fake cheese

n.

cheese analog

fake crab

meat

n.

surimi-hased crab analog

fake diamonds real counterfeit

fake jewels

n.

diamonds

n.

faux jewels

fake leather

n.

genuine imitation leather

fake

meat

n.

restructured muscle product

fence

n.

neoecological

boundary

fire n. 1.

incendiary event •

A

nuclear power plant calls a

event.”

an “incendiary

—Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, Apr. 1988

2.

rapid oxidation

3.

oxidation event

garbage

fire

n.

post-consumer secondary materials

Doublespeak Defined

glass

n.

fused

silicate

glue

n.

cold adhesive

bond

ground bone 1

n.

mechanically separated meat

.

calcium

2.

heat

v.

rethermalize

heat pollution

n.

thermal enrichment

human-made mod. anthropogenic

hunt 1.

v.

harvest # The state of Florida preferred the to the

word “hunt” when

it

word “harvest”

allowed hunters to

kill

3,500 alligators. —Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, Jan. 1989 2.

kill

renaturalize

(animals)

v.

1.

harvest; see also

2.

manage

3.

depopulate

wildlife

hunt

Science and Nature

15

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1998 Washington Post Writers Group. Reprinted with permission.

light switch

n.

ideogram illumination intensity adjustment potentiometer

mousetrap

n.

rodent elimination device

natural mod. biogenic

nuclear waste

n.

1.

valuable, important nuclear materials

2.

monitored retrievable storage # Nuclear waste has been called “valuable, important

nuclear materials” and nuclear waste to as

dumps

referred

“monitored retrievable storage.”

-The New Doublespeak

)io

VW=K

Doublespeak Defined

oil spill n.

tanker accident • The Interior Department will no longer use the phrase “oil spill”;

dents.”

open

pit for

now on it will refer to —U.S. News and World Report, from

burning trash

“tanker acci-

July

10,

1989

n.

air curtain incinerator

•

Air curtain incineration occurs in an

incinerator,

which means burning trash

in

air curtain

an open

pit.

—Solid Waste Report, Jan. 28, 1993

plastic

n.

synthetic glass

plastic trash

bag

n.

waste management bag *

Kmart

sells

“waste management bags” not plastic

trash bags.

—Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, Apr. 1991

plow

n.

earth- engaging equipment

polluted mod. environmentally stabilized •

While residents complained of polluted beaches

and virtually nonexistent clean-up, Exxon executives referred to

Valdez

the beaches in Alaska affected

oil spill as

by the

“environmentally stabilized.”

-The New Doublespeak

Science and Nature

rotten fruits and vegetables distressed

n.

produce

sewage plant

n.

wastewater conveyance facility

sewage sludge

n.

1.

regulated organic nutrients

2.

bioslurp

3.

organic biomass *

Some people may

“sludge,” but to

call the residue

of treated sewage

John Gonzales of the Reno-Sparks,

Nevada, sewage treatment plant

it’s

“organic biomass.”

-Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, Apr. 1990 4.

biosolids It

might look

like

sludge to you, but others

regulated wastewater residuals

sewer

n.

wastewater conveyance facility

sugar

n.

crystallized, evaporated

it

-The New Doublespeak

“biosolids.” 5.

call

cane juice

Doublespeak Defined

sunk mod. comfortably settled at the bottom • Workers tried for two days to

move

a replica of the

Now

only

the masts and rear deck are visible in the harbor.

“We

17th-century ship Godspeed into the water.

don’t consider sider

it

it

sunk,” a spokesperson said.

comfortably settled on the bottom of the -Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept.

thermometer digital fever

.

river.”

16,

1984

n.

computer

trash incinerator 1

“We con-

n.

resou rce recovery faci li ty

2.

thermal processing unit

3.

thermal

vinyl

soil

remediation unit

n.

vegetarian leather •

Drew

Bernstein, the Los Angeles clothes designer,

sells dresses

made of “vegetarian

leather.”

—Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan.

wastepaper basket

14,

1990

n.

user-friendly, space- effective, flexible deskside sortation unit

•

Government

$123.80

in

officials

[Canadian]

each

Canada,

Toronto,

for

“user

friendly,

effective, flexible deskside sortation units,”

monly known

paid

space

more com-

as wastepaper baskets.

-Toronto Sun,

May

13,

1992

Science and Nature

wave

19

n.

sea-air interface climatic disturbance

wood

n.

three-dimensional biopolymer composites

wood pulp

n.

1.

alpha cellulose

2.

powdered

3.

source offiber

zoo

cellulose

n.

wildlife conservation

# The

new

program with some permanent facilities

Vancouver park board received a proposal

for a

“Stanley Park interpretation and wildlife plan” to

replace the Stanley Park Zoo.

“I

don’t see

it

as a zoo,”

said the head of the park board. She prefers to call

it

a

“wildlife conservation

program with some permanent

facilities.”

—Vancouver Sun,

May

15,

1993

War and the Military

ambush

n.

(DOD)

pro-active counterattack

ambush

v.

1.

engage the enemy on

2.

meeting engagement

all sides

(DOD)

bomb n. denial weapon (DOD)

antipersonnel area

“Area denial weapons” are cluster bombs, previously

known

as antipersonnel

bombs.

—The New Doublespeak

antisatellite kinetic

atomic

kill

weapon

vehicle

bomb

n.

(DOD)

n.

1.

nuclear warhead

2.

strategic

3.

tactical

weapon

weapon

Doublespeak Defined

4.

nuclear device

5.

device that

6.

re-entry system

7.

physics package

is

exploding

(DOD)

# During congressional hearings on the Intermediate-

range Nuclear Forces

Secretary

treaty,

of Defense

Frank Carlucci kept using the phrase “physics package,”

which meant the atomic warhead on intermedi-

ate-range missiles.

—Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, Jan. 1989

atomic explosion

n.

nuclear event

atomic war

n.

thermonuclear or nuclear exchange

attack

n.

assuming an

offensive posture

* The military refers to attack as “assuming an offensive posture.”

—Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, Apr. 1988

bayonet

n.

weapons system

bomb 1.

v.

effective delivery

of ordnance

(DOD)

Phrases such as “effective delivery of ordnance” are

not likely to invoke mental pictures of thousands of tons of

bombs

falling

on buildings and people.

—The New Doublespeak

War and

Military doublespeak starts at the top

name

Department of

the Secretary of

War

the Military

shall

be changed

to Secretary of the

Army.” Suddenly, war

Defense. America had a Department of

became “defense"

with the Secretary of

War

Defense

with the

off

until

of the

1947,

when

the military pulled

the doublespeak coup of the century.

On

charge of the Department of

Defense, which includes the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

July 27, 1947, President Harry S.

Truman signed

in

the National Security Act

Those who are

willing to

of 1947, a law that completely reorga-

“defense” instead of “war”

nized the armed forces of the United

this

States. Title

II

agree

of that law carries the

heading “Establishment of the National Military Establishment," tion

202 the post

Defense

is

of Secretary of

tion 205(a) that the real institutionalized:

War

3.

4. 5.

6. 7.

8. 9.

10.

it

is in

Sec-

doublespeak

is

World Defense

Defense

II,

eral William

and the

Hell.”

of

will

(DOD) degrade (DOD) eliminate (DOD) suppress (DOD) neutralize (DOD) take out (DOD) sanitize the area (DOD) cleanse (DOD) visit the site

conduct coercive diplomacy

of

in

order to

I

will

be

and World

Tolstoy’s great novel

will

become Defense and Peace, and Gen-

ment

title

title

perhaps

a few other changes

1914-1918 and 1939-1945

be designated the

of the Army,

to

will

the

be consistent. The unpleasantness of

called

“The Department of

shall hereafter

Department

2.

and under Sec-

established. But

government agency

in

accept

(DOD)

Tecumseh Sherman’s com-

be changed

to

“Defense

is

23

Doublespeak Deeined

11.

erode the will of the population

(DOD)

(DOD) (DOD)

12. prosecute the target

13.

terrain alteration

14. disrupt

*

Weapons systems

don’t drop bombs; they “visit a

and “degrade,”

“neutralize,” “attrit,” “suppress,”

site”

“eliminate,” “cleanse,” “sanitize,” “impact,” “decapitate”

or “take out” their targets.

bomber

-The New Doublespeak

(aircraft) n.

force package

• “Force packages” or “weapons systems”

—The New Doublespeak

or planes drop bombs.

bombing

n.

(DOD)

1.

protective reaction strike

2.

air support

3.

limited duration protective reaction strike

7.

(DOD) armed reconnaissance (DOD)

4. 5.

visit sites—

(

DOD) (DOD)

coercive diplomacy

#

“Bombing

raids” are a thing of the past;

now, there

are “armed reconnaissance” missions.

—Dictionary of Euphemism and Other Doublespeak 6.

effective delivery

of ordnance

“In Vietnam,

(DOD)

American war planes conducted

ited duration protective reaction strikes’ during

‘lim-

which

they achieved an ‘effective delivery of ordnance.’”

-The New Doublespeak limited air interdiction

(DOD)

War and

the Military

“Anti-personnel land mines pose no threat to people,

©

1997 The

bomb

New Yorker

load

Colonel Only

Collection, J.B.

to personnel.”

Handelsman from cartoonbank.com.

All rights

reserved.

n.

payload

bullet

wound

ballistically

n.

induced aperture in the subcutaneous environment

25

Doublespeak Defined civilian casualties n. collateral

damage •

When

General Bernard Rogers was asked

damage meant

eral

civilian casualties, he said “Yes.”

—New cockpit

if collat-

York Times,

May

4,

1985

n.

missionized crew station •

Once upon a time Air Force

but

now

1

.

Review,

Summer 1988

n.

violence processing

crash

had cockpits,

they have “Missionized Crew Stations.”

—USAF Fighter Weapons combat

fighters

(DOD)

(missile) n.

early termination

• According to the First Strategic Aerospace Division at

Vandenberg Air Force Base, “An anomaly occurred

during the

flight,

which caused the early termination.”

—New 2.

prematurely terminated flight

crash 1

.

(missile)

v.

cease to fly •

A

U.S. military

had “ceased 2.

York Times, Aug. 29, 1986

to fly.”

spokesman

-New

said the Cruise missile

York Times, Feb.

impact with the ground prematurely

1,

1985

War and

the Military

terminate five minutes earlier than planned

3.

*

A

Canadian Forces spokesman said the missile had

“terminated five minutes earlier than planned.”

—Toronto

dead enemy soldiers

Star, Jan. 25,

1986

n.

decommissioned aggressor quantum

dead soldier

n.

non- viable asset

During the war

in

the Persian Gulf,

massive bombing attacks became “efforts.”

Thousands

of

site.”

“visited

These “weapons systems”

“hard”

and

“visits,”

first “visit,”

“weapons sys-

tems” or “force packages”

“soft targets.”

a

“hit”

During their

these “weapons systems”

“degraded,” “neutralized,”

achieve “effective results” during their

“attrited,”

a

“damage assessment

study” determined whether the

“weapons systems” would site.”

Women,

ians killed or “visits,”

children or other

wounded

museums, houses tary” targets that

“sanitized,” “impacted,” “decapitated” or

“collateral

A “healthy day

of

sired

civil-

hospitals,

or other “non-mili-

were blown

damage,” which

damage

the

during these

and any schools,

“suppressed,” “eliminated,” “cleansed,”

“took out” targets.

“revisit

is

up,

were

the unde-

or casualties produced

bombing” was achieved when more

by the effects from “incontinent ord-

enemy

nance” or “accidental delivery of ord-

“assets”

were destroyed than

nance equipment.”

expected. If

the

“weapons systems”

didn’t

27

Doublespeak Defined

destroy

v.

suppress the target

discriminate

v.

exclude •

“We

don’t necessarily discriminate.

certain types of people,” said an

We

ROTC

simply exclude

instructor at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the military’s

explosion

—Newsweek, May

ban on gays.

25,

1992

n.

unplanned rapid ignition of solid fuel • The Pershing

II

missile did not explode;

“unplanned rapid ignition of solid

Army failed

spokesperson.

it

was an

fuel,” said the U.S.

-Newsweek, Jan.

21,

1985

mod.

sub-optimal

female soldiers

n.

males with female features • During the

war

in the Persian Gulf, the

ernment rejected the idea of female their defense forces),

so

it

n.

emergency

exit light

soldiers

coming

(women make up one-tenth of designated the

with female features.”

flashlight

Saudi gov-

(DOD)

women

to

the U.S.

soldiers “males

—Time, Feb. 25, 1991

,

War and furniture

the Military

n.

habitability

improvements (U.S. Navy)

The U.S. Navy paid $31,672 for a couch, 20 dining

*

room

chairs,

and a loveseat

for the destroyer

USS

Kidd.

The furniture was called “habitability improvements.” -Chicago Tribune Magazine, Jan.

genocide 1.

1,

1984

n.

ethnic cleansing •

When

town pulling their

gunmen go door-to-door Slavs and Roman Catholic

Serbian

homes

at

Bosnian

in a

Croats from

gunpoint and herding them forcibly

onto cattle trucks and deporting or later shooting them, the Serbs call

it

“ethnic cleansing.”

—New

York Times

2.

depopulation

3.

elimination of unreliable elements

guest

May

22,

1992

n.

customer

hammer 1

.

n.

interfibrous friction fastener • In the

Army, a hammer

is

an “interfibrous

friction

fastener.”

—Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, Apr. 1988 2.

multidirectional impact generator

hostage

n.

foreign guest

29

,

30

Doublespeak Defined

human being

n.

soft target

Bombs

•

lCBM

don’t hit

human

beings; they hit “soft targets.”

n.

very large, potentially disruptive re-entry system

1.

Colonel Frank Horton described the Titan

missile

II

as “a very large, potentially disruptive re-entry system.”

—Grand Forks (ND) Herald Mar.

« President

invade

Reagan named the

—New

maker.

2.

deploy troops

Army claimed

that the Patriot mis-

45

but later the

of

47 Scud mis-

Army

missile intercepted

said the Patriot

between

40% and

of the Scuds. President

Bush

claimed that Patriot missiles had

In

President Bush said the claim

26,

1985

tar-

testimony before a Congres-

sional committee, Brigadier General

was

was

to explain

correct.

still

‘destroyed.’”

What he

said

And what does

because

‘killed’

was

the

if

Gen. Drolet

correct

President Bush “did not say

cepted.”

killed

41 of 42 Scud warheads they had geted.

May

Robert Drolet was asked

during the Gulf War, the

“intercepted”

70%

missile the Peace-

v.

execute preplanned missions

siles,

MX

York Times Magazine,

1.

Also

sile

1983

peacemaker

2.

U.S.

13,

or

“inter-

Army mean

by “intercept”? Replied Gen. Drolet, “A Patriot

and Scud passed

in

— New York Times,

the sky.” April 9,

1992;

Science, April 17, 1992

,

.

War invasion 1

and the Military

n.

predawn

vertical insertion

• White a

House

“predawn

officials called the

vertical insertion.”

-New

York Times, Oct. 28, 1983

2.

incursion

3.

preemptive counterattack or offensive

4.

rescue mission

5. 8.

reconnaissance in force

6.

deployment

7.

aggressive defense • In the U.S. military,

also

invasion of Grenada

an aggressive offensive attack

is

sometimes called an aggressive defense.

-Doublespeak use offorce

Senator Christopher Dodd was “not enthusiastic

about the option of the use of force” proposed by the Clinton Administration in dealing with Haiti.

-New (humans)

kill 1.

York Times Sept.

15,

1994

v.

unlawful or arbitrary deprivation of life (U.S. Depart-

ment of State) 2.

neutralize the threat

3.

eliminate with extreme prejudice (CIA) •

Capt. Robert

amounted

to

an

Marasco claimed that he had what official

execution order from the CIA-

an order to “eliminate with extreme prejudice.”

—New 4.

permanently remove from society

5.

eliminate

York Times, Apr.

18,

1971

31

32

Doublespeak Deeined

6.

neutralize

7.

service the target

(DOD)

• During Operation Desert Storm, one artillery captain

was quoted

as saying,

killing other people.

I

“I

prefer not to say

we are ‘servicing —The New Doublespeak

8.

attrit

9.

forced involuntary disappearance initiate a brutality event

1 1

snow

.

are

prefer to say

the target.’”

10.

we

the patient • In

some

hospitals,

“snowing the patient” means giv-

ing high doses of morphine— doses that are sometimes intentionally fatal for terminally

ill

patients.

—St. Paul (MN) Pioneer Press, Aug. 10, 1992

land

mine

n.

popular armament

mercenary

n.

(CIA)

1.

unilaterally controlled asset

2.

civilian irregular defense soldier

military withdrawal

(DOD)

n.

backloading of augmentation personnel

miss the target

(DOD)

v.

1.

accidental delivery of ordnance equipment

2.

friendly fire

3.

incontinent ordnance

4.

outside current accuracy requirements

(DOD)

(DOD) (DOD) (DOD)

War

and the Military

33

During the Vietnam war mercenaries

with an “effective delivery of ordnance.”

were

When American

called “civilian irregular defense

soldiers,” refugees

were “ambient non-

combatant personnel,” and enemy troops

who

survived bombing were

“interdictional

sampan

that

nonsuccumbers.” Any

was sunk was

a “waterborne

cally

automati-

logistic craft.” Poi-

soning thousands of acres of vegetation with

Agent Orange was a “resources

control program” that tion.”

produced

“defolia-

American planes conducted

“lim-

troops attacked

it

was

“preemptive counterattack” or an “aggressive defense.” Spraying an area with

machine gun

sance by

fire.”

fire

a

“reconnais-

Sometimes American

troops “engaged the (they

was

enemy on

all

were ambushed) and had

“tactical

sides”

to effect

redeployment” (they

retreated).

When American

ambushed

the

enemy

it

troops

was a

“pro-

active counterattack.”

ited duration protective reactive strikes”

Missiles fall

no longer “miss the

target”; instead, they

“outside current accuracy requirements.”

—Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, Jan. 1988

nerve gas

n.

incapacitory agent

neutron

bomb

(DOD)

n.

1.

enhanced radiation device

2.

enlarged radiation weapon

3.

cookie cutter

(DOD)

a

,

Doublespeak Defined

nuclear war

n.

ultimate high intensity warfare

other side attacks deliberate,

(DOD)

first n.

unprovoked act of aggression

our side attacks

first n.

1.

preemptive counterattack

2.

preventive or preemptive action

3.

offensive defense

parachute

n.

aerodynamic personnel decelerator •

Even something

as simple as a parachute has to

have a complicated name. -Philadelphia Inquirer July

peace

15,

1973

n.

1.

permanent pre-hostility

2.

temporary cessation of hostilities

refugee

n.

ambient noncombatant personnel # The military

now

batant personnel.”

retreat 1

.

calls refugees

—Newsweek, Apr.

n.

tactical

“ambient noncom-

deployment

2.

backloading of augmentation personnel

3.

redeployment

4.

reconcentration

15,

1984

War and shovel 1

.

the Military

n.

combat emplacement evacuator (DOD) •

A

recent Defense Department publication calls a

spade or a shovel a “combat emplacement evacuator.” -Philadelphia Inquirer, July

15,

1973

2.

manually operated humus excavator

3.

manually operated, minimally functioning earth displacer

and remover Engineers at the Fort Belvoir, Virginia, Engineer

#

School, define a shovel as a “manually operated, mini-

mally functioning earth displacer and remover.” —Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, Mar. 21, 1993

sniper

n.

long-range target reduction specialist

steel

nut

(DOD)

n.

hexiform rotatable surface compression unit ,

For

the Pentagon,

nary steel nut;

it’s

it’s

a “hexiform rotatable

surface compression it

not a plain, ordi-

unit,”

which

is

cost $2,043 for just one of them.

why

So a

piece of equipment “suffered dramatically

degraded useful operational

owing

to the fact that

life

a $2,000 hexiform

(DOD)

rotatable surface

compression

unit

underwent catastrophic stress-related shaft detachment,” which

sounds a

more impressive than saying

it

lot

won’t

work because a 13-cent nut broke.

—Christopher Cerf and Henry Beard

35

,

36

Doublespeak Defined

SHOE

©Tribune Media Services.

tent

All rights

reserved. Reprinted with permission.

n.

frame- supported tension structure • The

theft

Navy

is

seeking “frame-supported tension struc-

tures for the

Marine Corps Expeditionary Soft Shelter

System.”

-San Francisco

n.

transfer

unneeded spare parts inapplicable spare parts

n.

Chronicle Sept.

11,

1985

War and

war

n.

1.

lethal intervention

2.

defense

3.

violence processing

4. police

action •

The Korean War was not a war— it was

a “police

—The New Doublespeak

action.” 5.

the Military

coercive diplomacy In scholarly journals, the preferred term for “war”

“coercive diplomacy.”

"I

©

1983 The

believe

-Survival, May/June 1987

you know Mars y God of Defense.”

New Yorker Collection, Arnie

is

Levin from cartoonbank.com.

All rights

reserved.

37

,

Doublespeak Defined

6.

an improbable compilation of dissimilar phenomena that

like the

look at

Cheshire cat which seems ,

leaving only

it,

comprehension

its

to fade in

and out as you

mocking smile, bedevils

efforts at

(DOD)

• The State Department,

CIA and the Pentagon have

produced a comprehensive study entitled “Joint Low-

which

Intensity Conflict Project,” intensity conflict

neither

is

states

that “low-

war nor peace.

is

It

improbable compilation of dissimilar phenomena like the

Cheshire

you look

as

at

cat, it,

which seems

leaving only

to fade in its

an

that,

and out

mocking

smile,

bedevils efforts at comprehension.”

—Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 12, 1987 7.

violent peace • The U.S.

Navy

calls the

conflict “violent peace.”

War Department

concept of low-intensity

-CBS News,

Feb. 20, 1984

n.

Defense Department

warplane

n.

threat platform

warship

n.

threat platform

zipper

n.

interlocking slide fastener •

The

tener.”

Army

calls a zipper

an “interlocking

slide fas-

-Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, Apr. 1988

Death arid

assassinate

Taxes

v.

1.

neutralize

2.

eliminate with extreme prejudice; see

assassination 1

.

2.

kill

n.

irregular activities total

and complete immobilization Law enforcement

officials in the

tion once proposed the “total

Nixon administra-

and complete immobi-

4.

lization” of General at

that

time

Manuel Antonio Noriega, who was

chief of intelligence

in

the

Panama

Defense Force. The Senate Intelligence Committee later discovered that this phrase was doublespeak for assas-

—New

sination. 3.

York Times June ,

13,

1986

permanently remove from society • General Christoffel

African

Army

van der Westhizen of the South

proposed that the

four

black

men

opposed to apartheid be “permanently removed from society.”

Some days

later,

the

—New executive action

men were found York Times, Sept.

dead. 2,

1993

Doublespeak Defined

beaten to death

v.

failed to survive interrogation

News Tonight”

# ABC’s “World

reported that Israeli

name

May

26,

by Bob Zelnick from Jerusalem

report

[the

for

“just

many

Israelis

internal police]

revealed the two

An

which he

were upset that Shin Beth

was being given

because two suspected

survive interrogation.”

in

1986 ran a

bad

terrorists failed to

official investigation later

men had been

beaten to death.

—In These Times, June 25-July

cremation

a

8,

1986

n.

after-death care

dead mod. 1.

not salvageable •

When

a sailor

son to the

USS

was

Kitty

Hawk, he was very

was “not salvageable,” according

Navy medical

officer.

2.

nonviable

3.

in a

1

.

sick. In fact,

his condition

—Philadelphia Inquirer,

death

USS David-

transferred from the

May

12,

to a

1985

moribund state

n.

negative patient care outcome • “Nothing in

life is

certain except Negative Patient

Care Outcome and Revenue Enhancement.”

— Pye Chamberlayne, UPI Radio, as quoted by William Safire in the New York Times Magazine, Nov. 29, 1981 2.

terminal episode

,

Death and Taxes • At the thirty-six bed

Community

41

Hospital of the

Valleys in Perris, California, twenty-four people died

during six weeks, and “terminal episode.”

of medication

all

of them suffered the same

“We have found abnormal amounts

in several

of the bodies,” a coroner’s

investigator said.

May

-Philadelphia Inquirer 3.

7,

1981

substantive negative outcome •

In anaesthesia journals

it

is

common

to report a

death under anaesthesia as a “substantive negative out-

come.”

—Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, July 1989

4.

immediate permanent incapacitation

5.

terminal living * Soldiers tle

who

are hit

by nuclear weapons during bat-

need not woriy about dying a slow, painful death

from radiation burns and vomiting. According U.S.

Army

field

to

a

manual, they will merely sustain

“immediate permanent incapacitation.” —Detroit (MI) News, Nov. 23, 1991 6.

adverse consequence or occurrence

7.

mortality experience *

“We never use

the

word

‘death.’

We

tell

a patient

that you’re about to have a mortality experience,” said

the doctor.

—Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, Apr. 1992 8.

systems failure

9.

maximum

incapacitation

•In seeking the death penalty for four

men

accused of

homicide, State Attorney Lawson Lamar said,

looking for

maximum

“We

are

incapacitation for these people.”

—St. Augustine (FL) Record, Dec.

3,

1992

Doublespeak Defined 10. serious adverse effect

Food

The

•

and

Drug Administration

identified

eighty-one “serious adverse effects,” including thirtyeight deaths, from the use of E-Ferol tion.

Death would certainly seem to be a serious

adverse 11. diagnostic

Aqueous Solu-

effect.

—New

May

2,

1984

fulfill his

well-

York Times,

misadventure of a high magnitude

see also medical malpractice 12.

unan ticipa ted

13.

meaningful consequence

14.

transferred to

death

ECU (Eternal Care Unit)

toll n.

1.

mortality rate

2.

collateral

die

effect

damage

v.

CTB

1.

cease to breathe or

2.

patient failed to fulfill his wellness potential • The patient didn’t die; he “failed to

—Doublespeak

ness potential.” 3.

dialing

down

• Allowing the patient to die

is

called “dialing

down.”

—St. Paul (MN) Pioneer Press, Aug. 10, 1992

dying

n.

1.

failure to thrive

2.

dialing

down;

see also die

(FTT)

Death and Taxes

euthanasia

43

n.

death with dignity

grave

n.

1.

underground condominium

2.

eternal

condominium

high death

toll n.

excess mortality rate

Health influenza

that

1980-81

is

they said

warning that

are

officials

caused

a

sharp

a in

rise

strain

of

deaths

in

appearing once again. But that’s not it.

Instead,

an epidemiologist for the Los

Angeles County department of Heath Services “This

a strain that historically has

is

how said,

been associated

with some degrees of excess mortality.”

—Santa Barbara (CA) News Press Jan. ,

morgue

10,

1988

n.

regional forensic center

slaughter 1.

n.

depopulation •

When

the Federal

last fall to

an

gas chickens-more than 7 million so far-in

effort to contain

nia,

it

said

terrible

Government launched a program

it

an influenza virus in Pennsylva-

had “depopulated” the

word depopulation

birds.

“We

use that

to avoid saying slaughter,”

explained a federal information

officer.

—Quarterly Review of Doublespeak, Apr. 1984

Doublespeak Defined 2.

purification • Although the official media in Iran has reported the

of

execution

several

thousand

people,

Ayatollah

Ruhollah Khomeini said that the prophet’s wars were

and “those who prevent moral

to purify nations

purifi-

cation must be eliminated. In appearance this can

seem

like a

mass

killing to people, but in reality,

it

3.

amounts purifies

to getting rid of obstacles to humanity. Iran

them

if it

can, or

if not, it

-Los Angeles Times, Jan.

14,

eliminates them.”

1982; as reported in

Inquiry Magazine, Feb. 28, 1982

ethnic cleansing

tax 1.

n.

passenger facility charge • Don’t call the fee airports levy on departing passengers a tax— if s a “passenger facility charge.”

-The New Doublespeak 2.

premium payment

3.

user fee or charge • In February of 1987, Budget Director James Miller insisted that the

increases.

and

proposed budget did not contain tax

The budget contains “increased

“offsetting collections.”

“The answer

receipts”

Are these tax increases?

a definite no,” declares Mr. Miller. The

is

$ 1 -per- ticket fee for airline and cruise tickets into and

out of the U.S.

is

a “user charge,”

which

will

be applied

toward the cost of running the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration. 4.

state collected revenue

5.

wage-based premium see also tax increase

—Wall Street Journal, Jan.

9,

1987

.

45

Death and Taxes

Airports levy a “passenger

charge” on

all

facility

ports,

departing passengers.

So

each time you board an airplane you pay $3 on top of the regular federal tax on your airplane

ticket.

round-trip flight from

New York to

Angeles with a change of planes

Los in

is its

they’re using

stated purpose. Instead,

it

reduce the budget

to

deficit.

So was

Thus, on a

as

pay

the “passenger

new and improved

facilities that

posed

The money

Congress uses the

improve

is

supposed

to

go

airports, just like the

to

$7

already collected from a tax on

billion

all air-

plane tickets. Congress and the various administrations, however, to

spend

that

$7

billion to

pay

reduce the

for but doesn’t,

is

sup-

because

airline ticket tax to

deficit instead.

— New York Times, Mar. 20, 1990; Philadelphia Inquirer, Mar. 20, 1990;

have refused improve

airport

the airline ticket tax

Chicago, you can pay up to $12 more.

to

charge"

a non-tax to be used to

instituted,

for the

facility

July

22,1990

air-

FRANK & ERNEST® bv Bob Thaves

\£S -

X Pon t

AUP'T

3

Ernest reprinted by permission of Newspaper Enterprise Association,

IT

THlNt Of IT AS

UNILATERAL TAX RffORNI

•