Weasel Words: The Dictionary of American Doublespeak (Capital Ideas Book) (Capital Ideas)

Weasel Words: The colorful words that narrow the range of thought, inflate language, avoid responsibility, alleviate the discomfort of a waffling speaker, make the bad sound good, are at variance with the real or purported meaning, are a misnomer, euphemism, evasion, or are simply delightful forms of flim-flam identified by the two distortion detectives.

From A to Z––this hard-hitting, politically savvy dictionary takes on all those American evasions, put-on-holds, distortions, circumventions, obfuscations, and misleading terms that constantly besiege us in today’s “spinning” world, as well as popular catch phrases that simply annoy. Now when you listen to politicians, academics, bureaucrats, and television’s talking heads, or get sent on an endless round of recorded euphemisms on the telephone when you are trying desperately to get help or clarification––you’ll really understand what you are hearing.

The authors, both veterans of government and academia, provide a handbook for deciphering such weaseling jewels as:

· amicable often followed by agreement, meaning both sides were mutually disgruntled by the outcome
· economically disadvantaged for poor
· encore TV broadcast the rerun ad nauseum of previously broadcast television programs.
· episode a bureaucratic term used by governments and power companies to indicate a hazardous condition resulting in illness and death due to excessive pollution or radiation leaks.
· mild irregularity for the last unmentionable on TV, constipation.
· negative economic growth for recession.
· mobile home community for trailer park
· o.g.a. for “other government agency,” used by the military at overseas interrogation sites to indicate the Central Intelligence Agency
· sound science for anti-environmental policies that ignore scientific evidence.

The authors provide a guide to the rich and varied language of deception, evasion and cant threatening today’s society useful for students of English, business ethics, government and popular culture. They you and other connoisseurs of clear English and fed-up progressives to help them stamp out weasel words and get to the heart of what’s wrong with our society today––one “weasel word” at a time.


From A to Z––this hard-hitting, politically savvy dictionary takes on all those American evasions, put-on-holds, distortions, circumventions, obfuscations, and misleading terms that constantly besiege us in today’s “spinning” world. Now when you listen to politicians, academics, bureaucrats, and television’s talking heads, or get sent on an endless round of recorded euphemisms on the telephone when you are trying desperately to get help or clarification––you’ll really understand what you are hearing.

The authors, both veterans of government and academia, search for the real meaning behind such weaseling understatements of truth as:
· economic adjustment for recession when business is bad;
· broad abstractions for unacceptable ideas,
· preemptive counterattack for an attack on another country when U.S. allies might not agree with our policy;
· pre-owned for used when disguising the age of a car;
Weaseling politically correct euphemisms such as:
· economically disadvantaged" for poor when politicians are downplaying their needs; and
· sound science for anti-environmental policies that ignore scientific evidence.

The authors invite other connoisseurs of clear English and fed-up progressives to help them stamp out weasel words and get to the heart of what’s wrong with our society today––one “weasel word” at a time.