The jargon-laden language of politics
Author: The Guardian |
MPs on a Commons committee today criticise politicians and civil servants for their poor command of the English language. The misleading and vague official language epitomised by Sir Humphrey Appleby in Yes Minister has a detrimental impact on democracy and public services, MPs on the public administration select committee concluded.
In its report, Bad Language: the Use and Abuse of Official Language, the committee criticises the use of unclear language that distorts meaning. “The unlovely language of this unreal world floats along on a linguistic sea of rollouts, step changes, public domains, fit for purposes, stakeholder engagements, across the pieces, win-wins, level playing fields and going forwards,” the report says.
Although they sought examples of good and bad use of language by politicians and public servants, the MPs elicited “no examples of good language, but plenty of examples of bad language”. These included euphemisms routinely used by politicians and civil servants such as “downsizing” and “efficiency savings” rather than budget or staff cuts.
Jargon came in for particular attention.The report said jargon could be used to “hide the fact that the speaker or writer doesn’t really understand what they are writing or talking about”.It cites several examples of “sterile jargon”.