Posted by Scott L. Schofield on February 3, 2000, at 10:00:44
In reply to Re: DP's Lair--The Tedious Play By Play, posted by citiboy on February 1, 2000, at 0:18:57
> ****"Dirt reduction", like "air support", is no propagandistic euphemism. Both are ways of respecifying concepts such as "cleaning" or "bombing" in such a way as to precisely define objectives and to consequently enable the objectives to regulate the allocation of resources (bombs, floor polish, etc.) in an efficient and effective manner.
It seems to me that the definitions of “propaganda” and “euphemism” include the feature of intent to influence. I strongly agree with Noa when she wrote, “The words we use are powerful influences on how we think.” Many times, if not most times, the subtle differences in semantics between alternate words and phrases act on our cognition beneath our awareness. The use of the term “dirt-reduction” strikes me as being semantically different enough from “cleaning” to justify its use. It is an attempt to refine a term so as to help define the details of a concept.
- Scott
poster:Scott L. Schofield
thread:20280
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000128/msgs/20446.html