military language

if you collect euphemisms, the best place to find them is in military language: "collateral damage" (dead civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure); "traumatic amputation" (an arm or leg blown off); "neutralize" (assassinate); "ordinance" (bombs); "silos" (where we keep nuclear missiles); "farms" (where we keep our "silos"—the part of the submarine where 24 multiple warhead nuclear missiles are lined up ready for launching is called "the Christmas tree farm"); "visits" and "sorties" (bombing raids); "servicing the target" (killing); "disinformation" (lies); "operational exhaustion" (shell shocked); "soft target" (unarmored or undefended target); "administered areas" (captured lands); "extrajudicial execution" (murder); "plausible deniability" (lies that might get by); and terms that sound almost cozy—"mopping up," "skirmish," "clearing the area," and "mission." John Collins and Ross Glover (Collateral Language) say that "military language ... works in two directions, both making the already committed violence more palatable and softening up the public so that future military actions will seem more like video games and less like what they are—acts of violence that result in death, injury, and destruction." George Shapiro, professor of speech and communication at the University of Minnesota, says, "The language is so sanitary that it makes war bloodless. Nobody is dying, nobody is hurting, and it makes a costless, bloodless war. I think this is quite intentional." Ethicist Jeremy Iggers says, "Verbal and visual euphemisms not only hide the deaths of our enemies, they also hide their lives and their humanities.... we have seen little of how the Iraqis live, or what they believe—very little to convey that they too are humans. Do we understand why so many of them, and their supporters, believe so passionately in the justice of their cause? Without these images and understanding, we care a lot less when they are killed. Euphemism, when it is intended to deceive, is a form of cowardice." Our own everyday language is shot through with the metaphors of war: we arm ourselves with information if we are not bombarded with it first, we take sides in the battle of the sexes, we work in the trenches or the front lines, we combat racism and sexism, poverty and injustice are the enemy. In hundreds of ways, our language reveals a war mindset; being aware of it is probably an important step in working for global peace. See also detainee, doublespeak, violent language.