Western doublespeak compilation
Western doublespeak compilation
We all know that the west uses two different words for the same thing depending on where it is happening.
e.g. Secret Police vs Plainclothes Officer
Regime vs Government
Can we have a compilation thread of these words? I am probably using many of them unconsciously without critical examination.
oligarchy - entrepreneurs
invasion - humanitarian intervention
indoctrination - common sense
surveillance - CCTV
attacking free press - defending national security
racial profiling/transphobia - stopping cultural marxism
freedom fighters - terrorists
united states - america
football - soccer
35 2 ReplyPrime minister and Supreme leader are literally synonyms yet have such wildly different implications.
33 0 Replymanifest destiny vs. the holocaust
31 3 ReplyLiterally Lebensraum
22 0 Reply
I'll start the thread.
Billionaire vs Oligarch
Custom vs Ritual
Freedom fighter vs Terrorist
Anime vs Cartoon26 0 ReplyAnime vs Cartoon
It appears you have chosen violence.
21 0 Reply
Their regime, our administration
25 0 ReplyDefector/refugee - Illegal immigrant
Community service - Forced labor
Liberation - Occupation
Enhanced interrogation techniques - Torture19 1 ReplyCommunity service is not forced labour 💀
You mean prison labour is forced labour. Community service is when they make dumbass teens arrested for something like vandalism or underage drinking, go and work at a soup kitchen, or pick up garbage off the side of the road as punishment.
9 0 ReplyI got hit with 24 hours of community service when I was a teen. Worked it off on a library, not bad. Actually wanted to get a full time job there.
3 0 Reply
Don't forget expat! They love that one.
7 0 ReplyMigrant vs refugee
Migrant vs expat
3 0 Reply
Internship vs unpaid labor
18 0 Replyfreedom fighters vs terrorists
Media really had a field day with these over the last 20 years.18 0 Reply"If crime fighters fight crime, and firefighters fight fires, then what do freedom fighters fight?"
3 0 Reply
Immigrant vs Expat
18 1 ReplyThe various ways they avoid using "oligarch" for westerns. Western Billionaire, entrepreneur, etc, whereas it's always "Russian Oligarchs."
15 0 ReplyExpat / immigrant
14 0 ReplyExpat is a useful word, but it has been co-opted by those who very obviously aren’t expats and just don’t want to call themselves immigrants.
3 0 ReplyI do the reverse thing of calling myself an immigrant and you can see people having an error in their heads. Because I am an immigrant, I came here unemployed with nowhere to stay, looking for a better life. But I'm white, so expat it is for them 🤷
9 0 Reply
I think this isn't always true because they do mean different things. You're not an "immigrant" unless you're trying to stay there permanently, whereas "expats" can be sort of transient
2 0 ReplyIn practice, people from the global south who are working for only a few years in rich countries are never called expats.
6 0 Reply
Paid volunteers vs mercenaries
White nationalism vs white supremacist
13 2 ReplyOur routine missile test vs their provocative missile launch
9 0 ReplyFirst thing that comes to mind is "prison camps" vs just "prison." Will edit some more in when I remember them.
9 0 ReplyIn terms of Israel: Skirmishes vs terrorist attacks
9 0 ReplyArmy vs Horde
8 0 ReplySavages committing human sacrifices vs Carrying out God's divine justice
7 1 ReplyTerrorists vs freedom fighters
dictator vs president
5 0 ReplyHumans vs terrans
5 2 ReplyI don’t think anyone’s seriously using that one except in movies
3 0 Reply
Coup vs popular uprising.
2 0 Reply