Manipulative Words

In 1996, 110 people were killed when a ValuJet flight crashed into the Everglades. For days afterward, news reports on TV and radio vividly described how the plane was lost in the alligator-infested waters of the Everglades.

Finally – FINALLY! – an NPR listener called in with a correction. Alligators, he noted, do not “infest” the Everglades: it’s their home.

A  news story in our local newspaper this week had a similar pro-human/anti-wildlife slant. A nearby town is rejoicing because it will soon be getting a new park: “Lake Emerges from Undergrowth as Property Reclaimed” is the headline. According to the newspaper story, the undergrowth that was “choking” the banks of a lake has been cleared. The natural resources manager (!) is thrilled with the “restoration” of the lake.

I wonder if the rabbits, birds, and other creatures who used to live there are celebrating. I suspect not.

Of course I like parks, including lakefront parks, and I’m glad the town is getting a new recreational area. Sometimes it’s useful to clear away plants. What’s bothering me is the bias in the language. Anyone reading the paper would get the idea that natural growth on a lakefront is always bad, unsightly, and useless. I wish the “natural resources manager” had made a statement stressing the importance of a balance between the needs of humans and the needs of wildlife.

“Manage” is a useful word that has – alas – acquired a scary connotation. Any time I hear a news report about “managing” resources – human or otherwise – I see dollar bills flying through the air.

The lakefront “restoration” reminded me of another recent news story that featured manipulative language: the removal of Dr. Dao from United Flight 3411. The CEO’s letter to UA’s employees was full of polite language about what quickly turned into a public relations nightmare for the airline:

Dr. Dao was “politely asked to deplane.”
The airline followed “established procedures” in dealing with “this incident” that involved a problem with “involuntary denial of boarding process.”
Dr. Dao was “approached…in order to gain his compliance.”
“Our agents…were left with no choice” but to call security “to assist.”
They “were unable to gain his cooperation and physically removed him from the flight as he continued to resist” in “defiance of both our crew and security officials.”

Unfortunately for United Airlines, other passengers used their cell phones to video the “incident” – which involved a screaming passenger who needed medical treatment afterwards.

Many people (including me!) try to soften an unpleasant incident with manipulative language. I’m remembering a consulting job I did once with a public safety agency. I was brought in to help officers with their paperwork, and the reports I read were puzzling. Clearly everyone knew how to write well. But sometimes I’d come across a sentence or paragraph that was so garbled that I couldn’t figure out what the writer was trying to say.

The chief grinned when I showed him a few of those mystifying reports. “I know exactly what’s going on here,” he said. “The officer lost or damaged a piece of equipment and is trying to make it sound like it’s not their fault.”

I used to do the same thing with my parents. (It never worked. Not once. Sigh.)

Language is one of the most basic – and most important – tools we use in our everyday lives. Think of how smoothly the world would function if we all strove to use words unflinchingly and honestly. Sounds like a good resolution for us to make!

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

Apostrophes don’t mean “more than one.” Add an -es to boss to make it plural: bosses.

Linda is the best of all the bosses I’ve had over the years.  CORRECT

What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.

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