Words are slippery.
Take the recent departure of a senior executive from the company Estée Lauder after posting a racist meme to Instagram. A company spokeswoman told The New York Times the executive “was not fired, but (was) told that he had to leave the company.”
Huh? Fired.
Years ago, as a journalist covering the military, I reported occasionally about the Air Force stopping all flights of an airplane model after an accident or malfunction. I’d write that the service had “temporarily grounded” planes. The Air Force usually objected, saying it had, instead, ordered planes to “stand down.”
Huh? Grounded.
Now come two more examples, thanks to Vladimir Putin.
In the comrade thug’s telling, his armed forces entered Ukraine in “self-defense,” as if on a ramble. “Invasion” conveys meaning with too much stark clarity.
And, in an especially rich contortion, Putin insists his forces have undertaken a “special military operation.” Not a “war,” a word whose single syllable spits with unmistakable force.
Not fired, stood down, self-defense, special military operation. Slippery words to slide around uncomfortable truths – or sell lies.
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Spot on. Jeff. I loathe obfuscation/lying/deliberate deception of any kind.