A further example of how language is used, particularly by large organisations and bureaucracies, to confuse rather than communicate, and often also to hide their true intention(s).

A blogger and father of an autistic son has described his experience with the social care system here in the UK, and especially with the kind of language the system uses.

A very enlightening post; read it on the BBC website

To paraphrase- “By their words ye shall know them”

I just had to re-iterate some points made by this excellent blog from Tim Turner, a former official of the Information Commissioner’s Office. 

The topic is the Government’s use of ‘transparency’ as a ruse to over-ride a system of true accountability.

This is a great paragraph:-

“Transparency could be used as a Trojan Horse to justify curbs on FOI. You don’t need FOI, we’ll be told, because look at these shiny Transparency jewels we’ve decided to give you. This will be a fiction. The point of FOI is that you get to ask about what you want to know, not what The Nice Man Wants To Tell You”

He goes on to list the numerous occasions where the ICO had to intervene and force the Cabinet to reveal information that was requested in the public interest. 

I came to his blog via the <a href=”http://blogs.ft.com/ftdata/2013/07/23/most-transparent-government-ever/?utm_medium=twitter“>Financial Times blog</a>on ‘transparency’ by Chris Cook

1. Start with a nonsensical statement: “A woman is intelligent, and loves mauve”
2. Show attractive people laughing with lots of mauve.
3. Say how many other women liked it.
4. Make up a science-y word: “Non-wrinkle-antium 500”
5. Sell whatever product you want.