[Industrialblog,
September 27, 2004]
Destruction of Language and Meaning
Picking up a corn muffin at Genuardi's this morning and over the PA system comes a strange bit of Big Brother-speak in which the speaker praises Genuardi's and then says, "Diversity is our greatest strength."
Hmm..., I'd have thought Genuardi's greatest strength would have something to do with the business, say stocking lots of great products, fresh food, that sort of thing ... but no. It's the fact that the employees may be made up of different ethnic groups.
It's BS. It's a lie. The 1976 Cincinnati Reds' greatest strength was hitting, not the fact that Tony Perez, Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan came from different ethnic groups.
Meanwhile, another load of shit in the "destruction of language and meaning" department: Use of the term "surgical strikes" in news articles. Any journalist with a bullshit detector set on low should be able to figure out what utter crap the use of the term "surgical strikes" is when talking about bombing. Surgeon's don't use explosives during surgery for a reason -- it makes a big mess. Yes, there is precision bombing, and to call it that is fair enough. Sure beats imprecision bombing. But "surgical strikes" referring to bombing counts as propaganda and bullshit and the journalists who use the phrase should be forced to sit inside a building where there is an alleged "surgical strike."
Hmm..., I'd have thought Genuardi's greatest strength would have something to do with the business, say stocking lots of great products, fresh food, that sort of thing ... but no. It's the fact that the employees may be made up of different ethnic groups.
It's BS. It's a lie. The 1976 Cincinnati Reds' greatest strength was hitting, not the fact that Tony Perez, Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan came from different ethnic groups.
Meanwhile, another load of shit in the "destruction of language and meaning" department: Use of the term "surgical strikes" in news articles. Any journalist with a bullshit detector set on low should be able to figure out what utter crap the use of the term "surgical strikes" is when talking about bombing. Surgeon's don't use explosives during surgery for a reason -- it makes a big mess. Yes, there is precision bombing, and to call it that is fair enough. Sure beats imprecision bombing. But "surgical strikes" referring to bombing counts as propaganda and bullshit and the journalists who use the phrase should be forced to sit inside a building where there is an alleged "surgical strike."
It's a metaphor, of course, and I do think you're right that it's a great pity that the world seems determined to talk in metaphores rather than to say what it means, but with GPS-guided concrete, the metaphor is becoming more accurate, at least.