The etymologists of the Oxford English Dictionary should be alerted that Steven Poole has coined a new word. First used as the title for his book, published in 2006, ‘unspeak’ is a noun for a ‘mode of speech that persuades by stealth’. How, it might be asked, does this differ from ‘spin’?

Poole contends that politicians do not talk in platitudes as a means of obfuscation, as is commonly alleged, but rather sway debate by consciously deploying language in a careful and manipulative way. In recognising that newspapers and television bulletins have scant space, they have worked out that they need to reduce their arguments to soundbite size. This means deploying devious words.

At its mildest, this is really about improving public relations. It is the process whereby supporters of abortion rebrand themselves ‘pro-choice’ and opponents declare themselves ‘pro-life’. But Poole uncovers what he believes to be a serious pollution of debate in which, for example, public-spirited terms like ‘anti-social behaviour orders’ (Asbos) are actually tools to criminalise those not breaking any law.

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