politicianese

Definitions

Political jargon; the obfuscatory or euphemistic language used by politicians.

uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“In journalese and politicianese every warning is grave, every destruction wanton, every feeling sensibly felt[…]”

“This is fine, of course, but somewhat vague, illusory and politicianese.”

“The statement said the governor will answer⟳ only “valid criticisms,” during the campaign. Political Notes doesn’t know⟳ what that means in French or Chinese, but in Politicianese it means: “There simply can’t be any valid criticism against our man so we ain’t answering nuttin’.””

““The name⟳ is not unfamiliar,” Chance said, “but . . .” He shook his head. Not unfamiliar. You gotta love⟳ it when they speak⟳ politicianese.”

“Listening to their meetings is almost never pleasant: it generates boredom and sleepiness. Their language is contorted and ambiguous: it’s the so-called “politicianese”.[…]This is how politicianese (politichese in Italian) came about, almost a language in itself, made from indirect allusions, reassuring vagueness, technicalities difficult to understand⟳....”

“He later defended this kind of work⟳: ‘A slogan, a poster with just a few words (hard words) is worth a thousand polished, hypocritical messages in politicianese’ (Bossi, in Iacopini and Bianchi 1994: vii).”

“She might speak⟳ fluent politicianese, but she never talked down to her correspondents.”

CEFR level