In today’s world, people tend to trick others by manipulating words to be false or making them sound differently. Both William Lutz’s The World of Doublespeak and Stephanie Ericsson’s The Ways We Lie illustrate the common types of lies and doublespeak. Lies and doublespeak have many differences regarding their purpose, effect, and form.

Doublespeak is often used by big organizations that try to change how a statement is understood; essentially, it edits the truth. For example, if a nuclear power plant erupted, the company behind the accident would not tell the public that their power plant had blown up. Instead, they would change the wording and call it a “nuclear breakdown.” To a typical person, reading the phrase “nuclear breakdown” would not necessarily depict an explosion. In contrast, if the company used a lie, it would be able to tell the public that nothing happened on that day. Lies aren’t used by big organizations often because if they get caught doing so, they can face major consequences. Telling lies is very different compared to double speak because it is still technically true.

When a person doesn’t know what doublespeak is, he or she can be convinced to believe things differently. A regular person would read the same statement and would not readily think of an explosion. Organizations do not want to carry a bad image toward people like critics and journalists around them. Lies are used in a variety of ways, such as to get out of trouble or to compliment someone. They can be achieved by telling false information. A lie is not only a different interpretation, but also a completely different answer from the truth.

Ultimately, doublespeak is a word that has the same meaning but possesses a different format. It can be used to sound sophisticated or to change a person’s view on a particular subject. For example, people like lawyers use doublespeak to make their arguments sound more reliable, which in turn allows them to sound like they know what they are talking about in a highly convincing manner. On the other hand, lies are simply false facts.

Knowing the differences between doublespeak and lies, as well as being able to identify them in everyday life, is very imperative. Everywhere, doublespeak and lying exist and without the ability to know when they are being used, one would struggle to know anything about the truth. There is a clear difference between these two types of writing, and being able to distinguish between them will serve a great purpose for all.