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Doublespeak may be considered, in Orwell's lexicography, as the vocabulary of Newspeak, words "deliberately constructed for political purposes: words, that is to say, which not only had in every case a political implication, but were intended to impose a desirable mental attitude upon the person using them." The term double talk (with a similar meaning) dates back to at least 1936. [1]
The basic idea behind Newspeak is to remove all shades of meaning from language, leaving simple dichotomies (pleasure and pain, happiness and sadness, goodthink and crimethink) which reinforce the total dominance of the State. Similarly, Newspeak root words served as both nouns and verbs, which allowed further reduction in the total number of words; for example, "think" served as both noun and verb, so the word thought was not required and could be abolished. A staccato rhythm of short syllables was also a goal, further reducing the need for deep thinking about language. (See duckspeak.) Successful Newspeak meant that there would be fewer and fewer words – dictionaries would get thinner and thinner.
When I first heard of child free, I thought it was just for people who chose not to have kids to talk with each other, but then I realized when I was reading their message boards that they really hate all children and mothers and fathers.
Quote from: Rubystars on July 27, 2009, 08:16:28 PMWhen I first heard of child free, I thought it was just for people who chose not to have kids to talk with each other, but then I realized when I was reading their message boards that they really hate all children and mothers and fathers.Yes it is a rather cultlike movement. I am positive that they use the term "birther" at times. Since the vast majority of them are extreme leftists, it would not surprise me if they were responsible for popularizing its new usage in the manner Muman described.