Spinmeisters

"This way to the egress." -- P.T. Barnum

"A rose by any other name ... " William Shakespeare
"... Would still smell." -- Gertrude Stein

How gullible do they think we are? Very. -- Resident philosopher Pug Mahoney

   Marketers of every ilk -- and that includes political candidates and their advisors as well as advertisers and sales folk -- long ago learned that relabeling a product or service can take a negative sting off it. Likewise, making it sound positive can lead people to believe it is.
   Here's an example from a car commercial: "The six-speed transmission allows a lower shift point." Using the verb "allows" helps to make it sound positive. Translate the entire phrase and you get this: You have to shift sooner.
   Here's another: Cheerful, chipper, charming voices for new medications proclaim that "serious, sometimes fatal events can occur." Note the use of the passive. They don't come flat out and say this drug can kill you, but they indicate that a "fatal event" sometimes "can occur." All by itself, perhaps?

   Using unfamiliar words can help water down the message. Financiers are still doing it, relabeling their "products" (not investments, mind you, but "products") in an increasingly maze-like fashion so that even they don't understand what they're selling. At least, in this instance, relabeling their activities so that they are selling "product" shows an emphasis on sales and commissions rather than helping the consumer.

   Among politicians and military types, there's the use of "enemy combatant" and "fighter," both of which avoid using the more traditional term "soldier." The implication is that being a soldier is honorable, while the others are merely dishonorable rabble.

   Do the spinmeisters lie? Not really, since there may be a grain of truth in what they say.
   Are they disingenuous? Often, since by definition, disingenuous means insincere, not totally honest, or lacking in candor or frankness.
   Do they mislead? Yes.
   Do they speak truth? Only partly, because they use words and phrases meant to spin out the negative aspect of an issue and encourage a positive perception. The information is still negative, but it's presented in such a way as sound positive.