Understanding Euphemistic Language at Work

In the last article, I talked about euphemistic language, or euphemistic linguistic manipulation, and its connection to workplace abuse, toxicity and confusion. Euphemistic language is, at its simplest, language used to avoid directness and confrontation. In terms of the toxic workplace, it is used to communicate negative information in a neutral or positive way, to control perceptions, and to avoid accountability.

Examples of Euphemistic Linguistic Manipulation

Organizational leaders often lean on euphemistic language to shield themselves from accountability. Here are a few examples:

• Referring to employees as "human resources" or "human capital" to distance themselves from the human impacts their decisions may cause

• Using terms like "right-sizing" for staff reduction/layoffs: same reasoning, to distance themselves from the accountability and impacts to human life

• Using terms like "creative accounting" and other complicated financial jargon to hide fraudulent and unethical practices

• Framing your colleague as a "high performer" when in reality they mean they are safe and controllable. This is sued to get people to aspire to behave in similar ways, making everyone easier to take advantage of and control

• Describing someone as "passionate" (usual a leader) when they really mean they are overbearing and controlling

Why is euphemistic language the go-to for workplaces everywhere?

Some may argue that euphemistic language is used to keep people calm, avoid what they may feel is unnecessary conflict, navigate difficult situations, or soften harsh realities for employees- and I can agree with this, at least at a surface level.

In some cases, leaders mean well, especially when trying to shield their employees from news of potential layoffs, project failures, or other demotivating workplace occurrences. This is understandable but does little to soothe employees in the long run, since most of us can see through the language to understand what's really happening. This can breed an environment of mistrust, and result in the opposite effect- people being more on-edge because they lack certainty and trust in the people making decisions about their livelihoods.

From a comical perspective, we've all used the corny, corporate jargon laced euphemisms to hide the true meaning of our words. Saying things like "let's put this in the parking lot for now" when we mean "I never have any intention on revisiting this", or "as per my last email" to communicate that someone clearly didn't read our first. We know we really want to tell someone to get out of our face, but we can't say it directly, so we resort to euphemistic communication. Although the internet has made many of these saying famously funny, in reality they too negatively impact our relationships, allowing people to hide behind passive-aggression rather than directly address concerns. Some people may find this easier, as their focus is just on getting things done- but in the long-term this creates an environment of fake smiles, backstabbing, poor collaboration and poor communication.

On a darker level, organizational leaders (and employees) can lean on euphemistic linguistic manipulation to cover up unethical behavior, lie without accountability, and disguise bad intentions. In these workplaces, euphemistic language is used to build a facade- a fake impression of an organization that operates almost completely opposite of how it says it operates. Impression management becomes priority, even over organizational goals and impacts and the workplace becomes one where hardly anyone can be trusted to be truthful. Even well-meaning employees caught in these types of organizations will stretch the truth, cut corners, or use language that upholds the image of the organization- even when it directly contradicts their daily experience.

Whether well-intentioned or not, euphemistic language is used as a means to protect or shield others from reality- whatever that may be.

Why does it feel hard to manage within environments like this?

Well, the truth is- it may not be hard for everyone. For some, defaulting to euphemistic languages affords them the cover to avoid accountability and conflicts, which makes them feel safer. Aside from attempting to co-regulate their emotions, using indirect language can help people remind themselves of their perceived social or organizational status (more on this in a future article), which is another way some people seek to feel "safe".

For others, euphemistic language can feel dishonest, odd, and like a barrier to true progress and connection at work. It can feel like excess emotional labor and like a bottleneck that contributes to mediocrity. Given that the goal for most in organizations is emotional safety, this makes sense- being predictable and mediocre feels familiar and becomes preferred over innovation and excellence (which can feel threatening to some).

For many organizational leaders, they are informally trained to speak in these ways as a way to maintain control. This is important to keep in mind, so that you understand that many leaders aren't inherently toxic or manipulative- they were trained to be that way. Now, this by no means excuses the behavior, but it can provide valuable context for those navigating stressful workplaces. If you've followed The Workplace Unfiltered for a while, you know that all organizational behaviors are curated- structured to maintain predictability and control first and foremost. What's wrong with that? Nothing, inherently. It's when this structure becomes exploitative, abusive and manipulative that it causes issues- and most organizations (and people within them) fall into this trap (knowingly or unknowingly) due mainly to the social power and influence one can gain. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Call to Action: What Can We Do?

First, we can reflect on the fact that authentic connection and communication require:

• Clear boundaries

• Respect for differences

• Self-regulation skills

• Transparent, clear organizational objectives

• Mutual respect

Without these, authentic communication cannot occur. And without authentic communication, making our organizations safe, fair, clear, and transparent will be tough. Our common theme in talking about unsafe workplaces is the lack of accountability- and the use of euphemistic language provides a "get out of jail free" card for avoiding it.

We can also self-reflect on our own usage of euphemistic language. Why do we personally use it? Are there patterns? Maybe with certain people? I know I've used it when delivering feedback that could be interpreted negatively, especially since I'm perceived to be direct -an avoidant strategy to avoid having to manage others' emotions. Likewise, those of us not being intentionally exploitative will have some an area of opportunity in our communication we can adjust to help us show up in more authentic ways, setting the example and paving the ways for others around you to do the same.

What are your thoughts on this topic? I'd love to hear what you think in the comments!

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