A while ago I was reading the transcript of a speech delivered to college graduates by Obama’s former speechwriter, Jon Lovett. Apart from being the former speechwriter for a US president, Jon is apparently a well-known comedian as well. One thing is sure: he does not mince words (actually he does it the right way), something comedians easily get away with. During that, a light bulb moment for me was reading what he says about the main problem today’s graduates face in their life after college (a problem I daresay we all know only too well):

“One of the greatest threats we face is, simply put, bullshit. We are drowning in it. We are drowning in partisan rhetoric that is just true enough not to be a lie; in industry-sponsored research; in social media’s imitation of human connection; in legalese and corporate double-speak. It infects every facet of public life, corrupting our discourse, wrecking our trust in major institutions, lowering our standards for the truth, making it harder to achieve anything.”

The BS word front and centre, Jon’s message resonated deeply with my concept of ‘weasel words’. I picked this from someone who stands out through common sense among the numerous teachers I had in many years of formal education. Just in case you are wandering (as I did at first) what a ‘weasel word’ is, Gary Martin provides an excellent description:

“It has long been a widespread belief that weasels suck the yolks from bird’s eggs, leaving only the empty shell. This belief is the basis of the term ‘weasel words’ used to describe statements that have had the life sucked out of them. The expression refers to words that are added to make a statement sound more legitimate and impressive but which are in fact unsubstantiated and meaningless.”

Ok, so a weasel word is a hollow word, a word devoid of meaning or having an elusive one at best. The first examples of weasel words I’ve been given are ‘strategy’ and ‘strategic’. They tick all the required boxes: are impressive, bring legitimacy and have an elusive meaning. Furthermore, we hear them in almost every official and corporate communication: growth strategy, sales strategy, development strategy, strategic development, strategic communication etc. and, best of all, ‘strategic strategy’ (no joke)! Seriously, what can beat the fusion of two or more weasel words into what is best called a ‘weasel expression’? What can be (at first glance) more impressive and legitimate to the blissfully ignorant masses (that is, you and I)?

Granted, the innumerable materials dedicated to strategy and strategic-you-name-it have had a major contribution to turning them into weasel words, by virtue of linear meaning dilution. Yet the exact same is true for ‘sustainable’ and ‘sustainability’. Two other perfect examples! Just think about it: sustainable growth, sustainable brand, sustainability policy, sustainability norms, sustainability measures… And now it gets really good: sustainable sustainability, sustainable strategy, sustainability strategy, strategic sustainability, sustainable sustainability strategy, etc. I am sure you can think of others.

But that is not the end. Whole ‘weasel sentences’ can be made, for example: “Our strategy has been to merge the organisation’s sustainability agenda and its continuous innovation efforts, which helped us progress towards our stated strategic goal: sustainable growth and perpetual value creation for our stakeholders.” Impressive, right? So… what does it mean? As is, not quite sure, but it certainly does sound good (or so I think)!

I happen to very much agree with John Lovett concerning the extent to which weasel words have taken over our speech and infiltrated our messages. Their elusive meaning is a critical aspect in enabling, as he puts it, BS rhetoric and all its negative effects.

And these effects we see all around us, every single day. Unfortunately.

It would be about time we develop a BS detector and filter it out before it makes us too vulnerable and takes up too much of our energy, focus and, most important, time.