The Doublespeak Award

2019 Winner

Donald Trump

For perpetuating language that is grossly deceptive, evasive, euphemistic, confusing, and self-centered.

CNN Legal Analyst Paul Callen, in his essay “To understand Trump’s Ukraine call, you gotta know the secret code,” explains that Trump uses “coded” language to create deniability for himself. Callen analyzes Trump’s July 25, 2019, phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, noting that Trump’s slippery language allows him to imply a quid pro quo–and then deny it.

Award Details

Overview

The NCTE Doublespeak Award, established in 1974 and given by the NCTE Public Language Award Committee, is an ironic tribute to public speakers who have perpetuated language that is grossly deceptive, evasive, euphemistic, confusing, or self-centered.

Nominations for the Award

The NCTE Public Language Award Committee is now seeking nominations for this year’s Doublespeak Award, which is given to a glaring example of deceptive language by a public spokesperson. The words must originate from an American. The committee needs a one-page description of the context in which the statement occurred and a copy of the print media source in which the quote appeared (with date). In the case of broadcast media, list the program, time, place, and date.

The nominations deadline is September 1, 2020.

Eligible nominations are those appearing or published between July 1, 2019, and August 30, 2020.

Nominations are also sought for the Orwell Award, which honors an author, editor, or producer of a print or non-print work that contributes to honesty and clarity in public language.

Send nominations to the NCTE Public Language Award Committee via email to publiclangaward@ncte.org.

Click here to see a list of recipients.