"Nebelsprech" – Sprechen in der parlamentarischen Demokratie

Abstract

"Fogspeech" is a variant of Orwellian Newspeak typical of parliamentary Democracy: As it is important in a Democracy to find vast support for political projects, linguistic strategies from advertising are used, esp. positively connotated words, positive framing, hyperbolic speech. At the same time, politicians who want to avoid direct responsibility tend to use nebular expressions, set phrases, passive and impersonal constructions etc. A number of examples are discussed.