Recently, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticized officials for speaking a “bird language” that is incomprehensible to the population. And he encouraged them to be more accessible. But, what exactly is “bird language”?
Simply put, this is a speech in which the true meaning of what is said is hidden. This language uses not allegories (like the ‘Aesopian’ language), but deliberate piles of terms and clericalisms. It feels as if officials are always saying smart things. But what exactly? It’s completely incomprehensible. Such suggestions in lessons on literary editing would be given as anti-examples.
Something like: “In view of the work carried out to optimize the processes aimed at arranging those provided for in regulatory legal acts…”
It’s not even worth continuing, right?
In the 19th century, Professor of Moscow University Dmitry Perevoshchikov began to dub such incomprehensible and ornate statements as “bird’s language”. In his book ‘Past and Thoughts’, author Alexander Herzen quoted how Perevoshchikov had criticized the youth of the first half of the 19th century for the language in which they wrote about philosophical research. “I read your articles, sir: you can’t understand, sir, ‘bird language’, sir.”
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