DOUBLE TALK

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | 539 words | Copyright

DOUBLE TALK, also double-talk.
1. PATTER that uses a mix of NONSENSE and real words. The US word buff Paul Dickson noted in 1982: ‘Well done, it is a skilful blend of meaningful and meaningless words that when delivered leads the listener to think he is either hard of hearing or losing his mind. Or to be more to the point: a durnamic verbal juberance with clear mokus, flaysome, and rasorial overtones’ (Words).

2. Deliberately ambiguous and evasive language. Compare DOUBLESPEAK, JARGON, JIVE, STUNT WORD. See AMBIGUITY.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

TOM McARTHUR. "DOUBLE TALK." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "DOUBLE TALK." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-DOUBLETALK.html

TOM McARTHUR. "DOUBLE TALK." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-DOUBLETALK.html

Learn more about citation styles