Is doublespeak built into English?
I’m thinking about the word believe.
Believe (transitive verb) according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary means:
1. a. to consider to be true or honest.
1. b. to accept the word or evidence of.2. to hold as an opinion: SUPPOSE
Merriam-Webster is on the conservative side with the definition of the word. Dictionary.com is more inclusive of its daily use and the range of its coverage:
2. to have confidence or faith in the truth of (a story, etc)
all the way to
6. to suppose or assume, understand.
The word is stretched quite thin on the spectrum of having absolute confidence and making a casual assumption.
Let me put it in context. Consider a person who says:
“I believe Neo will save the world.”
Meaning that he has a strong conviction that Neo will save the world.
vs.
“I believe Elvis has left the building.”
In which case he merely guesses the whereabouts of Elvis.
Now how can we trust the convictions of this person? His first statement could drive his followers to also believe in…
