Newspeak is easy to miss if one isn’t paying attention. If one hears a politician apologize ‘I’m sorry you caught me …’ without really listening to word usage, you get the impression of remorse, of an admission of guilt – but this is an apology for getting caught – not for the ‘alleged’ action they were ‘guilty’ of. ‘I’m sorry if that’s how it appears to you’ is another of those sidestepping responsibility admissions – this one puts the blame on you not on them.
The most recent example of newspeak I’ve heard is ‘the suspect has been neutralized.’ This was said repeatedly by the authorities during the Oregon shooting. Like the notion of ‘collateral damage’ which means civilians were killed, ‘neutralized’ is a way of distancing listeners from the facts. I even heard that the ‘alleged’ gunman was ‘neutralized’ – ‘alleged’ allows for him to maybe be innocent? At least he his definitely male & not ‘allegedly’ male.
It wasn’t until a reporter directly asked – is the gun man dead – that the police said ‘Yes, he’s dead.’ I stopped watching before experts were brought in to help the healing begin. What we need is a linguist so the understanding can begin.
When I hear the term ‘neutralized’ I get a flash of him being neutered – that there’s been a castration of sorts – an angry mob tearing his cock & balls off. You know if this were in fact what it meant I’m sure the crime rate would drop. 
I’m not sure what to do with this need to tiptoe, soften or avoid direct statements. Political correctness has pushed people into a kind of coy over-sensitiveness. On Top Model one of the male ‘alleged’ models admitted that he’s ‘gender fluid’ – wtf? So he’s not gay, bi, hetero, or trans. As much I like the notion of ‘fluid’ it comes across as one of those admissions in which one doesn’t have to be responsible for clarity.
I’m always suspicious of language that evades a direct conformation. Ambiguity as a literary construct can create suspense, can allow the reader to experience their own doubts & thoughts but even in literature the reader eventually wants facts, a sense of conclusion. ‘Happily ever after’ does satisfy without showing us how they live but ‘allegedly happily ever after’ – well – that make me laugh now that I see it in print – in fact I might use it sometime but only as a sardonic comment on the need for concrete conclusions.
Completion
do you remember the feel of
did it sound like
was there a moment when
could you count the number of
was there a place that
did the reasons seem
could you take back what
was there another opportunity to
was that the first time he
was she ever
where you there when
did he want more than
when did it first appear that
who did he
was there a time of
was that an opportunity to
why didn’t one of you
was the taste similar to
does this remind you of
was there ever a time when
did the bed
would you ever again
could there be a chance that
did the money make a
why take another
is this the way he
is this where you first
the pain wasn’t as bad as
what were the reasons
after the first words
does his smile
do you remember the feel of
did you count the number of
does anyone have
will you ever again
what did you expect after
was it because he
why did
do you feel that
could he have
should you have
would
November 1 – 30 Participating NaNoWriMo
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Love the poem. I feel like the incomplete statements lock me into the language in a very different way than completed statements do…here, I’m forced to make myself part of the meaning/message.