Woke words like ‘gaslighting’ and ’emotional labor’ are weakening our language, says top researcher
The use of ‘therapy speak’ terms such as gaslighting and emotional labor could weaken the English language, a top researcher has warned.
Dr. Robert Morgan, a lecturer and ethics expert at the University of Leeds in Britain, said the current definition of the words is far from the original meaning, which is harming our ability to communicate well.
While acknowledging that language is constantly evolving, Dr. Morgan said he is “concerned” that words are losing their meaning when their original sentiment was very specific and had a unique purpose.
“If the meaning of this word changes, we have no other way to describe it,” he said.
Dr. Morgan has also criticized the use of the word woke – used to mean progressive – because he says it overwrites its original meaning, warning people to avoid danger by ‘staying awake’.
While acknowledging that language is constantly evolving, Dr. Morgan says he is “concerned” about words losing their meaning when their original sentiment was very specific and had a unique purpose.
The phrase “stay awake” was first used by blues singer Lead Belly in the 1930s as a warning to other African Americans to remain vigilant when venturing through more dangerous parts of the US.
With its specific function of warning of danger, “awake” was an important and useful word, Dr. Morgan argued.
The meaning of the word has since changed: it means awareness of racial injustice, general progressiveness, and it is a disparaging word used by right-wing commentators.
According to the newspaper, people have now been ‘disarmed’ of a word they can use to promote security.
“Gaslighting” once referred to a very specific form of emotional abuse, originating in Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 play Gas Light.
In the play, a husband tries to convince his wife that the dimming lights are figments of her imagination to manipulate her into changing her perception of reality.
Now it is used much more casually to refer to “lying” or “misleading” in political and social media discourse, Dr. Morgan said in an article published in The philosophical quarterly.
The phrase “stay awake” was first used by blues singer Lead Belly (right) in the 1930s as a warning to other African Americans to remain vigilant when venturing through more dangerous parts of the US.
People who are now experiencing a specific type of abuse may not be as easily able to identify or understand what is happening, Dr. Morgan said.
Another phrase Dr. Morgan highlighted was “emotional labor,” first used by sociologist Arlie Hochschild in the 1980s to describe the extra effort required by hospitality workers to manage their emotions to keep customers happy.
It has since been adopted on social media to refer to demanding tasks typically aimed more at women than men, including housework and managing social relationships.
Dr. Morgan said: ‘Emotional labor was another useful term, but the concern is that when we start using it in this very broad way to mean many different things, we now no longer have a term to refer to that original phenomenon.
‘For example, if you are a barista and feel exhausted after a day of smiling at every customer, you may be experiencing the demise of emotional labor in the original sense, but you will no longer be able to express this to your customers. colleagues or even identify.’
Dr. Morgan urged people to remember the history of the key terms they use and ensure the context in which they use them is correct.
He is not the first to warn about language changes. The CDC has previously been criticized for using terms like “pregnant people” instead of “pregnant women,” with some saying the change is confusing.