Filter Coffee #064

On Conflicting & Confusing Words

Dear Readers,

FC #63 on ‘Viva La Vida’ was much appreciated by my readers. Shubha Prasad commented: “Fascinating and Inspirational that Frida turned her handicaps into an opportunity.”

Niharika Jain said: “Frida’s is a story of extreme suffering, resilience, fortitude and creativity. Viva La Vida to all the courageous folks out there.”  

S G Murali points out that our own Abdul Kalam born to a fisherman rose in stature to become a leading scientist and then became the President of India. 

According to Ashwini Ranjan, deprivation, pain and suffering bring out the best in humans. He and Ramaprasad make a special mention of the Paralympics where 19 athletes bagged 19 medals as opposed to 127 normal athletes bagging 7 medals.

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🌪 Tergiversation, Circumlocution, Equivocation, Prevarication

Right from March 2020, when Corona turned life on its head, we have been subjected to the most conflicting and confusing theories, opinions and views on all fronts. Eighteen months on, we still are in that state of confusion.

In this edition, my endeavour will be to classify these conflicting and confusing words and provide some perspective. These words could manifest not only in speech but also in writings.

Let me first deal with Tergiversation. It has its origin in Latin tergum+versare meaning ‘turn one’s back to’. The English meaning is slightly different. Tergiversation means the propensity to repeatedly change one’s views, opinions with respect to a subject and that would include change of attitude as well. It could, therefore, depending on the context, could mean ‘to retract’.

During the first wave of the pandemic, the whole world was in the grip of tergiversation. World leaders, international institutions, medical fraternity and political establishments were putting out statements that seemed valid for that day and the next day would witness another slew of statements that were contrary to or putting in doubt the previous statements.

Politicians all over the world have perfected the art of tergiversation. How many times have you seen the famous expression “I was misquoted” or seen someone backtracking? Poll promises which politicians avoid fulfilling are stark examples of tergiversation. Getting elected and crossing over to another party, shifting loyalties, going against one’s own beliefs and values are all examples of tergiversation. Tergiversation is a word hard to remember but when you know what it stands for you will recall it when someone tergiversates in your face. 

I will move on to Circumlocution. As readers are aware, locution means a word and elocution means an impressive speech. Circumlocution means the roundabout way of conveying a message or giving a long-winded explanation without coming straight to the point.

Charles Dickens satirized circumlocution that occurs in a government office in which you are sent from one desk to another and asked to fill many forms only to find that no decision is taken and no one gives a straightforward answer or finds a solution to your problem. He called such an office ‘the circumlocution office’. If you are interested in reading the full article please click here: Charles Dickens, The Circumlocution Office (1855-1857).

When I was a teenager I was told a story that relates. Apparently during the license raj, in Delhi, there were many bureaucrats from Kerala and one was made to go from Pillai to Pillai to get something done (a spoof on pillar to post).

In our daily life, we come across people who are good at circumlocution. The underlying reason could be to embellish a narrative or sensationalise it when in fact it could have been conveyed succinctly. I can recall an instance when I met a government official for the granting of some approval and he said, “Oh yes of course, in fact, last year there was a similar case and we put it before a committee and offhand I cannot recollect the decision that the committee took but definitely we will refer your case also to the committee and I am sure it will consider your request. Oh! No, there is no need to thank me, we are here to serve you!” If this is not circumlocution, what is?

In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the pigs who control the farm decide to take more of the food for themselves and leave less for the other animals. In a classic example of political circumlocution, the pigs explain that: “For the time being it has been found necessary to make a readjustment of rations.”

Equivocation is often considered to be the same as Tergiversation, but there is a difference. Equivocation is doublespeak while tergiversation is backtracking. You may have come across the word ‘unequivocally’ which has a positive connotation — something said categorically and indisputably.  Equivocation is about using an ambiguous term in more ways than one thus making it misleading. Equivocation fallacy occurs when you use a word that would make something illogical. For example:

Exams are a headache. Crocin makes headaches go away. Therefore Crocin makes exams go away. Similarly, a bank has a branch, a tree has a branch, therefore a bank is a tree. 

In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the witches reassure Macbeth that he cannot be killed by anyone “of woman born.” Macbeth takes this to mean that no human being can destroy him. However, he is ultimately killed by Macduff, a man born of Caesarean section. Thus, the prophecy is an equivocation, leading Macbeth to believe he is invincible when in fact he is not.

I came across this poem by Robert L Hinshaw on equivocation:

It has always been my naïve, farm-boy assumption,
That one attends college to attain a degree of gumption!
And furthermore that Daddy sends his kid to college,
Not so much to party but to obtain a modicum of knowledge!
I assume that the autocrats who abide in Washington D.C.,
Have attended college and somehow earned at least a BS Degree!
BS stands for Bachelor of Science Degree without equivocation,
But it seems in Washington, BS has assumed a different connotation!

Let me now talk about prevarication. The word is about avoiding telling the truth. It also relates to not saying what one thinks. If someone is deviating from truth or is subverting facts, he can be accused of prevarication. Some would equate prevarication to telling lies. I believe it is more to do with avoiding telling the truth.

Imagine a journalist interviewing a politician or a bureaucrat regarding the felling of trees to broaden the road. He asks a question: ‘Why should the environment be the sacrificial goat? What steps are you taking to prevent the indiscriminate felling of trees? “

You can expect the prevaricating answer to be something like this: “We give a lot of importance to the environment and do whatever is needed to preserve and protect it. Keeping that in mind, we ensure that we undertake afforestation and increase the tree population so that development and environment can co-exist.”

If the journalist persists and asks: “Why the indiscriminate felling of trees?” There will be further prevarication: “I recognise your concern, I will have this looked into and see if the impact can be minimised and people’s concerns are addressed.”

There are times when people say something untrue if the truth is hurtful. The classic examples are: 

• Your host asks you if you liked the food

• Your wife asks you if she is looking good

• Your boss asks you if you liked his idea

The one common answer would be, “Yes, of course.”

There are instances when you want to tell a lie to avoid the effects of being truthful. For example, parents give a wrong date of birth for fear of the child not being admitted to a school for being underage for a couple of months. You may remember the story of the woodcutter who got Gold, Silver and his own axe for being honest. Well, it seems one day he was walking with his wife along the river when she slipped and fell into the river. The woodcutter shouted for help.

The same fairy went into the water and came up with Angelina Jolie and asked the woodcutter

“Is this your wife?” 

“Yes,” said the woodcutter. The fairy was furious. “I thought you were an honest man but you lied.”

The woodcutter said, “Please forgive me. If I had said no, you would have come up with Aishwarya. If I said ‘no’ to her, you would’ve come up with my wife and when I said ‘yes’ you would’ve given me all three like you did with the axe. How can I, a poor man, manage three wives when I cannot manage one?”

I came across this poem by Kurt Philip Behm:

At what point…

  does the fiction you’ve created become true

At what point…

  do old lies make more sense than new truths

At what point…

  do prevarication and veracity reframe

At what point…

  do they come together—their message the same

Dear Readers, being truthful is a virtue that we all should possess to keep our conscience clean and not burden it with lies, deceits and devious conduct. Take care, practice social distancing and wear the mask unequivocally.