Comments on: “Two males were involved in a verbal altercation.” https://habitablezone.com/2017/07/11/the-men-were-arguing/ Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:18:10 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Robert https://habitablezone.com/2017/07/11/the-men-were-arguing/#comment-39653 Robert Wed, 12 Jul 2017 16:38:57 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=65420#comment-39653 I think the original impetus had to be the new practice of requiring cops to file written reports, requiring skills that nobody had asked for before. First thing that happened, likely, was a cop asking a bureaucrat how the hell to fill out the form, and getting an answer. Cops learned quickly the value of the bureaucratic art of obfuscation to cover their asses, and the power of framing a trivial charge with a big word--the more syllables, the more reprehensible the crime. Everybody argues (two syllables), but an "altercation" now, that sounds pretty serious. At four syllables, <i>twice</i> as serious. Obfuscation, ass-covering, and exaggeration. We're not the only people who know how to play word games. I think the original impetus had to be the new practice of requiring cops to file written reports, requiring skills that nobody had asked for before. First thing that happened, likely, was a cop asking a bureaucrat how the hell to fill out the form, and getting an answer. Cops learned quickly the value of the bureaucratic art of obfuscation to cover their asses, and the power of framing a trivial charge with a big word–the more syllables, the more reprehensible the crime. Everybody argues (two syllables), but an “altercation” now, that sounds pretty serious. At four syllables, twice as serious.

Obfuscation, ass-covering, and exaggeration. We’re not the only people who know how to play word games.

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